Efficient Mn(II) removal by biological granular activated carbon filtration

Qi Chen; Guiwei Li; Zhili Lu; Yuliang Su; Bin Wu; Baoyou Shi

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131877

Efficient Mn(II) removal by biological granular activated carbon filtration

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Sep 15:458:131877. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131877. Epub 2023 Jun 16.

Authors

Qi Chen¹, Guiwei Li², Zhili Lu³, Yuliang Su⁴, Bin Wu⁴, Baoyou Shi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Institute of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China.
² Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: gwli@rcees.ac.cn.
³ Institute of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450045, China.
⁴ Zhuhai Water Environment Holdings Group Ltd., Zhuhai, Guangdong 519000, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: byshi@rcees.ac.cn.

PMID: 37344241
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131877

Abstract

Sufficient and sustainable manganese(II) removal is a challenging task to prevent Mn-related drinking water discoloration problems. This study investigated Mn(II) removal by granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration under various conditions. The results showed that biological GAC filter columns could reduce Mn(II) from 400 μg/L to 10 μg/L after a short ripening period, while sand filter columns did not show evident Mn(II) removal function. Water quality changes, pretreatment with NaClO and chemogenic MnO_x coating on GAC media surface did not influence the Mn(II) removal capacity of GAC filter columns. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the abundance of potential Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria in the GAC media was similar to that in the sand media. However, qPCR results indicated that GAC media colonized dramatically more biomass than sand media, resulting in highly effective Mn(II) removal by GAC filter columns. Under chlorinated conditions, GAC filtration underperformed sand filtration in Mn(II) removal, although activated carbon has been reported to be capable of catalyzing Mn(II) oxidation by chlorine. Fast chlorine decay in GAC filter columns made it hard to sustain chemical Mn(II) oxidation and thus led to less Mn(II) removal. This study highlighted the advantage of biological GAC filtration over sand filtration in Mn(II) removal.

Keywords: Chlorination; Filter; Filter media; Manganese oxide; Mn(II)-oxidizing bacteria.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Charcoal
Chlorine / analysis
Filtration / methods
Oxidation-Reduction
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water Purification* / methods

Substances

Charcoal
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Chlorine
Water Pollutants, Chemical