Abstract
The utilization of natural zeolite (NZ) as an adsorbent for NH4+ removal was investigated. Three types of NZ (i.e., NZ01, NZ02, and NZ03) were characterized, and their NH4+ adsorption process in aqueous solution was evaluated. The effect of pH towards NH4+ adsorption showed that the NZ01 has the highest NH4+ adsorption capacity compared with other natural zeolites used. The application of NZ01 for a simultaneous removal of NH4+ and turbidity in synthetic NH4+-kaolin suspension by adsorptive coagulation process for treating drinking water was studied. The addition of NZ01 into the system increased the NH4+ removal efficiency (ηNH4+) from 11.64% without NZ01 to 41.86% with the addition of 0.2 g L−1 of NZ01. The turbidity removal (ηT), however, was insignificantly affected since the ηT was already higher than 98.0% over all studied parameter’s ranges. The thermodynamic and kinetic data analyses suggested that the removal of NH4+ obeyed the Temkin isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. Generally, the turbidity removal was due to the flocculation of destabilized solid particles by alum in the suspension system. The ηNH4+ in surface water was 29.31%, which is lower compared with the removal in the synthetic NH4+-kaolin suspension, but a high ηT (98.65%) was observed. It was found that the addition of the NZ01 could enhance the removal of NH4+ as well as other pollutants in the surface water.
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Acknowledgments
The Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (PDRU 03E92, PDRU 04E72) and technical support from the SAJ Ranhill Sdn. Bhd. and the Indah Water Konsortium Sdn. Bhd. are gratefully acknowledged.
Funding
This work was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia (Project No. 4S071) through the eScience Research Program.
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Mohtar, S.S., Sharuddin, S.S.N., Saman, N. et al. A simultaneous removal of ammonium and turbidity via an adsorptive coagulation for drinking water treatment process. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 20173–20186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06507-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06507-x