Effect of pH on the uptake of arsenic from contaminated water by activated alumina

摘要

A process has been developed to remove arsenic from contaminated water and wastewater. The effect of initial and operating pH on the uptake of arsenic by two types of activated alumina was investigated in this work. Arsenic concentrations of less than 50 mu g/L were obtained within ten minutes from solutions with initial arsenic levels of greater than 40 mg/L. Lower residual arsenic concentrations were achieved when a constant pH was maintained throughout the experiments. The optimum pH for arsenic removal was between 2 and 5, with pH 3 resulting in better aresenic removal. The effect of the presence of sulphate on arsenic uptake by alumina was studied. The presence of sulphate at concentrations higher than 100 mg/L significantly inhibited arsenic adsorption. References: 32