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With the new arsenic maximum contaminant level(10 g/L) set to take effect this month, water supplierswill be interested in this novel, new technology forarsenic removal. A polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration(PEUF) process was used to treat water with lowconcentrations of arsenic. The researchers' objectiveswere: to verify that the performance seen in batchstudies was representative of pilot-scale spiral-woundmembrane results; and, to evaluate the general economicviability of the PEUF system.Arsenic-tainted waters often have elevated pH values.With the PEUF technology, arsenic-polymer bindingactually improved at higher pH values, giving thistechnology an advantage over competing technologiesthat perform better at lower pH values. Although thearsenic-polymer binding decreased with increasingsulfate concentration, this could be mitigated byincreasing the ratio of cationic polyelectrolyte toarsenic.Other membrane processes for arsenic removalrequire higher operating pressures than PEUF, and thusthey generate higher capital and operations and maintenancecosts. PEUF uses the novel polymer-arsenic complexationto reduce the pressure requirement. This newalternative treatment also shows how utilities can makeexisting technologies more cost-effective.Using design parameters and water quality conditionsas described in this article, the PEUF process wasshown to be technically and economically viable for theremoval of arsenic from drinking water. Includes 40 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. 98 - No. 1 Published: 01/01/2006 Number of Pages: 11 File Size: 1 file , 350 KB