Abstract
The impact of arsenic on human health has led its drinking water MCL to be drastically reduced from 50 to 10 ppb. Consequently, arsenic levels in many water supply sources have become critical. This has resulted in technical and operational impacts on many drinking water treatment plants that have required onerous upgrading to meet the new standard. This becomes a very sensitive issue in the context of water scarcity and climate change, given the expected increasing demand on groundwater sources. This work presents a case study that describes the development of low-cost techniques for efficient arsenic control in drinking water. The results obtained at the Manteigas WTP (Portugal) demonstrate the successful implementation of an effective and flexible process of reactive filtration using iron oxide. At real-scale, very high removal efficiencies of over 95% were obtained.
Highlights
Arsenic in drinking water has been reported as the most widespread geogenic contaminant in water sources worldwide
Groundwater contamination is of global concern and arsenic-associated human health problems have been recognised in many parts of the world, mainly in developing countries [1]
Given the high removal efficiency obtained during the experimental trials, a filter was installed at the Water Treatment Plants (WTP) using iron oxide adsorbent material designed to treat only a fraction (10 m3 × h–1) of the maximum flow rate (35 m3 × h–1) required by this water supply network
Summary
Arsenic in drinking water has been reported as the most widespread geogenic contaminant in water sources worldwide. When a safer drinking water source is not available or it becomes too expensive to exploit—one that is both low-arsenic or arsenic-free, and exhibits acceptable microbiological quality-treating raw water for arsenic removal is often the sole viable option to explore In this case, there is ample justification for the development of innovative removal technologies that are more efficient and economically sustainable for small and medium-sized water supply systems. The work presented summarises the major processes (conventional and emerging) that can be used for arsenic removal in drinking water treatment, including an analysis of corresponding efficiencies, in order to establish selection criteria of those technologies as a function of the raw water characteristics and/or treatment schemes for existing WTP In this context, the authors present a case study describing the rehabilitation of the WTP of Manteigas carried out by the Águas do Zêzere e Côa (AdZC) Company, concerning the development and installation of a suitable arsenic removal facility [5]. Their process decisions and methodological design allowed the managing company to avoid the rash acquisition of an expensive and pre-formatted arsenic removal solution
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