Effectiveness of Iron Filings in Arsenate and Arsenite Removal from Drinking Water

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 M.Sc., Faculty of Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences

2 Prof., Faculty of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

3 Assist. Prof., Faculty of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

4 Environmental health Expert, Faculty of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

5 Assoc. Prof., Faculty of Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

 Groundwater contamination with arsenic (As) has been recognized as a serious problem and there are various reports from different regions, especially from Kurdistan Providence, indicating the presence of As in the from of arsenate and arsenite in water recourses. Removal of these compounds can be accomplished by various methods but they are all expensive. In this study, three concentrations (0.5, 1, and 1 mg/L) of iron filings (0.25, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 grams) were used as a cheap and available material for adsorption of As and the effects of contact time and pH as well as chloride and sulfate ion concentrations on removal efficiency were determined. Description of adsorption isotherms (Ferundlich and Langmuir) was accomplished. Finally, the data obtained were analyzed using the Excel softwere. The results indicate that iron filings show a high capability in adsorbing both arsenate and arsenic compounds from polluted water samples at pH 7 over a short contact time of 30 minutes. In fact, this cheap adsorbent shows good treatment when used at doses as low as 1g/L with no considerable interference by interfering anions (SO42- and Cl-). It appears that the absorbability of both arsenate and arsenite by iron filings can be expressed by Ferundlich isotherm with R2>0.96, whereas arsenate adsorption (with a R2 value of more than 0.96) can be better described by Langmuir isotherm than arsenite (with R2 value of more than 0.91). Results also indicate that the amount of iron added to water is much more than the standard value of 0.3mg/L set for dinking water. Nevertheless, this method has far greater advantages in terms of costs and availability than similar methods. Besides, as removal by this method is efficient without pH modification, iron filing treatment of drinking water may, therefore, be recomnended as a convenient solution to the problem of water resources polluted with As in Iran.

Keywords

References

1- Uddin, M.M., Haurun-Ar-Rashid, A.K.M., Hossain, S.M., Hafiz, M.A., Nahar, M., and Mubin, S.H. (2006). “Slow arsenic poisoning of the contaminated groundwater users.” Int.J.Environ.Sci.Tech., 3(4), 447-453.
2- Saha, J.C., Dikshit, A.K., Bandyopadhyay, M., and Saha, K.C.(1999). “A review of arsenic poisoning and its effects on human health.” Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., 29(3), 281-313.
3- Korte, N.E., and Fernando, Q.(1991). “A review of Arsenic (III) in groundwater.” Crit Rev. Environ. Control., 21(1), 1-9.
4- Kelly, B., Payne, T.M., and Abdel, F.(2005). “Adsorption of Arsenate and Arsenite by Iron-treated activated carbon and Zeolites: effects of pH, temperature, and ionic strength.” J. of Environmental Science and Health., 40 (4), 723-49.
5- Smedley, P.L., and Kinniburgh, D.G.( 2002). “A review of the source, behaviour and distribution of arsenic in natural waters.” J. Appl. Geochem., 17 (5), 517-568.
6- Lackovic, J.A., Nikolaidis, N.P., and Dobbs, G.M.(2000). “Inorganic arsenic removal by zero-valent iron.” Environ. Eng. Sci., 17(1), 29-39.
7- Kartinen, E.O., and Martin, C.J.(1995). “An overview of arsenic removal processes.” Desalination, 103 (1-2),
78-88.
8- Bitner, M.J., and Chwirka, J.D.(1994). “Arsenic removal treatment technologies for drinking water supplies.” Proceedings of 39th New Mexico Water Conference,Albuquerque, N.M, 251-255.
9- Pierce, M.L., Moore, C.B.(1992). “Adsorption of arsenite and arsenate on amorphous iron hydroxide.” Water Res., 16 (7), 1247-1253.
10- Hsia, T.H., Lo, S.L., Lin, C.F.(1994). “Characterization of arsenate adsorption on hydrous iron oxide using chemical and physical methods.” Colloids Surf. A: Physicochem Eng. Aspects., 5 (1), 1-7.
11- مسافری ، م. (1384). ”بررسی عوارض بهداشتی ناشی از آرسنیک در آب استان کردستان و روشهای حذف آن.“ پایان نامه دوره دکترای مهندسی بهداشت محیط ، دانشکده بهداشت ، دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران.
12- Nicolaose, N.P., Dobbs, G.M. and Lackovic, J.A. (2003). “Arsenic removal by Zero- Valent iron: field, laboratory and modeling studies.” Water Research, 37(6), 1417- 1425.
13- Zeng, L. (2003). “A method for preparing silica-containing iron(III) oxide adsorbents for arsenic removal.” Water Research, 37(18), 4351-4358.
14- Zhang, Y., Yang, M., and Huang, X. (2003). “Arsenic(V) removal with a Ce(IV)-doped iron oxide adsorbent.” Chemosphere, 51( 9), 945-952.
15- Lien, H. L., and Wilkin, R.T. (2005). “High-level arsenite removal from groundwater by zero- valent iron.” Chemosphere, 59( 3), 377-380.
16-Leupin, O.X., Hug, J.S.(2005). “Oxidation and removal of arsenic(III) from aerated groundwater by filtration through sand and zero-valent iron.” Water Research., 39 (9), 1729-1740.
17- Deschamps, E., Virginia, S.T., and Wolfgang, H.H. (2005). “Removal of As(III) and As(V) from water using a natural Fe and Mn enriched sample.” Water Research, 39(20), 5212-5220.
18- Badruzzaman.M., Westerhoff.P., and Kanappe.R.U.(2004). “Intraparticle diffusion and adsorption of  arsenic of arsenate onto GFH.” Water Research, 38(18), 4002-4012.
19- مصداقی نیا، ع.ر.، مسافری، م .، یونسیان، م.، ناصری، س.، محوی ا. م. (1384).”سنجش غلظت آرسنیک در آب آشامیدنی یک منطقه آلوده به آرسنیک از طریق راه اندازی روش آزمایشگاهی SDDC و استفاده از یک روش صحرایی به همراه ارزیابی دقت و صحت روش‌ها. “ حکیم، 8 (1)، 43-51.
20- APHA., AWWA. and WPCF. (1998). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th Ed., American Public Health Association,Washington,D.C.
21- Ramaswami, A., Tawachsupa, S., and Isleyen, M. (2001). “Batch-Mixed iron treatment of high arsenic waters.” Wat. Res., 35 (18), 4474-4479.
22- Tyrovola, K., Pperoulaki, E., and Nikolaos, P.N. (2007). “Modeling of arsenic immobilization by zero-valent iron.” European Journal of Soil Biology, 43(5-6), 356-367.
23- Zhang, G., Ou, J., Liu, H., Liu, R., and Wu, R.(2007). “Preparation and evaluation of a novel Fe-Mn binary oxide adsorbent for effective arsenite removal.” Water Research, 41 (9), 1921-1928.
24- Bang, S., Johnson, M.D., Korfiatis, G.P., and Meng, X. (2005). “Chemical reaction between arsenic and zero-valent iron in water.” Water Research, 39 (5), 763- 770.
Journal of Water and Wastewater; Ab va Fazilab ( in persian )
Volume 20, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
Serial number:71
September and October 2009
Pages 18-25

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics