Determination of nanofiltration efficency in arsenic removal from drinking water

ABSTRACT

Nowadays nanofiltration has been considered for the treatment of organic and inorganic pollutants in surface and groundwater resources. In this study, rejection characteristics of arsenic compounds such as As[III] to form As[2]O[3] and As[V] to form Na[2]HasO[4].7H[2]O by a commercial nanofilter NF90 [DOW-FilmTec] was investigated. Arsenic rejection experiments included variations of feed arsenic concentration, transmembrane pressure and pH. In these experiments, as increasing initial concentration As[V] from 120 micro g/L to 1026 micro g/L in feed water, the percentage of rejection of As[V] decreased from 98.35% to 96.59% [permeate water concentration was 2 micro g/L to 35 micro g/L], while as increasing initial concentration As[III] from 118 micro g/L to 985 micro g/L in feed water, the percentage of rejection of As[III] decreased from 94.07% to 87.51% [permeate water concentration was 7 micro g/L to 123 micro g/L]. Due to increase of pressure from 4 bar to 7 bar, the percentage of rejection of As[V] in finished water increased from 95.68% to 99.02% [permeate water concentration decreased from 21 micro g/L to 5 micro g/L],while the percentage of rejection of As[III] decreased from 80.99% to 95.11% [permeate water concentration decreased from 96 micro g/L to 25 micro g/L]. Also due to increasing pH from 3 to 11, the percentage of rejection of As[V] in finished water increased from 95.45% to 99.00% [permeate water concentration decreased from 22 micro g/L to 5 micro g/L], while the percentage of rejection of As[III] decreased from 86.6% to 94.81% [permeate water concentration decreased from 65 micro g/L to 25 micro g/L]. Finally, nanofiltration application for arsenic removal from drinking water was recognized suitable regarding its proper efficiency and convenience operation and was recommended for point-of-use applications