Full Description

Perchlorate is a health concern becauseit disrupts the thyroid gland's use ofiodine in the generation of metabolichormones and could ultimately hindernormal physical growth and development.Because perchlorate contamination of drinkingwater has only recently come to the forefront,no technology has been established asthe optimal treatment process for perchlorateremoval.This research evaluated the use of activatedcarbon filtration to reduce perchlorateconcentrations using conventional contacttimes and without generating a concentratedperchlorate waste stream. Abiotic granularactivated carbon filtration experimentsdemonstrated that perchlorate was removedby ion exchange rather than chemical reduction.Biological reduction of perchlorate inthe low-microgram-per-litre concentrationswas achieved using biologically active carbon(BAC) filtration. Batch experiments verifiedthe biological reduction and demonstratedthat microorganisms in the BAC filter convertedperchlorate to chlorate.Study results indicate that BAC filtrationhas the potential to be very cost-effective andefficient for removing perchlorate. BeforeBAC filtration can be applied to full-scaleperchlorate remediation, however, theprocess must be optimized with respect tooperating conditions and water quality characteristics.The findings described hereshould help raise the general awareness ofpromising biologically based technologies,which are already in extensive use in Europeand are making inroads in the UnitedStates. Includes 39 references, figures.

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Edition: Vol. 94 - No. 2 Published: 02/01/2002 Number of Pages: 10 File Size: 1 file , 420 KB