Treatment of Storm Water Containing Low Levels of PCBs Using Natural Media Filtration

Abstract In this project the ability of natural media filtration (NMF) to remove dissolved and particulate associated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from contaminated wastewater effluent was evaluated by performing transport column experiments with leaf compost media (LC). These results were compared to results obtained using granular-activated carbon (GAC) media. The experimental results show that NMF and GAC perform with similar efficiency and that by using appropriate hydraulic loading and contact times it is possible to efficiently remove PCBs present in both the dissolved and colloidal phases. The results from a mathematical model used to evaluate column data suggest that contaminant transport could be enhanced or retarded depending on the extent of interaction between particles and filter media. Both experimental and model results showed that upon breakthrough column effluent wastewater predominantly contained moderately chlorinated congeners (tri-, tetra-, and pentachlorobiphenyls).