Using Shungite in Water Defluoridation by Galvanocoagulation

Abstract

Fluorine is a natural component of many sources of drinking water. An excess of fluorine in drinking water leads to metabolic disturbances in bone tissues. In this context, the International Drinking Water Quality Standards recommend adhering to a fluoride content of drinking water of no more than 1.5 mg/dm3. If this value is exceeded, water requires defluoridation. In this work, defluoridation by galvanocoagulation in a drum-type galvanocoagulator was studied. The half-cells of the galvanic couple were aluminum and shungite mined at the Polezhaevskii deposit, Karelia, Russia. The occurring electrochemical processes result in anodic dissolution of aluminum to form the corresponding hydroxides. The fluoride ion forms aluminofluoride complexes with them, which are adsorbed on freshly formed hydroxide flakes. The ratio between the half-cells of the galvanic couple as a significant factor of controlling the process efficiency was studied. It was shown that the fluoride ions were removed most completely at an aluminum : schungite ratio of 1 : 1.5. Experiments on model aqueous solutions of sodium fluoride detected a significant dependence of the process on the initial pH value. The experimental results enabled one to choose a mode of defluoridation of water with various fluoride contents. By the example of treatment of artesian water with a fluoride content of 9.1 mg/dm3 from Mashevka, Poltava oblast, Ukraine, a high efficiency of the studied process was demonstrated: the fluoride ion content of the water treated for 5 min decreased to 0.9 mg/dm3. In addition, when using shungite as a half-cell of the galvanic couple, its disinfecting effect was observed: whereas the initial content of coliform bacteria was 700 in 100 cm3, they were absent in the treated water. The redox potential was also reduced from 340 to 255 mV, which is noteworthy because this parameter has recently received considerable attention as being one of the most important parameters of water in its interaction with the human body.