The relation between activated carbon adsorption and water quality indexes

Abstract In order to estimate the adsorbability by activated carbon of organic compounds dissolved in aqueous solutions, the contribution of individual atoms to the adsorption process is calculated. The contribution of carbon, bromine and chlorine atoms is positive, that of oxygen atoms is negative, that of hydrogen atoms is very small and that of nitrogen atoms is influenced by the kind of functional group in which they are contained. The dominant factors governing adsorption are the numbers of carbon and oxygen atoms in a molecule. The activated carbon's effectiveness for adsorption of organic compounds dissolved in solutions can be predicted from such water quality indexes as total organic carbon, total organic nitrogen, total organic halogen an total oxygen demand.