During the last few years, there has been a plethora of research and development in the area of solar photocatalysis. The aim is to understand the fundamental processes and enhance photocatalytic efficiencies especially for air, soil and water pollution control. Municipal waste water is limited by continual organic water pollutants and micro-organisms that are not removed by conventional mechanical and biological treatment. In this overview of the most recent paper, studies focused on the treatment of municipal wastewater (containing organic compounds) by photocatalysis and the effects of various parameters such as pH, light intensity, Advance oxidation method etc. have been studied It can be concluded that the photocatalysis process is suitable for the treatment of drinking water, municipal and industrial wastewater. Some studies on the economic analysis of photocatalytic systems are also included.

Photocatalysis process, as an environmental application, is a relatively novel subject with tremendous potential in the near future. A number of studies determine the economic viability of applying various ultraviolet advanced oxidation processes for the purpose of degradation and destroying of various pollutant solutions. The present paper reviews the treatment of hazardous wastewater bearing organic compounds and the effects of various parameters such as pH, initial concentration, mass of catalyst, wavelength, light intensity, electron acceptor, temperature, etc., with the treatment cost for different reactor type. This study investigates the effect of various types of waste-water treatment parameters and the treatment cost for various designs of photocatalytic reactors, using both solar and artificial light, have been proposed for their different types of pollutants. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.