Applying chemical sedimentation process in drinking water treatment plant to address the emergent arsenic spills in water sources

Abstract

Arsenic (As) spills occurred more frequently and sometimes polluted water sources in recent years in China. It is as urgent need to develop emergency treatment technologies to address the arsenic threat for large-scale water treatment plants. In response, we developed a chemical sedimentation technology to remove arsenic contaminants for water treatment plants. Bench-scale experiments were conducted to investigate the efficiency of arsenic removal and the influencing factors of the chemical sedimentation treatment process. The influencing factors included the choice and dosage of coagulants, the valence of arsenic and pH value of solution. The As(V) contaminants can be almost completely removed by ferric or alum coagulants. The As(III) contaminants are more recalcitrant to chemical sedimentation, 75% for ferric coagulant and 40% for alum coagulant. The quantitative results of arsenic removal load by different ferric or alum coagulants were presented to help determine the parameters for arsenic treatment technology. The dominant mechanism for arsenic removal is static combination, or adsorption of negative arsenic species onto positive ferric hydroxide or alum hydroxide flocs. The efficiency of this treatment technology has also been demonstrated by a real production test in one water treatment plant with arsenic-rich source water and one emergency response. This technology was verified to be quick to set-up, easy to operate and highly efficient even for high concentration of arsenic.

Keywords

Arsenic spill / chemical sedimentation / coagulation / drinking water / emergency treatment

References

[1] Jain C K, Ali I. Arsenic: occurrence, toxicity and speciation techniques. Water Research, 2000, 34(17): 4304–4312

[2] Chappell W R, Abernathy C O, Calderon R L, Thomas D J. Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects V. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 2003

[3] Chappell W R, Abernathy C O, Calderon R L. Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects III. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1999

[4] Shah A Q, Kazi T G, Arain M B, Baig J A, Afridi H I, Kandhro G A, Khan S, Jamali M K. Hazardous impact of arsenic on tissues of same fish species collected from two ecosystem. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2009, 167(1–3): 511–515

[5] World Health Organization. Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. 3rd ed. Geneva: WHO Press, 2004

[6] Choong T S Y, Chuah T G, Robiaha Y, Koay F L G, Azni I. Arsenic toxicity, health hazards and removal techniques from water: an overview. Desalination, 2007, 217(1–3): 139–166

[7] Ministry of Health. China. Standards for Drinking Water Quality (GB5749–2006). Beijing: Standards Press of China, 2007 (in Chinese)

[8] Chakraborti D, Rahman M M, Das B, Murrill M, Dey S, Chandra Mukherjee S, Dhar R K, Biswas B K, Chowdhury U K, Roy S, Sorif S, Selim M, Rahman M, Quamruzzaman Q. Status of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh: a 14-year study report. Water Research, 2010, 44(19): 5789–5802

[9] Wang S, Mulligan C N. Occurrence of arsenic contamination in Canada: sources, behavior and distribution. Science of the Total Environment, 2006, 366(2-3): 701–721

[10] Zhang X J, Chen C, Lin P F, Hou A X, Niu Z B, Wang J. Emergency drinking water treatment during source water pollution accidents in China: origin analysis, framework and technologies. Environmental Science & Technology, 2011, 45(1): 161–167

[11] Zhang X, Chen C. Emergency drinking water treatment in source water pollution incident: Technology and practice in China. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 2009, 3(3): 364–368

[12] Zhang X, Chen C, Li Y. A new approach of emergency treatment of drinking water and its application in an arsenic pollution accident in Duliu Creek, Guizhou Province. Water & wastewater Engineering, 2008, 34(6): 14–18

[13] Liu C. Activated alumina adsorption law in river course arsenic pollution government application. Environmental Monitoring and Forewarning, 2011, 3(2): 13–16

[14] Thella K, Verma B, Srivastava V C, Srivastava K K. Electrocoagulation study for the removal of arsenic and chromium from aqueous solution. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, Environmental Science and Engineering & Toxic and Hazardous Substance Control, 2008, 43(5): 554–562

[15] Figoli A, Cassano A, Criscuoli A, Mozumder M S I, Uddin M T, Islam M A, Drioli E. Influence of operating parameters on the arsenic removal by nanofiltration. Water Research, 2010, 44(1): 97–104

[16] Li Y, Wang J, Luan Z, Liang Z. Arsenic removal from aqueous solution using ferrous based red mud sludge. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2010, 177(1-3): 131–137

[17] Daus B, Wennrich R, Weiss H. Sorption materials for arsenic removal from water: a comparative study. Water Research, 2004, 38(12): 2948–2954

[18] Lakshmanan D, Clifford D A, Samanta G. Comparative study of arsenic removal by iron using electrocoagulation and chemical coagulation. Water Research, 2010, 44(19): 5641–5652

[19] Pallier V, Feuillade-Cathalifaud G, Serpaud B, Bollinger J C. Effect of organic matter on arsenic removal during coagulation/flocculation treatment. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2010, 342(1): 26–32

[20] Tyruvola K, Nikolaidis N P, Veranis N, Kallithrakas-Kontos N, Koulouridakis P E. Arsenic removal from geothermal waters with zero-valent iron—effect of temperature, phosphate and nitrate. Water Research, 2006, 40(12): 2375–2386

[21] Wickramasinghe S R, Han B, Zimbron J, Shen Z, Karim M N. Arsenic removal by coagulation and filtration: Comparison of groundwaters from the United States and Bangladesh. Desalination, 2004, 169(3): 231–244

[22] Tubić A, Agbaba J, Dalmacija B, Ivancev-Tumbas I, Dalmacija M. Removal of arsenic and natural organic matter from groundwater using ferric and alum salts: a case study of central Banat region (Serbia). Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part A, Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering, 2010, 45(3): 363–369

[23] Leist M, Casey R J, Caridi D. The management of arsenic wastes: problems and prospects. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2000, 76(1): 125–138

[24] Ministry Of Health. China. Standards Examination Methods for Drinking Water: Metal Parameters (GB/T 5750.6–2006). Beijing: Standards Press of China, 2007 (in Chinese)

[25] Ghurye G, Clifford D.Laboratory study on the oxidation of arsenic III to arsenic V, EPA/600/R-01/021, 2011

[26] Hu C, Liu H, Chen G, Qu J. Effect of aluminum speciation on arsenic removal during coagulation process. Separation and Purification Technology, 2012, 86(15): 35–40

[27] Speight J. Lange’s Handbook of Chemistry. 16th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004

[28] Lakshmanan D, Clifford D, Samanta G. Arsenic removal by coagulation with aluminum, iron, titanium, and zirconium. American Water Works Association Journal, 2008, 100(2): 76–88

[29] Edwards M. Chemistry of arsenic removal during coagulation and Fe-Mn oxidation. Journal American Water Works Association, 1994, 86(9): 64–78

[30] Yuan T, Luo Q F, Hu J Y, Ong S L, Ng W J. A study on arsenic removal from household drinking water. Journal of Environmental Science and Health. Part A, Toxic/Hazardous Substances & Environmental Engineering, 2003, 38(9): 1731–1744

[31] Höll W H. Mechanisms of arsenic removal from water. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2010, 32(4): 287–290

[32] Xie B, Fan M, Banerjee K, Leeuwen J. Modeling of arsenic(V) adsorption onto granular ferric hydroxide. American Water Works Association Journal, 2007, 99(11): 92–101

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg