Abstract
The present study aims to investigate the efficiency of on-site produced ferrate(VI) for drinking water treatment as well as for the removal of micro pollutants. The study examined and validated the laboratory electrochemical production of ferrate(VI) and tested water treatment efficiency of the resulting ferrate(VI) in comparison with that of FeClSO4 and poly-aluminium chloride (PACl). The performance of water treatment was compared by the removal efficiency of turbidity, dissolved organic carbon, microbial count and trace organic micro pollutants. Major observations were that 0.5 mg/L of ferrate(VI) as Fe was sufficient to remove most of the contaminants and achieve complete disinfection irrespective of the original microbial counts. Ferrate(VI) has considerable oxidation potential to degrade commonly occurring trace organic micropollutants (other than melamine) in the Danube River water. In contrast, FeClSO4 or PACl cannot remove any trace micro pollutants.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Glasgow Caledonian University and Zweckverband Bodensee-Wasserversorgung and Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung Water Board of Germany that offered the studentships to H.B.P. Durai to conduct this research study. We also thank staff at Zweckverband Landeswasserversorgung laboratory who assisted to analyse water qualities when conducting this study in the site. The views of this paper may not necessarily represent those of two water companies.
Notes
Presented at the 13th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (CEST 2013), 5–7 September 2013, Athens, Greece