EEM spectra also demonstrated the gradual breakdown of humic
acid-like and fulvic acid-like matter during irradiation, consistent
with the removal of colour and A254. The humic acid-like and fulvic
acid-like peaks took the longest time to be removed as they comprised
the major component (87%) of the fluorescent matter. The
rates obtained from the FRI results were comparable with the k values
for colour and A254 removal in that the relative reaction rates
for the various UV treatments were the same