Design a Treatment Unit to Remove Nitrates from Groundwater Using Waste of Zero Iron

Abstract

In this study, a treatment unit was designed to remove nitrate ions from groundwater using zero iron taken from waste. The various conditions for the nitrate return reaction with zero iron were studied and the best conditions were determined to obtain a high removal yield, which was to conduct the treatment in an acidic medium pH = 2 and add. Zero iron, with a granular size of 75µm, at a concentration of 8g/L for 120 min at normal temperature, where the removal rate reached more than 93% when using synthetic water with an initial nitrate concentration of 150ppm.

The treatment unit for removing nitrates in the research gave high effectiveness, as the unit includes a tank for removing nitrates with zero iron within the conditions that were deduced, followed by a tank for removing ammonium ions resulting from the first stage, then a filtration stage using a sand filter, and finally a tank for mixing the treated water with quantities determined from untreated raw water to obtain an appropriate residual level of nitrate ions.

By treating a well water sample with a nitrate concentration of 64 ppm with the proposed unit, drinking water was obtained containing acceptable levels of nitrates of 38 ppm and almost free of ammonium, and without the secondary treatment products affecting the water specifications significantly, according to the Syrian Standard Specifications for Drinking Water No. 45 of 2007.

Keywords Nitrates, Zero iron, water treatment

DOI: 10.7176/CMR/17-1-02

Publication date: January 31^st 2024