A novel method for the removal of ammonia in hospital wastewater using flow electrolysis

Abstract

Ammonia in hospital wastewater is a very serious problem. Various methods have been used to treatment of ammonia in hospital wastewater. These various methods have many weaknesses such as high cost, uneconomical, complicated in processing and generating new waste. The flow electrolysis method is an efficient method, low cost, easy to process, does not produce new waste, and does not require advanced methods. Reducing NH3 concentration in hospital wastewater by flow electrolysis method using carbon electrode has been done. This work was conducted using various electrode circuits (series and parallel), water flow circulation (3, 6, 9, and 12 times), and various voltages (10, 15, 20, and 25 V). Hospital wastewater sample before and after treatment was analyzed using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer at wavelength 640 nm. The results showed that the optimum condition used was a positive-negative parallel circuit at voltage 20 V and 12 times circulation with a degradation concentration of NH3 (87.50%). The electrolysis flow method can be used to reduce NH3 concentration in hospital liquid waste effectively.