Treatment of Metal-Contaminated Water Using Bacterial Sulfate Reduction: Results from Pilot-Scale Reactors

Abstract

Simple anaerobic reactors were installed to treat metal-contaminated water in an underground coal mine and at a smelting residues dump in Pennsylvania. The reactors consisted of barrels and tanks filled with spent mushroom compost, within which bacterial sulfate reduction became established. Concentrations of Al, Cd, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn were typically lowered by over 95% as contaminated water flowed through the reactors. Cadmium, Fe, Ni, and some Zn were retained as insoluble metal sulfides following their reaction with bacterially generated H2S. Aluminum, Mn, and some Zn hydrolyzed and were retained as insoluble hydroxides or carbonates. Reactor effluents were typically circumneutral in pH and contained net alkalinity. The principal sources of alkalinity in the reactors were bacterial sulfate reduction and limestone dissolution. This article examines the chemistry of the reactor systems and the opportunities for enhancing their metal-retaining and alkalinity-generating potential. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.