A water treatment apparatus, upper surfaces of two of the consecutively arranged ground electrodes are alternately inclined in opposite directions with respect to a horizontal plane, a gap is formed between a lower surface of an upper side ground electrode and an upper surface of a lower side ground electrode, a voltage is applied to a discharge electrode provided in the gap, thereby forming discharges both in air between the discharge electrode and the lower surface of the upper side ground electrode and in air between the discharge electrode and the upper surface of the lower side ground electrode, and water to be treated is caused to continuously flow downward from the ground electrode of an uppermost part to the ground electrode of a lowermost part along the respective upper surfaces such that the water to be treated is treated.

A plant growth promoting system according to the present invention makes foliar application of nitric oxide containing a mineral material, an enzymatic material, and a soil microorganism to a root part and leaves of a plant by pressure spraying, makes foliar application of carbonated water containing a plant growth promoter and a moisture fluctuation inhibitor to leaves of the plant by pressure spraying, and applies quantum energy to a round surface and an aerial part of the plant, thus providing the effect of promoting the growth of the plant.

An electrochemical oxidation reactor includes rotatable electrodes inside a reactor vessel. The electrodes treat liquid within the reactor and are mounted to support plates, which in turn are mounted on each of two independently-driven shafts. The plates are attached to each other in a spaced relationship so that a gap is formed therebetween. The gap is sized to receive liquid to be treated so that liquid located within the gap will react with the electrodes. The shafts are rotatable at equal or different relative rotational speeds and directions. Additionally, each shaft may be independently linearly displaced in an oscillatory movement at equal or different frequencies. The relative shaft rotation, direction and axial vibration translate similar movements to the electrodes and such movement generates turbulence to the liquid located within the gap. The turbulence increases the interaction between liquid and the electrodes.

A high-specific surface area and super-hydrophilic gradient boron-doped diamond electrode is disclosed. The electrode directly uses a substrate as an electrode matrix; or a transition layer is disposed on a surface of the substrate and used as the electrode matrix. A gradient boron-doped diamond layer is disposed on a surface of the electrode matrix, and a contact angle of the electrode is θ<40°. The gradient boron-doped diamond layer includes: a gradient boron-doped diamond bottom layer, a gradient boron-doped diamond middle layer, and a gradient boron-doped diamond top layer, a boron content of which gradually increases, so the gradient boron-doped diamond layer has high adhesion, high corrosion resistance, and high catalytic activity. The high-content boron of the top layer is combined with a one-time high-temperature treatment, so the gradient boron-doped diamond electrode has a high-specific surface area and superhydrophilicity, which may greatly improve the mineralization and degradation efficiency of the electrode.

Formulations and methods for destroying dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) using in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) are provided. In particular, the invention provides slow release formulations comprising oxidants such as percarbonate and persulfate that efficiently destroy DNAPLs e.g. at sites requiring clean-up due to the presence of toxic DNAPL contaminants.

The invention of the current application is directed to a wastewater treatment apparatus. The invention includes a divided membrane electrochemical cell including an anode contained within a anode compartment and cathode contained within a cathode compartment. The anode compartment and said cathode compartment are separated by a proton selective membrane. The invention also includes a voltage source, and a liquid-gas separator. The invention is an economically viable electrochemical advanced oxidation system that can cost-effectively treat recalcitrant COD with low energy, without the necessity for chemicals, and reduce or prevent sludge production in a single step.

A method and apparatus break down organic materials, typically contaminants, through oxidation. The method for the treatment of a volume of material, provides: a) introducing at least two electrodes into a location, the location containing the volume of material and the volume of material containing one or more species for treatment; b) providing connections between a voltage source and the at least two electrodes; c) applying a voltage of a first polarity to the connections for a first period of time, under the control of a voltage controller; d) applying a voltage of a second, reversed, polarity to the connections for a second period of time, under the control of the voltage controller; e) repeating steps c) and d) a plurality of times; preferably with steps c), d) and e) promoting oxidation of one or more of the one or more species for treatment.

A water treatment vessel (10) causes electric discharge in water stored therein to produce a sterilizing factor. The water treatment vessel (10) moves in accordance with the level of water in a reservoir (30) to be switched between a discharging state where the water treatment vessel (10) and the reservoir (30) have no communication, and a pair of electrodes (16, 17) are immersed in water in the water treatment vessel (10) to cause the electric discharge, and a draining state where the pair of electrodes (16, 17) come out of water in the water treatment vessel (10) to stop the electric discharge, and water flows out of the water treatment vessel (10) into the reservoir (30). The water supplier (20) supplies water to the water treatment vessel (10) in the draining state, and stop the supply of water to the water treatment vessel (10) in the discharging state.

The invention relates to a bioactive composition for killing cells, comprising at least a first and a second half cell, the half cells being in electrically conductive contact with each other at least by their respective surfaces such that short-circuit elements are generated in the presence of water and oxygen. According to the invention the first half cell comprises at least one semiconductive compound of at least one transition metal element, which exhibits multiple oxidation states and allows a change of the oxidation states by means of catalytically active centers, so that oxygen is reduced and active oxygen species are produced at the first half cell, and wherein the second half cell comprises at least one electrically conductive silver semiconductor which absorbs electrons emitted by the cells or organic material. By means of particles coated with the composition according to the invention, for example, E. coli bacteria can be effectively and reliably killed with both a ruthenium oxide/silver chloride version (a-c) and a ruthenium oxide/silver sulfide version (d-f).

A method for electrochemical disinfection of an aqueous solution, the method comprising the steps of: providing one or more disinfecting cells for retaining an aqueous solution, each disinfecting cell including one or more electrode pairs positioned therein; arranging the one or more disinfecting cells along a flow path, the flow path including an inlet to and an outlet from the one or more disinfecting cells; determining at the one or more disinfecting cells the electrical conductivity, or specific conductance of the aqueous solution; determining from the electrical conductivity, or specific conductance of the aqueous solution a voltage to apply across the one or more electrode pairs at a current sufficient to produce disinfection species therein; and passing the current from the one or more electrode pairs to the aqueous solution to produce a modified aqueous solution.