Developing and testing of electrochemical methods for the removal of toxic chemicals from industrial effluents and ground water

Abstract

The project aimed at developing and testing of effective and robust technologies for the simultaneous removal arsenic and fluoride from ground water and industrial effluents as these contaminants have unwanted effects on the human health. In order to fulfil this objective, the chosen method was electrocoagulation with sacrificial anode made of aluminium in a cell with horizontal electrodes. The ground water containing arsenic was sampled from three different locations and fluoride was added. The residual fluoride concentration in the electrochemically treated water was lower than the maximum allowable fluoride concentration in drinking water set by Law 458/2002 – concerning water quality. The removal yields of fluoride ranged from 90 to 97% by working at 60 min electrolysis duration and a current density of 780 A/m3 regardless F/As ratio in the initial samples that ranged from 51 to 140. The removal yields of arsenic were 93-99% under the same working conditions.