Simultaneous removal of nitrate and arsenic from drinking water sources utilizing a fixed-bed bioreactor system.
A novel bioreactor system, consisting of two biologically active carbon (BAC) reactors in series, was developed for the simultaneous removal of nitrate and arsenic from a synthetic groundwater supplemented with acetic acid. A mixed biofilm microbial community that developed on the BAC was capable of utilizing dissolved oxygen, nitrate, arsenate, and sulfate as the electron acceptors. Nitrate was removed from a concentration of approximately 50 mg/L in the influent to below the detection limit of 0.2 mg/L. Biologically generated sulfides resulted in the precipitation of the iron sulfides mackinawite and greigite, which concomitantly removed arsenic from an influent concentration of approximately 200 ug/L to below 20 ug/L through arsenic sulfide precipitation and surface precipitation on iron sulfides. This study showed for the first time that arsenic and nitrate can be simultaneously removed from drinking water sources utilizing a bioreactor system.
Upadhyaya
Giridhar
G
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Jackson
Jeff
J
Clancy
Tara M
TM
Hyun
Sung Pil
SP
Brown
Jess
J
Hayes
Kim F
KF
Raskin
Lutgarde
L
D001151:Arsenic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D009566:Nitrates / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012987:Soil; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*; D056928:X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D009566:Nitrates; D012987:Soil; D001151:Arsenic