The removal of arsenic during drinking water treatment by sorption and coagulation processes

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the factors which affect the removal of arsenic from groundwater by adsorption and coagulation technologies, including the interactions between As and natural organic matter (NOM). Humic acid (HA) was utilised as an NOM analogue, and was shown to be capable of both complexing and oxidising As, depending upon the prevailing conditions. The arsenic removing capabilities of three iron oxide coated sands (IOCS) were investigated, including IOCSW, a waste material from a local drinking water treatment plant generated during the removal of iron and manganese. IOCSW was highly effective at removing both As(V) and As(III) from synthetic water matrices (qmax = 78.3 µg As(V)/g and 99.1 µg As(III)/g). The negative effects of competitive anions (phosphates, silicates and HA) on arsenic removals were not significant enough to preclude the application of IOCSW for arsenic removal during drinking water treatment. The removals of both As and NOM by coagulation and enhanced coagulation with pH correction and preoxidation were also investigated. As(V) was more readily removed by coagulation than As(III), so that the most efficient coagulation treatment investigated for arsenic and NOM removal applied preozonation with subsequent combined coagulation with polyaluminium chloride and ferric chloride. Different groundwaters displayed large variations in the As and NOM removal behaviours. Response surface methodology (RSM) was therefore applied to investigate the interactions between As and NOM during ferric chloride coagulation and optimise their combined removals. Multiple interaction effects were observed during this investigation, highlighting the importance of utilizing RSM to optimise drinking water treatment technologies.

Ova disertacija ispituje faktore koji utiču na uklanjanje arsena iz podzemne vode primenom adsorpcija i koagulacije, uključujući i interakcije između arsena i prirodnih organskih materija (POM). Huminska kiselina (HA) je korisćena kao model za POM, a pokazano je da može i da kompleksira i da oksiduje As, u zavisnosti od eksperimentalnih uslova. Ispitivane su mogućnosti uklanjanja arsena za tri peska obložena gvožđe oksidom (IOCS), uključujući IOCSW, koji je dobijen sa postrojenja za tretman vode za piće i potiče iz procesa uklanjanja gvožđa i mangana. IOCSW se pokazao kao visoko efikasan za uklanjanje As(V) i As(III) iz sintetičkih vodenih matriksa (qmax = 78.3 µg As(V)/g i 99.1 µg As(III)/g). Negativni efekti kompetirajućih jona (fosfata, silikata i HA) na uklanjanje arsena nisu bili dovoljno značajni da bi se isključila primena IOCSW za uklanjanje arsena tokom tretmana vode za piće. Zajedničko uklanjanje As i POM koagulacijom i unapređenom koagulacijom uz podešavanje pH i kombinovanje sa oksidacionim predtretmanima je takođe ispitivano. Bolje uklanjanje koagulacijom postignuto je za As(V) u odnosu na As(III), stoga se kao najefikasniji ispitivani koagulacioni tretman pokazalo uklanjanje arsena i POM primenom predozonizacije praćene kombinovanom koagulacijom sa polialuminijum hloridom i gvožđe hloridom. Ispitivanja na različitim podzemnim vodama, pokazala su velike varijacije u ponašanju As i POM tokom tretmana. Iz tog razloga je primenjena metodologija odzivne površine (RSM) u cilju ispitivanja interakcija između As i POM tokom koagulacije gvožđe hloridom i optimizacije njihovog kombinovanog uklanjanja. Sagledavanje većeg broja interakcija primenom metodologije odzivne površine potvrđuje važnost njegove primene pri optimizaciji tretmana vode za piće.