Abstract
Abstract Manganese (Mn) removal in drinking water filters is facilitated by biological and physico-chemical processes. However, there is limited information about the dominant processes for Mn removal in full-scale matured filters with different filter materials over filter depth. Water and filter material samples were collected from 10 full-scale drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) to characterise the Mn removal processes, to evaluate the potential use of enhancers and to gain further insight on operational conditions of matured filters for the efficient Mn removal. The first-order Mn removal constant at the DWTPs varied from 10−2 to 10−1 min−1. The amount of Mn coating on the filter material grains showed a strong correlation with the amount of iron, calcium and total coating, but no correlation with the concentration of ATP. Inhibition of biological activity showed that Mn removal in matured filters was dominated by physico-chemical processes (59–97%). Addition of phosphorus and trace metals showed limited effect on Mn removal capacity, indicating that the enhancement of Mn removal in matured filters is possible but challenging. There was limited effect of the filter material type (quartz, calcium carbonate and anthracite) on Mn removal in matured filters, which can be relevant information for the industry when assessing filter designs and determining returns of investments. This article has been made Open Access thanks to the kind support of CAWQ/ACQE (https://www.cawq.ca).
Highlights
Drinking water treatment from groundwater sources in Denmark is based on aeration and biofiltration
Two filters were composed of single filter material (DWTP3 with sand and DWTP9 with calcium carbonate), and eight filters were composed of dual filter materials
Some of those filters showed a complete mix of filter material throughout the filter depth (DWTP2, DWTP5 and DWTP10), while others showed a strong stratification (DWTP1 and DWTP8; Figure 1(a))
Summary
Drinking water treatment from groundwater sources in Denmark is based on aeration and biofiltration (single or double stage). Recent studies suggest that after a short initial sorption phase, Mn removal by a non-coated virgin filter material is initially biological, evolving to a predominantly physico-. Sahabi et al ( ) characterised the Mn removal processes in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) using filter material samples collected from a specific depth of six full-scale matured filters with 3 and 15 years of maturation. To the authors’ knowledge, characterisation of the Mn removal processes occurring at different depths of matured filters using different filter materials and located at different full-scale drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) has not been reported
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