Towards a sustainable water supply: Humic acid removal employing coagulation and tangential cross flow microfiltration

Abstract

Synthetic solutions assimilating irrigated groundwater containing varying concentrations of humic acid (10 mg/L), saline (10-35 g/L) and metal agents (5-10 mg/L), were processed through a ceramic microfiltration membrane (Sterilox Ltd., 0.5 μm). This was done with enrichment schemes using polymeric coagulants (PDADMAC) applied to enhance the removal of the above-mentioned pollutants. The study was conducted with the scope of investigating the feasibility of sequential and hybrid coagulation and microfiltration as a method of choice for drinking water treatment. Membrane microfiltration is easily scalable into various arrangements, allowing versatility in operation and enrichment schemes, with a relatively lower cost which other treatment practices do not allow. The highest humic acid removal, 91.11% was achieved with hybrid coagulation.