Effect of calcium on adsorptive removal of As(III) and As(V) by iron oxide-based adsorbents

The effects of calcium on the equilibrium adsorption capacity of As(III) and As(V) onto iron oxide-coated sand (IOCS) and granular ferric hydroxide (GFH) were investigated through batch experiments, rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCT) and kinetics modelling. Batch experiments showed that at calcium concentrations≤20 mg/L, high As(III) and As(V) removal efficiencies by IOCS and GFH are achieved at pH 6. An increase of the calcium concentration to 40 and 80 mg/L reversed this trend, giving higher removal efficiencies at higher pH (8). The adsorption capacities of IOCS and GFH at an equilibrium arsenic concentration of 10 μg/L were found to be between 2.0 and 3.1 mg/g for synthetic water without calcium and between 2.8 and 5.3 mg/g when 80 mg/L of calcium was present at the studied pH values. After 10 hours of filter run in RSSCT, approximately 1000 empty bed volumes, the ratios of C/Co for As(V) were 26% and 18% for calcium-free model water; and only 1% and 0.2% after addition of 80 mg/L of Ca for filter...