Removal of arsenic from groundwater using activated carbon

• Main Authors: Abad, Jayzee Harold R., Aunario, Josemari D., Cruz, April C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Arsenic > Environmental aspects; Carbon, Activated; Groundwater
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5941
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study focused on the removal of arsenic from simulated groundwater by adsorption using granulated activated carbon (GAC) as an adsorbent. Batch experiments were done in order to determine which among the three locally available activated carbon in the Philippines namely activated carbon coming from Mapecon, Pacific and ITDI-DOST was the best. Column experiments were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of GAC in the removal of As(V) in simulated groundwater under these three parameters: initial concentration, flow rate, and pH. Using the field kit apparatus of Hiromi Hironaka from Japan in the analysis, it was found out that GAC from Mapecon was the best among the three adsorbents used under different pH and different initial concentrations. For the effective pH, results from batch experiments showed that adsorption of As(V) was more effective at low pH in particular pH = 4 and at an initial concentration of 0.1 mg/L. The column experiments resulted an effective adsorption of As(V) at a flow rate of 10 mL/min, with an initial concentration of 0.1 mg/L and a pH of 6 (for single flow adsorption). These results met the World Health Organization's standard for drinking water which is 0.01 mg/L for arsenic-contaminated water. In the column experiments, the saturation point was at a volume of 7000 mL. It was at this point that no more adsorption of arsenic occurred.