Method and apparatus for water treatment

A method of water treatment which comprises providing an electrolytic cell having an anode chamber including an anode and a cathode chamber including a cathode, supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the cathode chamber and an acid-containing liquid to be treated comprising water to the anode chamber, passing an electric current through said electrolytic cell to generate hydrogen peroxide and an oxidation product by electrolysis, and contacting the liquid to be treated with said hydrogen peroxide and oxidation product to obtain treated water.

A method of water treatment which comprises electrolyzing water containing an inorganic salt in a first electrolytic cell to produce an acid and an alkali, adding the acid thus obtained to a liquid to be treated comprising water to prepare an acid-containing liquid to be treated, providing a second electrolytic cell comprising a gas diffusion cathode which partitions the second electrolytic cell into a cathode chamber and an anode chamber including an anode, supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the cathode and said acid-containing liquid to be treated to the anode chamber, electrolyzing the acid-containing liquid to be treated in said second electrolytic cell to generate hydrogen peroxide and an oxidation product by electrolysis, and contacting the liquid to be treated with said hydrogen peroxide and oxidation product to obtain treated water.

An apparatus for water treatment which comprises a first electrolytic cell for producing an acid and an alkali and a second electrolytic cell for producing hydrogen peroxide and an oxidant for treating a liquid comprising water, said second electrolytic cell having an inlet for receiving the liquid to be treated and an outlet for recovering treated water, said apparatus further comprising a first pipe for supplying said acid produced by said first electrolytic cell into the liquid to be treated.