Water & Water Purification Technologies. Scientific and Technical News

PROSPECTS FOR THE APPLICATION OF ZINC OXIDE SYNTHESIZED BY HYDROTHERMAL METHOD

Marta Litynska — 2026-04-30

Nanostructured oxides with photocatalytic properties are promising materials for use in such directions as water treatment from organic pollutants and production of self-cleaning coatings. Purification is carried out due to the gradual degradation of organic pollutants under the action of radicals formed on the surface of the photocatalyst. Zinc oxide is one of the effective photocatalytic materials. The article investigates the effect of synthesis conditions on the properties of zinc oxide. Zinc hydroxide was precipitated from a zinc acetate solution by a sodium hydroxide solution. In order to reduce the size of the crystallites, before precipitation the zinc acetate solution was mixed with a guar gum solution. The resulting suspension was heat-treated in a sealed container without air access at a temperature of 110 °C. After that, the material was filtered, washed and heated at temperatures of 150 °C and 500 °C. The composition of the samples was studied by X-ray diffraction. It was found that the use of the hydrothermal method with heat treatment at a temperature of 150 °C allows obtaining a mixture of hexagonal crystalline modification of zinc oxide, cubic crystalline modification of zinc oxide and smithsonite. After heating at a temperature of 500 °C, only hexagonal modification of zinc oxide was obtained. The photocatalytic efficiency was investigated using solutions of congo red and crystal violet. It was determined that the presence of cubic modification of zinc oxide in the material increases the efficiency of the photocatalyst. This makes the material a promising photocatalyst both in the context of water treatment and in applying of self-cleaning coatings.

THE USE OF BENTONITE CLAYS IN WATER TREATMENT PROCESSES. A LITERATURE REVIEW

Yurii Fedenko — 2026-04-30

Nowadays, there is a growing need for environmentally safe, inexpensive, and yet effective substances, preferably of natural origin, which can effectively remove contaminants of various genesis from water. Natural clay minerals, which are found in abundant deposits throughout Ukraine, certainly fall into this category. Bentonite clays attract particular attention among naturally occurring clay minerals; because of their structural formula consists mainly of the mineral montmorillonite ‒ a layered aluminosilicate containing crystalline water. Montmorillonite possesses a high sorption capacity for cations and organic substances due to its unique crystalline structure, which allows for isomorphous substitutions within tetrahedral and octahedral lattices. There are two large deposits of bentonite clays in Ukraine: the Cherkasy and Zakarpattia (Gorb) deposits. Both deposits are used for the extraction of bentonite clays, primarily for use in the production of cement, ceramics, and bricks. However, the use of bentonite clays in water treatment appears to be more promising, where they can be effectively used to remove a wide range of contaminants in such water treatment sectors as: drinking water treatment; industrial wastewater treatment; municipal wastewater treatment; remediation of groundwater and surface water; removal of oily substances from water, etc. Bentonite clays are rarely found in their pure form like all natural minerals. Therefore, they must undergo preliminary preparation, which includes both physical methods (grinding, drying, sieving) and chemical methods (thermal and chemical activation) prior to their use in sorption processes. The purpose of these procedures is to impart the necessary properties to the surface of bentonite clays to improve their sorption capacity.

HYDROCHEMICAL STATE OF WATER INTAKES IN CHERNIHIV REGION

Andrii Kotelchuk — 2026-04-30

The water composition from water intakes of communities of Chernihiv region has been studied. It was established that the epidemiological safety, organoleptic properties, and sanitary-toxicological and physico-chemical indicators of the studied samples comply with the State Sanitary Norms and Rules 2.2.4-171-10. A distinctive feature of the water hydrochemical composition is the relatively low calcium ion content, especially in water intakes of Pryluky district, whereas the calcium ion content in water samples of Nizhyn district aligns with the standards of physiologically adequate water. Additionally, it was found that all samples comply with the standards for physiologically adequate water regarding Mg²⁺ ions content (10 - 50 mg/dm³), which is important for the cardiovascular system. At the same time, discrepancies with regulatory standards were identified regarding the concentration of total iron, manganese, ammonium and fluoride ions. The maximum deviation from the regulatory standard for total iron was established for Chernihiv district, with exceedances ranging from 6 to 25.4 times. Alongside the high iron content, significant excesses of Mn²⁺ and ammonium ions were recorded in the studied samples. Of the 15 studied water intakes, only 3 (20%) meet the physiologically adequate water standards for fluoride ions. While a fluoride ion deficiency is observed in the samples from Chernihiv district, all studied water intakes of Pryluky district are characterized by concentrations exceeding the standard by up to 1.2 times. A water treatment strategy which utilizes an integrated reagent-free water purification system Antares 777-1 has been proposed, and its effectiveness has been experimentally verified.

PERSPECTIVES OF USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WATER INDUSTRY

Oleksandr Kuchynskyi — 2026-04-30

The article presents the prospects for the use of artificial intelligence technologies in water sector. The purpose of this work is to analyse existing artificial intelligence technologies for this industry, single out the most prominent ones, and review their potential areas of application, specific uses and corresponding performance metrics. For the first time, an analysis has been carried out of the most promising AI technologies for the chemical industry in general, and the water sector in particular, demonstrating the effectiveness of a significant number of the examined AI technologies in addressing specific chemical technology challenges. Its relevance is based on the active development of artificial intelligence in combination with the problems of the water industry that can be solved with its help. Artificial neural networks and their subtypes are highlighted as the main technologies, and attention is also drawn to large language models. The main areas of use are presented, and applications for literature review and education are analysed in the context of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) frameworks, respectively. The practical application of artificial intelligence in the water industry is considered in three main areas: obtaining predictive information, real-time monitoring, and user interaction. The most prominent methods and models for these areas include explainable artificial intelligence models, random forest, extreme gradient boosting, long short-term memory, type-2 fuzzy logic controllers and variational autoencoders. The results for using these methods and other artificial intelligence technologies highlight significant accuracy (R² = 0.9 and above) and system optimization (from 10% to above 30% cost reductions). Finally, practical aspects of the application of artificial intelligence technologies are considered, such as the impact of queries on correct operation (for which such practices as natural language processing, zero-shot, few-shot and fine-tuning were considered), as well as risks and challenges. Thus, the article highlights the main aspects and prospects for the implementation of artificial intelligence in water technology.

PREDICTION OF BY-PRODUCT FORMATION DURING CHLORINE DIOXIDE DISINFECTION: FROM STATISTICAL TO HYBRID MODELS

Oleksandr Bondarchuk — 2026-04-30

Safe drinking water supply remains one of the most critical humanitarian challenges facing Ukraine amid ongoing armed conflict. Destruction of water infrastructure, combined with deteriorating source water quality has created an urgent need for adaptive, scientifically grounded disinfection management tools. Chlorine dioxide offers significant advantages over conventional chlorination, including efficacy across a wide pH range, biofilm disruption capacity and absence of carcinogenic trihalomethanes. However, chlorine dioxide disinfection generates specific oxidation byproducts (primarily chlorites and chlorates) whose combined concentration is strictly limited under national and European regulations, creating a fundamental technological paradox between guaranteed pathogen inactivation and byproduct minimization. Presented study develops an integrated computer modelling framework for chlorine dioxide disinfection byproduct prediction and control. A hybrid model architecture was proposed as the foundation for an adaptive SCADA-integrated dosing system capable of real-time chlorine dioxide adjustment based on continuous water quality sensor inputs. A five-factor central composite rotatable design (pH, temperature, chlorine dioxide dose, contact time, total organic carbon) was implemented to build second-order polynomial response surface models for two target responses: the fraction of consumed chlorine dioxide as a measure of disinfection efficiency and chlorite concentration in treated water. Analysis of regression equations revealed the pH as the dominant factor controlling chlorite formation, with the free term of the chlorite formation model approaching the regulatory limit at average operating conditions, confirming that passive parameter maintenance cannot guarantee regulatory compliance. Multi-criteria optimization using the Harrington desirability function identified the optimal operating regime: pH 6.0, temperature 25 °C, chlorine dioxide dose 6.0 mg/dm³, contact time 18.2 hours, TOC ≤ 10 mg/dm³. A Pareto frontier analysis structured the full set of optimal trade-off solutions into three operational modes, providing water utilities with a flexible decision-making tool adaptable to current epidemiological priorities. Monte Carlo stochastic simulation quantified seasonal risk differentiation, demonstrating that pH reduction is a more effective control lever than dose reduction for maintaining chlorite compliance under summer source water conditions.