M-PGMA as a new water treatment agent to remove oxytetracycline from water

Magnetic ion exchange resin is a strong base anion exchange resin with magnetic properties that can be used to remove negatively charged materials from water. Magnetic poly glycidyl methacrylate resin (m-PGMA), as a new type of resin, has shown better removal performance for humics than MIEX®. Removal performance and influence factors of oxytetracycline (OTC) in water by m-PGMA were examined, and in addition, the removal effect of OTC by MIEX and powdered activated carbon (PAC) was used as a comparison. Results showed that m-PGMA could remove more OTC than MIEX and PAC. The removal effect was greatly affected by its dosage, inorganic anions, organics and pH value. At a contact time of 30 min, the removal rates of OTC were 45%, 52%, 63% when dosage was 5 ml/L, 10 ml/L, 20 ml/L, respectively. Contrastingly, the removal rate of OTC by MIEX as a comparison was 45% with the dosage of 10 mL/L with contact time of 30 min. The OTC removal effect was significantly increased when the pH value was above 7.3, for OTC molecule existed as an anion in alkaline medium. In conclusion, m-PGMA is more effective than MIEX and PAC for the removal of OTC in water, and can be one of the choices to remove trace organics like OTC.