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A study on adsorption of metals by activated carbon in a large-scale (municipal) process of surface water purification

  • Research Article
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Central European Journal of Chemistry

Abstract

Elements that enter the aquatic environment may pose a health risk to wildlife and humans. The aims of this study were: to determine how the introduction of activated carbon for a water purification system will improve the quality of the water produced; and to investigate the sorption of metals on activated carbons, including determination of the accumulation, as well as changes in concentrations of elements in carbons. The tests were carried out on three types of activated carbons with different granular structure. All samples were collected from Water Treatment Plant Goczalkowice, Poland. Concentrations of elements were measured using an optical emission spectrometer with inductively coupled plasma. The experiment showed that metals accumulating in the activated carbons during the operation included: Ca, Mn, Zn, and Cu. In each of the three types of carbons, it can distinguish such elements as Ba, Al, Cr, Ni, Ti, which are characterized by irregular accumulation during the operation of the filter. The introduction of carbon sorbent for water treatment largely contributed to improvement in the quality of raw material supplied to customers, mainly with regard to taste and smell, as well as to reduction of basic parameters: color, absorbance in the UV range and oxidability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Silesia, 40-006, Katowice, Poland

    Marzena Dabioch, Robert Skorek, Andrzej Kita, Katarzyna Pytlakowska, Piotr Zerzucha & Rafal Sitko

  2. Department of Probability Theory, Institute of Mathematics, University of Silesia, 40-007, Katowice, Poland

    Piotr Janoska

Authors
  1. Marzena Dabioch
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  2. Robert Skorek
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  3. Andrzej Kita
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  4. Piotr Janoska
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  6. Piotr Zerzucha
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  7. Rafal Sitko
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Correspondence to Marzena Dabioch.

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Dabioch, M., Skorek, R., Kita, A. et al. A study on adsorption of metals by activated carbon in a large-scale (municipal) process of surface water purification. cent.eur.j.chem. 11, 742–753 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11532-013-0209-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11532-013-0209-4

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