Pilot-scale direct UV-C photodegradation of pesticides in groundwater and recycled wastewater for agricultural use

Abstract Pesticides widely used for intensive agriculture may leach to groundwater and pose problems to drinking water and irrigation. UV-C disinfection systems (UV-DS) for water disinfection can be used also for the abatement of organic micropollutants. A pilot-scale continuous flow-through UV-DS system was evaluated for its degradation efficiency of atrazine (ATR), malathion (MAL) and glyphosate (GLY) from 40 L water. Groundwater used to irrigate potato fields and recycled wastewater used to wash potatoes were treated without catalysts to avoid any toxicity effect on potatoes. Chromatographic methods were used to quantify very low pesticide levels before and after UV-C treatments (