Abstract
The effects of coagulant dosage, alkalinity, turbidity, ionic strength, and dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the removal of sulfadimethoxazole (SMZ) and oxytetracycline (OTC) by coagulation were studied and the reaction mechanisms of the coagulation process were revealed in this research. From our results, alkalinity, turbidity, ionic strength, and DOM had different effects on the removal of antibiotics. The SMZ and OTC removals were improved with increase in poly-aluminum chloride (PACl) dosage, whereas the turbidity had less influence on the removal of SMZ and OTC because the adsorption of SMZ and OTC to kaolin was low, confirmed by a control when no PACl added. The hydrolysate of PACl played a more important role than turbidity in SMZ and OTC removals. The SMZ and OTC removals were significantly increased with the increase in alkalinity, which provided a suitable condition in situ for coagulant to form more optimal species of hydrolysate. The ionic strength, which was adjusted by NaNO3, also had a positive effect on the removal of SMZ but no obvious effect on the OTC removal. Furthermore, DOM had a higher effect on the removal of SMZ than that of OTC. In another word, if a water plant wants to improve the removal of SMZ and OTC by coagulation unit, PACl hydrolysate, alkalinity, and DOM are the three key factors to be considered primarily. Moreover, an experiment for the recovery of antibiotics from the flocs was done and the results showed that OTC and SMZ were removed by different mechanisms. The OTC was removed via complexation formed through the reaction between OTC and coagulant while the SMZ was removed through the pathway of adsorption and inter-particle bridging to the surface of coagulant hydrolysate.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFC0400501, 2016YFC0400509) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21876025, No. 21277138) and the National water pollution control key project (Grant No. 2017ZX07202005-005).
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Weichao Zhang, Qunshan Wei, and Jiuhua Xiao carried out all the experiments and wrote the manuscript. Qunshan Wei, Jianshe Liu, and Changzhou Yan designed and supervised all the experiments. Qunshan Wei, Yanbiao Liu, Wolfgang Sand, and Christopher Chow revised the manuscript draft and the final version of the submitted manuscript.
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Zhang, W., Wei, Q., Xiao, J. et al. The key factors and removal mechanisms of sulfadimethoxazole and oxytetracycline by coagulation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 16167–16176 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06884-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06884-3