Characterization and Arsenic Adsorption Behaviors of Water Treatment Residuals from Waterworks for Iron and Manganese Removal

Abstract

Water treatment residuals (WTRs), obtained from a groundwater treatment plant for biological iron and manganese removal, were investigated and used as adsorbents for arsenic removal. The surface morphology and structural features of the WTRs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauner–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET). Laboratory experiments were also carried out to test the adsorption capability and adaptability of WTRs on both As (III) and As (V) removal from the water. The results showed that the WTRs were mainly amorphous and had a large specific surface area of 253.152 m2/g. The maximum adsorption capacities, evaluated using the Langmuir isotherm equation, were 36.53 mg/g and 40.37 mg/g for As (III) and As (V), respectively. The pseudo-second-order model fitted the kinetic data better, with R2 more than 0.99 for both As (III) and As (V). The removal of As (V) decreased with the increase in pH, especially when the pH was above 9, whereas for As (III), the removal effectiveness almost remained constant at both acidic and neutral pHs. H2PO4− and SiO32− could strongly inhibit arsenic adsorption onto the WTRs, and the effect of other ions was little.