At that time, humans lacked advanced water treatment technology. To reduce the spread of disease, simple methods were used such as Bar screen filtration and Natural sedimentation for water treatment. At that time, the environmental capacity was large, and the self-purification capacity of water bodies could meet human water needs.

After years of practice and summary, several traditional water treatment processes have emerged.

People discovered that sand could filter out fine suspended matter or precipitated impurities. This is Sediment filtration The purpose is to remove suspended particulate matter or colloidal matter from the water source. This is the oldest and simplest water purification method, so this step is often used in the preliminary treatment of water purification. There are many types of filters used to filter suspended particulate matter, such as mesh filters, sand filters (such as quartz sand), or membrane filters.

The Industrial Revolution began in Europe. Following this, with the rapid development of industrialization in human society, industrial wastewater was also produced in large quantities. The rivers and lakes of industrial powers were severely polluted, gradually becoming a social nuisance and threatening human health. People also found that the simple chemical and physical methods at that time were no longer sufficient to treat this wastewater, and innovative water treatment technologies were urgently needed. Scientists from various countries began to study water treatment methods, starting with aeration experiments for wastewater.

Aeration is the process of increasing the contact between water and gas using methods such as aeration or mechanical stirring to dissolve oxygen or remove dissolved gases and volatile substances from the water. Water and air are fully contacted to exchange gaseous substances and remove volatile substances from the water, or to allow gases to escape from the water, such as removing odors or gases like CO2 and H2S from water; or to dissolve oxygen into the water to increase the dissolved oxygen concentration, achieving the purpose of removing iron and manganese or promoting the aerobic microbial degradation of organic matter.

Then appeared Chemical coagulation pretreatment Coagulation is the combined term for coagulation and flocculation. Coagulation involves adding positively charged coagulants to water, which aggregate with the mostly negatively charged particles in the water. Flocculation refers to the aggregation and enlargement of suspended particles in water, or the formation of flocs, thereby accelerating particle sedimentation to achieve solid-liquid separation.

Early treatment methods used lime and alum for sedimentation or bleaching powder for disinfection. In China, wastewater purification devices existed as early as the late Ming Dynasty. However, due to the lack of demand at the time, domestic wastewater was mainly used for agricultural irrigation. Abroad, in 1762, Britain began using lime and metal salts to treat wastewater.

Chemical precipitation is a method of adding chemicals to water to react with dissolved substances to form insoluble compounds, followed by solid-liquid separation to remove pollutants from the water. It is mainly used to remove heavy metal (such as Hg, Zn, Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, etc.) and some non-metal (such as As, F, etc.) ionic pollutants in wastewater treatment. For extremely hazardous heavy metal wastewater, although there are many treatment methods, chemical precipitation remains the most important one to date.

Distillation is an old but effective water treatment method that can remove any non-volatile impurities but cannot remove volatile pollutants. It also requires a large storage tank.

Dissolved air flotation also known as Flotation is a method of removing low-density solid or liquid particles from a liquid. Tiny air bubbles generated by air injection into the water adhere to suspended matter in the water and float to the surface due to buoyancy, achieving solid-liquid or liquid-liquid separation.

Adsorption is a water treatment process that uses porous solid materials to absorb and separate pollutants from water. Solid adsorbents used to absorb pollutants include activated carbon, activated coal, coke, resins, and wood chips. Adsorption is often divided into physical adsorption, chemical adsorption, and ion exchange adsorption. In water treatment, adsorption filters are often used for adsorption treatment, which can remove heavy metal ions (such as mercury, chromium, silver, nickel, lead, etc.) and is also used for advanced water treatment.

Hard water softening requires Ion exchange Its purpose is to use cation exchange resin to exchange sodium ions for calcium and magnesium ions in hard water to reduce the concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in the water source. The softening reaction is as follows:

Ca2++2Na-EX→Ca-EX2+2Na+

Mg2++2Na-EX→Mg-EX2+2Na+

In the formula, EX represents the ion exchange resin. After these ion exchange resins bind to Ca2+ and Mg2+, the Na+ ions originally contained in them are released.

Extraction Using an extractant that is immiscible with water but can dissolve pollutants well, it is thoroughly mixed and contacted with wastewater. By utilizing the difference in solubility or partition ratio of pollutants in water and solvent, the purpose of separating, extracting pollutants, and purifying wastewater is achieved.

Organic matter in sewage became the focus of removal. In 1881, French scientists invented the first bioreactor, which was also the first anaerobic biological treatment pool—the Moris pool, marking the beginning of biological methods for wastewater treatment.

In 1893, the first biofilter was put into use in Wales, UK, and quickly promoted in countries such as Europe and North America. Technological development has driven the creation of standards.

In 1912, the British Royal Sewage Treatment Committee proposed using BOD5 to evaluate the degree of water pollution.

Arden and Lokett published a paper on activated sludge method " at the British Chemical Engineering Society. Clark and Gage applied this method at the Lawrence Sewage Testing Station in Manchester. At the same time, the first activated sludge wastewater treatment pilot plant was built. Two years later, the first activated sludge wastewater treatment plant was built in the United States.

In 1921, the activated sludge method spread to China, and China built its first wastewater treatment plant—the Shanghai North District Wastewater Treatment Plant. In 1926 and 1927, the Shanghai East District and West District wastewater treatment plants were built respectively. At that time, the daily treatment capacity of the three plants was 35,500 tons.

With its widespread application in actual production and continuous technological innovation and improvement, from the 1940s to the 1960s, the activated sludge method gradually replaced the biofilm method and became the mainstream process for wastewater treatment. The birth of the activated sludge method laid the foundation for urban wastewater treatment technology in the next 100 years. Today, the activated sludge method and its derivative improved processes are the most widely used methods for treating urban wastewater.

Membrane separation technology era begins

Humanity's research on membrane phenomena originated in 1748. However, recognizing the function of membranes and using them in production and life has taken nearly 200 years. Scientific research on membrane separation technology has only been conducted in the last hundred years.

Early 20th century, microfiltration . Microfiltration technology is one of the earliest industrialized membrane separation technologies. At that time, it mainly used microporous filtration membranes made of natural or artificially synthesized polymers.

In 1907, Bechhold published the first systematic study on the properties of microporous filter membranes. In 1918, Zsigmondy et al. first proposed a method for the commercial-scale production of nitrocellulose microporous filter membranes, and obtained a patent in 1921. In 1925, the world's first microporous filter membrane company, "Sartorius GmbH," was established at the University of Göttingen in Germany, specializing in the production and sales of microporous filter membranes. After World War II, the United States and the United Kingdom also conducted extensive research on the manufacturing technology and application of microporous filter membranes, which promoted the rapid development of microfiltration technology,

Research and development of microfiltration technology in China started relatively late, basically in the early 1980s, but its development speed is very fast. By 2005, China's microfiltration technology had formed an annual output value of 70 million yuan, accounting for 1/5 of China's annual output value of the membrane industry, and the economic and social benefits were also very significant. In recent more than ten years, China has made great progress in microfiltration membranes, components and related supporting equipment, and has been widely used in medicine, beverages, drinking water, food, electronics, petrochemicals, analytical testing and environmental protection.

1950s, electrodialysis. Research on electrodialysis technology began in Germany. In 1903, Morse and Pierce placed two electrodes in the internal and external solutions of a dialysis bag respectively, and found that charged impurities could be quickly removed from the gel; in 1924, Pauli improved Morse's experimental device using the principles of chemical engineering design, trying to reduce polarization and increase mass transfer rate. However, it was not until 1950, when Juda first successfully produced ion exchange membranes with high selectivity, that electrodialysis technology entered the practical stage, laying the foundation for the practical application of electrodialysis. Electrodialysis is a thin film separation technology that uses electric potential difference as the driving force, and utilizes the selective permeability of ion exchange membranes to separate charged components of salts from non-charged components of water. This technology utilizes the characteristics of ion exchange membranes to desalinate water. Electrodialysis water treatment technology was first used for the treatment of brackish water, and then gradually expanded to the application of seawater desalination and the production of industrial pure water.

1960s reverse osmosis membranes, bioreactors and membrane distillation technology.

Reverse osmosis (RO) In 1960, Loeb and Souriringan first developed the world's historically significant asymmetric reverse osmosis membrane, which was an important breakthrough in the development of membrane separation technology, enabling membrane separation technology to enter the era of large-scale industrial application. The filtration accuracy is about 0.0001 microns, which is a kind of ultra-high precision membrane separation technology using pressure difference developed in the early 1960s in the United States. It can remove almost all impurities (including harmful and beneficial ones) in water, and only allows water molecules to pass through. That is to say, in the process of producing water with reverse osmosis membranes, nearly 50% or more of tap water will be wasted. This is generally unacceptable to ordinary families. It is generally used for the production of pure water, industrial ultrapure water, and pharmaceutical ultrapure water. Reverse osmosis technology requires pressurization and electrification, has a small flow rate, and low water utilization rate, and is not suitable for the purification of a large amount of drinking water.

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) It is a new and efficient wastewater treatment technology combining membrane separation and biological treatment. The denitrification mechanism of industrial nitrogen-containing wastewater includes two basic processes: nitrification and denitrification. Nitrification refers to the process of converting ammonia nitrogen into nitrate nitrogen, which is mainly accomplished by two types of aerobic autotrophic bacteria: nitrite bacteria and nitrifying bacteria. Research on MBR began in the United States in the 1960s. At that time, due to limitations in membrane production technology, the service life of membranes was short and the water permeability was small, which hindered its practical application. After the 1970s, Japan, based on the characteristics of its small land area and high land prices, carried out vigorous development and research on the application of MBR in wastewater treatment, enabling MBR to begin to be put into practical application. MBR technology has been widely used in Japan and other countries since the 1980s. A Japanese company conducted a comprehensive study on the wastewater treatment effect of MBR technology, showing that the activated sludge-plate membrane combined process can not only efficiently remove organic matter, but also the effluent is free of bacteria and can be directly reused as reclaimed water.

Research on MBR in China began in 1993. A research team from Tianjin University spent 10 years developing a hollow fiber membrane, a technology known as "21st-century water treatment technology." This project was listed as a key national science and technology research project during the "8th Five-Year Plan" and "9th Five-Year Plan" periods and was designated as "China's 21st Century Agenda Implementation Capacity and Sustainable Development Practical New Technology." This technology is at the leading level domestically, with some indicators reaching internationally leading levels.

Membrane Distillation (MD) MD technology was first patented by B.R. Bodell in 1963 and began to develop rapidly in the 1980s. With the continuous in-depth research on membrane distillation-type membrane separation processes, some membrane processes related to membrane distillation have emerged and attracted people's attention. Membrane distillation technology has achieved remarkable research results in many fields, especially in the separation of aqueous solutions. Membrane distillation is a membrane separation process that combines membrane technology and evaporation processes. It uses the vapor temperature difference on both sides of the membrane as the driving force for mass transfer. It is a process of simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The mass transfer process in the membrane pores is a combined result of molecular diffusion and Knudsen diffusion.

Ultrafiltration (UF) in the 1970s. Ultrafiltration has developed rapidly since its industrial application in the 1970s. It is a membrane separation process driven by pressure. By screening micropores on the membrane surface, particles and impurities with diameters between 0.002 and 0.1 μm can be retained, effectively removing colloids, silicon, proteins, microorganisms, and macromolecular organic matter from water. When a liquid mixture flows through the membrane surface under a certain pressure, the solvent and small molecules pass through the membrane, while macromolecules are retained, thus achieving the purpose of separation and purification of molecules of different sizes. It can be widely used in the separation, concentration, and purification of substances.

Nanofiltration in the 1980s. Nanofiltration (NF): The filtration accuracy is between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. The desalination rate is lower than that of reverse osmosis. It is also a membrane separation technology that requires electricity and pressure, and the water recovery rate is relatively low. In other words, in the process of producing water using nanofiltration membranes, nearly 30% of tap water will be wasted. This is generally unacceptable for households. It is generally used in industrial pure water production.

Pervaporation (permeation evaporation) in the 1990s A new type of membrane technology used for the separation of liquid (gas) mixtures. It is a process that utilizes the difference in the dissolution and diffusion rates of components through a dense membrane driven by the difference in partial vapor pressure of components in a liquid mixture to achieve separation.

Accelerated Development of Seawater Desalination Technology

Seawater desalination is a dream that humanity has pursued for hundreds of years. There are stories and legends from ancient times about removing salt from seawater. It was not until the 16th century that people began to make efforts to extract freshwater from seawater. At that time, European explorers used boiling seawater to produce freshwater during long sea voyages. This was the beginning of seawater desalination technology.

After the 1950s, seawater desalination technology accelerated its development with the intensification of the water resource crisis. Distillation, electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis water treatment technologies were applied in the field of seawater desalination and reached the level of industrial-scale production, and are widely used around the world.

In 1958, researcher Shi Song and others first conducted research on ion exchange membrane electrodialysis seawater desalination in China. In the early 1960s, multi-stage flash seawater desalination technology emerged, and the modern seawater desalination industry thus entered a period of rapid development. In 1967, the National Science and Technology Commission of China organized a national seawater desalination campaign. In the 1970s, China's seawater desalination technology ranked among the world's leading positions: it successfully developed microporous filter membranes for marine monitoring and built the world's largest electrodialysis seawater desalination plant—the Yongxing Island seawater desalination plant in Xisha.

In 1982, the China Association for Seawater Desalination and Water Reuse was approved by the Association Department of the China Association for Science and Technology and established in Hangzhou. At this time, the fully aromatic polyamide composite membrane and its spiral-wound elements had already appeared in the United States.

In 1984, the State Oceanic Administration, with the seawater desalination research room as the main body, established the Hangzhou Water Treatment Technology Research and Development Center of the State Oceanic Administration. In 1992, the State Oceanic Administration established the National Engineering Research Center for Liquid Separation Membranes and began to develop domestic reverse osmosis membranes, striving to break away from the monopoly of foreign reverse osmosis membrane technology.

By 2003, the production capacity of seawater and brackish water desalination plants that had been built or signed for construction worldwide had reached 36 million tons of freshwater per day. Seawater desalination has spread to 125 countries and regions worldwide, and desalinated water supports approximately 5% of the world's population. Seawater desalination has, in fact, become a strategic choice widely adopted by many countries around the world to solve water shortages, and its effectiveness and reliability have been increasingly widely recognized.

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal Processes Emerge

The problem of eutrophication of water bodies has become prominent, and nitrogen and phosphorus removal has become another major requirement for wastewater treatment. Therefore, a series of nitrogen and phosphorus removal processes have been derived based on the activated sludge process.

In the early 1950s, phosphorus-accumulating organisms were discovered and used for phosphorus removal. By alternately operating activated sludge under anaerobic and aerobic conditions, phosphorus-accumulating organisms that accumulate excess phosphate can be allowed to grow dominantly, making the phosphorus content of activated sludge higher than that of ordinary activated sludge. Phosphorus-accumulating organisms in sludge release phosphorus under anaerobic conditions and excessively absorb phosphorus under aerobic conditions. By discharging phosphorus-rich excess sludge, more phosphorus can be removed from the wastewater compared to the ordinary activated sludge process.

Oxidation Ditch Process

In 1953, the Pasveer Institute of the Netherlands Public Health Engineering Research Association proposed the oxidation ditch process, also known as the "Pasveer ditch." In 1954, the first oxidation ditch wastewater treatment plant was built in Voorshoten, Netherlands. In the 1960s, this technology was rapidly promoted and applied in various countries in Europe, North America, and South Africa. In 1967, DHV Company of the Netherlands developed the Carroussel oxidation ditch, an oxidation ditch system consisting of multiple channels in series. In 1970, Envirex Company of the United States put into production the Orbal oxidation ditch. The alternating operation oxidation ditch was developed by Kruger Company of Denmark. This process has low construction costs and is easy to maintain. There are usually double-ditch alternating and triple-ditch alternating (T-type oxidation ditch) oxidation ditch systems and semi-alternating operation oxidation ditches.

In 1969, Barth of the United States proposed a three-stage method for nitrogen removal. The first stage is the aerobic stage, mainly for removing organic matter; the second stage adds alkali for nitrification; and the third stage is anaerobic denitrification for nitrogen removal.

In 1973, Barnard, based on the existing technology, completely separated the anoxic and aerobic reactors, returned the sludge to the anoxic reactor, and added an internal reflux device to shorten the process flow, which is now commonly known as anoxic-oxic A/O ) process.

In the 1970s, American experts, based on the A/O process, added phosphorus removal to create the A2O process. The Guangzhou Datan Sha Wastewater Treatment Plant, built in 1986, used A2O technology , with a design treatment capacity of 150,000 tons at the time, making it the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world using A2O technology at that time.

In the mid-1970s, Professor Botho Bohnke of Germany developed the AB process. Later, in order to resolve the contradiction between the long sludge age required by nitrifying bacteria during denitrification and the short sludge age required by phosphorus-accumulating microorganisms during phosphorus removal, the AO-A2O process was developed. Based on the AO-A2O process, Austria developed the Hybrid process. In 1994, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands developed anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) technology, where anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria can oxidize NH4+ to nitrogen gas using nitrite (NO2-) in an anoxic environment. In 1998, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands developed the SHARON process based on the principle of short-cut nitrification and denitrification. The first project was implemented at the DOKHAVEN water plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Ultraviolet disinfection

Ultraviolet disinfection was first applied in the United States and is now widely used in the United States and Canada. Ultraviolet disinfection technology is a type of physical disinfection method. It has broad-spectrum sterilization capabilities and causes no secondary pollution. After more than 30 years of development, it has become a mature, reliable, efficient, and environmentally friendly disinfection technology, and has been widely used in various fields abroad. In China, due to limited understanding of this technology, its application in wastewater treatment is not extensive. Entering the 21st century, with increasing emphasis on wastewater disinfection and the accumulation of operational experience, ultraviolet disinfection technology will be promoted. It is expected that 50% of wastewater treatment plants with the necessary conditions will adopt ultraviolet disinfection in the future, becoming the mainstream technology to replace traditional chemical disinfection methods.

Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs)

Advanced oxidation processes are technologies for treating toxic pollutants that began to emerge in the 1980s. Their characteristic is the generation of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) through reactions. These radicals have extremely strong oxidizing properties, and through radical reactions, they can effectively decompose organic pollutants, even completely converting them into harmless inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide and water. Because advanced oxidation processes have the advantages of strong oxidizing power and easily controllable operating conditions, they have attracted the attention of countries worldwide, and research and development work in this area has been carried out successively. Advanced oxidation technologies mainly include Fenton oxidation, photocatalytic oxidation, ozone oxidation, ultrasonic oxidation, wet oxidation, and supercritical water oxidation. AOPs technology has advanced economic indicators, is non-toxic, and non-polluting, making it a typical green water treatment technology. Among these, photocatalytic oxidation is the most economical and has become a research hotspot.

Electrodeionization

Electrodeionization, also known as Continuous electrodeionization (EDI/CDI) , is a water treatment technology that combines electrodialysis and ion exchange by filling anion and cation exchange resins between the membranes of an electrodialysis cell. It is considered one of the revolutionary innovations in the field of water treatment.

The concept of electrodeionization was proposed as early as the 1950s, but its large-scale application began only 30 years ago. In 1987, Millipore Corporation of the United States developed the first commercial EDI device: Ionpure CDITM, marking the practical application of EDI technology. Research and development of EDI technology has since entered a period of rapid development. Currently, leading companies abroad include: Millipore (USA), Ionics (USA), E_cell (Canada), and Asahi Glass (Japan).

China's research on EDI technology started relatively early. In the early 1980s, China also established experimental devices for packed-bed electrodialysis, researching ion-exchange conductive network electrodialysis, fiber-packed bed electrodialysis, and resin-packed bed electrodialysis, and established a production base for ion-exchange fibers. The technical level at that time was considered internationally leading. However, due to various reasons and special domestic circumstances, research in this area almost stagnated for more than 10 years. It was not until the mid-1990s, when foreign EDI technology continued to make breakthroughs and was successfully applied in many industrial systems, proving the high application value of EDI, that domestic attention was renewed. From 1996 to the present, many research institutions have been engaged in research work and have achieved good results.

Magnetic separation technology

Magnetic separation technology is a newly developed water treatment technology that utilizes the magnetic properties of impurity particles in wastewater for separation. For non-magnetic or weakly magnetic particles in water, magnetic seeding technology can be used to make them magnetic. There are three methods for applying magnetic separation technology to wastewater treatment: direct magnetic separation, indirect magnetic separation, and microbial-magnetic separation. Currently, the researched magnetization technologies mainly include magnetic flocculation technology, iron salt coprecipitation technology, iron powder method, and ferrite method. Representative magnetic separation equipment includes disc magnetic separators and high-gradient magnetic filters. Currently, magnetic separation technology is still in the laboratory research stage and cannot be applied to actual engineering practice.

Low-temperature plasma water treatment technology

Low-temperature plasma water treatment technology, including high-voltage pulsed discharge plasma water treatment technology and glow discharge plasma water treatment technology, utilizes discharge to directly generate plasma in an aqueous solution, or introduces active particles from gas discharge plasma into water, which can thoroughly oxidize and decompose pollutants in the water. Direct pulsed discharge in an aqueous solution can be operated at room temperature and pressure. The entire discharge process does not require the addition of a catalyst to generate in-situ chemically oxidizing species in the aqueous solution to oxidatively degrade organic matter. This technology is economical and effective for treating low-concentration organic matter. In addition, the reactor form of the pulsed discharge plasma water treatment technology can be flexibly adjusted, the operation process is simple, and the corresponding maintenance costs are also low. Due to limitations of discharge equipment, the energy utilization efficiency of this process for degrading organic matter is relatively low, and the application of plasma technology in water treatment is still in the research and development stage.

Constructed wetland technology

Constructed wetlands are an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and recyclable technology. Constructed wetlands are man-made and controlled areas similar to marshes, where wastewater and sludge are controlled and distributed onto the artificially constructed wetlands. During the flow of wastewater and sludge, the synergistic effects of soil, artificial media, and plants are utilized to treat the wastewater and sludge. In the 1980s and 1990s, this technology was widely used in countries such as Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, among other countries, have also expanded on this concept, integrating constructed wetlands into new landscapes, combining wastewater treatment with tourist attractions.

Combination Water Softening Technology

Combination water softening equipment consists of a fully automatic water softener controller, resin tank (generally fiberglass resin tank and stainless steel resin tank), strong acid cationic sodium ion resin, salt tank, and water softener accessories. It issues instructions to multi-way servo valves or solenoid valves through flow and time control to complete the water supply and regeneration of the water softening equipment. It is the most widely used hard water softening treatment equipment in industrial boilers, cooling circulating water, steelmaking, rolling, large transformers, and domestic hot water boilers.

Forward Osmosis Water Treatment Technology

Forward osmosis (FO) is a newly developed concentration-driven membrane separation technology that relies on the osmotic pressure difference between the two sides of a selective permeable membrane as the driving force to spontaneously achieve water molecule transfer. It is currently one of the research hotspots in the field of membrane separation worldwide. Compared with pressure-driven membrane separation processes such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis, this technology has many unique advantages in terms of its process nature, such as low-pressure or even pressureless operation, resulting in lower energy consumption; almost complete retention of many pollutants, good separation effect; low membrane fouling characteristics; simple membrane process and equipment. It shows good application prospects in many fields, especially in seawater desalination, drinking water treatment, and wastewater treatment.

Regenerated Powdered Activated Carbon Water Treatment Technology

This technology is a domestic innovation. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has a well-developed internal microporous structure with a specific surface area of 1000-1500 m²/g, making it a highly adsorptive material. PAC can effectively remove organic substances with a relative molecular mass of 500-3000 and is mainly used in the fields of drinking water deodorization, emergency treatment of sudden water pollution, and physicochemical treatment of wastewater. The water treatment process of PAC is mostly intermittent operation, which can be used alone or in combination with other methods (adding potassium permanganate, membrane treatment, pre-chlorination, pre-ozonation, adding diatomaceous earth) to improve the quality of effluent water. The regenerated powdered activated carbon technology for wastewater treatment has the advantages of high efficiency and thoroughness, and the material is recyclable and reusable, with low treatment costs.

Electron Beam Radiation Technology

With the development of large cobalt sources and electron accelerator technology, the radiation source problem in the application of electron beam radiation technology has been gradually improved. Research on the treatment of pollutants in wastewater using radiation technology has attracted the attention and importance of various countries.

Electron beam radiation (EB) is a method that uses high-energy electron beams generated by electron accelerators to treat toxic and harmful substances in water. According to its energy action mode, it can be generally divided into two categories: one is that the high-energy electron beam itself directly penetrates the water to treat pollutants; the other is to treat pollutants through the bremsstrahlung or X-rays generated by high-energy electron beams bombarding high-atomic-number metals. In water treatment, the radiation method of electron beam radiation is mainly determined according to the water quality conditions. Radiation technology for treating pollutants is a clean and sustainable technology and has been listed by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a major research direction for the peaceful use of atomic energy in the 21st century.