Fe3+-saturated montmorillonite effectively deactivates bacteria in wastewater

Existing water disinfection practices often produce harmful disinfection byproducts. The antibacterial activity of Fe3+-saturated montmorillonite was investigated mechanistically using municipal wastewater effluents. Bacterial deactivation efficiency (bacteria viability loss) was 92±0.64% when a secondary wastewater effluent was mixed with Fe3+-saturated montmorillonite for 30min, and further enhanced to 97±0.61% after 4h. This deactivation efficiency was similar to that when the same effluent was UV-disinfected before it exited a wastewater treatment plant. Comparing to the secondary wastewater effluent, the bacteria deactivation efficiency was lower when the primary wastewater effluent was exposed to the same dose of Fe3+-saturated montmorillonite, reaching 29±18% at 30min and 76±1.7% at 4h. Higher than 90% bacterial deactivation efficiency was achieved when the ratio between wastewater bacteria population and weight of Fe3+-saturated montmorillonite was at