Arsenic is mainly removed from groundwater by adsorption onto, or co-precipitation with iron flocs and -deposits. The efficiency of this process depends on various factors, amongst which the oxidation state of arsenic, adsorption competition or poor iron floc removal. The aim of this study was to assess the adsorption efficiency of arsenic in full-scale groundwater treatment plants in the Netherlands. Adsorption efficiency is dependent on the concentration of adsorbent (Fe) and adsorbate (As), both of which vary considerably at the various treatment plants. To allow comparing treatment plants at these different Fe and As concentrations, the framework of a linearized isotherm graph was used. As a reference, jar tests were executed to derive adsorption isotherms of As(III) and As(V) based on co-removal with Fe²⁺ precipitation. All treatment plants have a higher adsorption efficiency than the As(III) reference, and lower adsorption efficiency than the As(V) reference. Treatment plants with an efficiency close to the As(III) reference may suffer from incomplete arsenic oxidation, although other causes cannot be ruled out. Classifying removal efficiency can be used in an initial research phase to identify treatment plants with relatively poor performance as candidates for improvement. Furthermore, treatment plants can be grouped into categories with similar adsorption efficiency, aiding in identification of common factors responsible for As removal.

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To prevent eutrophication of surface water, phosphate needs to be removed from sewage. Iron (Fe) dosing is commonly used to achieve this goal either as the main strategy or in support of biological removal. Vivianite (Fe(II) ₃ (PO ₄ ) ₂ * 8H ₂ O) plays a crucial role in capturing the phosphate, and if enough iron is present in the sludge after anaerobic digestion, 70–90% of total phosphorus (P) can be bound in vivianite. Based on its paramagnetism and inspired by technologies used in the mining industry, a magnetic separation procedure has been developed. Two digested sludges from sewage treatment plants using Chemical Phosphorus Removal were processed with a lab-scale Jones magnetic separator with an emphasis on the characterization of the recovered vivianite and the P-rich caustic solution. The recovered fractions were analyzed with various analytical techniques (e.g., ICP-OES, TG-DSC-MS, XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy). The magnetic separation showed a concentration factor for phosphorus and iron of 2–3. The separated fractions consist of 52–62% of vivianite, 20% of organic matter, less than 10% of quartz and a small quantity of siderite. More than 80% of the P in the recovered vivianite mixture can be released and thus recovered via an alkaline treatment while the resulting iron oxide has the potential to be reused. Moreover, the trace elements in the P-rich caustic solution meet the future legislation for recovered phosphorus salts and are comparable to the usual content in Phosphate rock. The efficiency of the magnetic separation and the advantages of its implementation in WWTP are also discussed in this paper.

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Our aim was to systematically investigate the influence of anions (HPO4 2−), cations (Ca2+, Mg2+) and neutral H4SiO4 on Fe flocculation and As(III) removal in the complex natural water matrix. For this purpose, three different anaerobic groundwaters were selected and manipulated by dosing of Ca2+, Mg2+, HPO4 2−, or by their removal by cation – and anion exchange. The change in Fe floc volume and of dissolved Fe and As were followed in aerated jar experiments. Fe floc growth was improved by addition of Ca2+ or Mg2+, and hindered by their removal. This hindered floc growth was more severe for groundwaters with higher P:Fe ratios, where Fe flocs carry a larger net negative surface charge, and rely stronger on Ca2+ or Mg2+ for charge neutralisation. When expressing the charge balance of the different groundwaters as the molar ratio (Ca2+ + Mg2+)/P, a linear relationship was found with the cumulative Fe floc volume, with a plateau at molar ratios >500. At environmentally relevant concentrations, H4SiO4 was found more likely to compete with As(III) for adsorption capacity than HPO4 2−. As(III) removal was strongly related to Fe removal - independent of Ca2+ or Mg2+ presence - indicating that As(III) is primarily adsorbed at an early stage in the flocculation process.@en

In this study, the importance of charge interactions during flocculation of Fe3+ in the presence of particles and anions/cations at various pH values was investigated. SiO2, (s) and ZnO(s) were dosed as particles to promote charge interactions and/or serve as a nucleus to accelerate floc formation. In the pH range 6–9, SiO2, (s) is negatively charged, while ZnO(s) carries a positive charge. Ca2+ and HPO4 2- were selected to investigate charge interactions in the water phase. A significant delay in floc growth due to charge repulsion between negatively charged iron species was observed at pHini 9. For positively charged species at pHini 6, a delay in floc growth was observed as well, but to a lesser degree. These effects could be neutralized by either dosing (positively charged) ZnO(s) or Ca2+ at pHini 9, or (negatively charged) SiO2, (s) at pHini 6. The addition of phosphate did not hinder floc growth at pHini 6. While phosphate completely inhibited floc growth at pHini 7–9 in the presence of negatively charged SiO2, (s), the presence of positively charged ZnO(s) partly neutralized the detrimental influence of phosphate on floc growth. Similarly, dosing Ca2+ partly neutralized the effect of phosphate.@en

The combination of ozonation and activated carbon (AC) adsorption is an established technology for removal of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs). In contrast to oxidation, reduction of TrOCs has recently gained attention as well, however less attention has gone to the combination of reduction with AC adsorption. In addition, no literature has compared the removal behavior of reduction vs. ozonation by-products by AC. In this study, the effect of pre-ozonation vs pre-catalytic reduction on the AC adsorption efficiency of five TrOCs and their by-products was compared. All compounds were susceptible to oxidation and reduction, however the catalytic reductive treatment proved to be a slower reaction than ozonation. New oxidation products were identified for dinoseb and new reduction products were identified for carbamazepine, bromoxynil and dinoseb. In terms of compatibility with AC adsorption, the influence of the oxidative and reductive pretreatments proved to be compound dependent. Oxidation products of bromoxynil and diatrizoic acid adsorbed better than their parent TrOCs, but oxidation products of atrazine, carbamazepine and dinoseb showed a decreased adsorption. The reductive pre-treatment showed an enhanced AC adsorption for dinoseb and a major enhancement for diatrizoic acid. For atrazine and bromoxynil, no clear influence on adsorption was noted, while for carbamazepine, the reductive pretreatment resulted in a decreased AC affinity. It may thus be concluded that when targeting mixtures of TrOCs, a trade-off will undoubtedly have to be made towards overall reactivity and removal of the different constituents, since no single treatment proves to be superior to the other.

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To evaluate the performance of zeolite-supported carbon-doped TiO2 composite catalysts toward target pollutants under solar light irradiation, the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of 18 pharmaceuticals and pesticides with distinguishing features (molecular size and volume, and photolysis) were investigated using mordenite zeolites with SiO2/Al2O3 ratios of 18 and 240. Different quantities of carbon-doped TiO2 were coated on the zeolites, and then the finished composite catalysts were tested in demineralized, surface, and hospital wastewater samples, respectively. The composite photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and surface area and porosity analyses. Results showed that a dispersed layer of carbon-doped TiO2 is formed on the zeolite surface; this layer blocks the micropores of zeolites and reduces their surface area. However, these reductions did not significantly affect adsorption onto the zeolites. Our results demonstrated that zeolite-supported carbon-doped TiO2 systems can effectively degrade 18 pharmaceuticals and pesticides in demineralized water under natural and simulated solar light irradiation. In surface and hospital wastewaters, zeolite-supported carbon-doped TiO2 systems present excellent anti-interference capability against radical scavengers and competitive organics for pollutants removal, and higher pollutants adsorption on zeolites evidently enhances the removal rate of target pollutants in surface and hospital wastewater samples with a complicated matrix. @en

To probe advantages in TiO2/5A zeolite composite system, the photocatalytic degradation and adsorption of the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) by unsupported TiO2 and 5A zeolite coated with 15 mass% TiO2 (15%T5A) under a series of conditions were investigated. The primary adsorption results indicated that 5A had much better adsorptive capability of OTC than TiO2 except at high pH values (pH = 11). A multivariate analysis and a response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to develop a quadratic model as a functional relationship between OTC removal efficiency and the independent variables (the initial pH values and the dosage of the catalyst). The optimal OTC removal conditions found with 15%T5A dosage were 1.00 g/L for pH 5 and 7, 0.80 g/L for pH 9, and 0.68 g/L for pH 11. Under these conditions, the 15%T5A composite photocatalysis showed a quicker OTC removal and degradation speed than unsupported TiO2. Besides, competitive organics like tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), methanol and humid acid, were added during the photocatalytic degradation of OTC by UV + TiO2 and UV + 15%T5A at pH 7. The experimental results indicated that the 15%T5A composite system had a better anti-interference capability of radical scavengers, and humid acid at a low concentration than unsupported TiO2. Moreover, the 15%T5A proved a more stable activity during recycled use and a much quicker sedimentation performance than nano-TiO2. @en