Phosphate is one of the most predominant pollutants in natural waters. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the phosphate adsorption performance of a (NFS) made from drinking water treatment residuals. The adsorption of phosphate on the NFS fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic models. At pH7.0, the maximum adsorption capacity of 1.03mg/g was achieved at 15°C corresponding to the wastewater temperature in cold months, and increased notably to 1.31mg/g at 35°C. Under both acidic conditions (part of the adsorption sites was consumed) and basic conditions (negative charges formed on the surface of NFS, which led to a static repulsion of PO4(3-) and HPO4(2-)), the adsorption of phosphate was slightly inhibited. Further study showed that part of the adsorption sites could be recovered by 0.25mol/L NaOH. The activation energy was calculated to be above 8.0kJ/mol, indicating that the adsorption of phosphate on NFS was probably a chemical process. Considering the strong phosphate adsorption capacity and recoverability, NFS showed great promise on enhancing phosphate removal from the secondary treated wastewater in the filtration process.
Keywords: Adsorption; Domestic wastewater; Drinking water treatment residuals; Filter substrate; Phosphate.
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