Comparison between Ozonation and Photo-Fenton Processes for Pesticide Methomyl Removal in Advanced Greenhouses

So-called “Advanced Greenhouses” are a new approach to the concept of protected agriculture. Among other technological and structural improvements, these facilities give the possibility of recycling the irrigation surplus water, rich in lixiviates, salts, pesticides and its metabolites. After many cycles, the current is so concentrated on those substances that it becomes necessary for the presence of a membrane separation stage which brine, highly concentrated on those named pollutants, has to be treated before being sent to the public sewage system. Advanced Oxidation Processes, among other chemical treatments, can be considered an alternative to process this current effluent. In this work, concentrated aqueous solutions of methomyl as model pesticide (200 mg·L−1) have been subjected to two of those processes: ozonation and photo-Fenton reaction. Analysis of the elimination of the pesticide itself and the grade of mineralization achieved have shown how, while the ozonation is the most effective process d...