Iron and manganese removal from drinking water

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to find a suitable method for removal of iron and manganese from ground water, considering both local economical and environmental aspects. Ground water is a highly important source of drinking water in Romania. Ground water is naturally pure from bacteria at a 25 m depth or more. However, solved metals may occur and if the levels are too high, the water is not drinkable. Different processes, such as electrochemical and combined electrochemical-adsorption methods have been applied to determine metals content in accordance to reports of National Water Agency from Romania (ANAR). Every water source contains dissolved or particulate compounds. The concentrations of these compounds can affect health, productivity, compliance requirements, or serviceability and cannot be economically removed by conventional filtration means. In this study, we made a comparison between the electrochemical and adsorption methods (using membranes). Both methods have been used to evaluate the efficiency of iron and manganese removal at various times and temperatures. We used two membrane types: composite and cellulose, respectively. Different approaches, including lowering the initial current density and increasing the initial pH were applied. Reaction kinetics was achieved using mathematical models: Jura and Temkin.