Arsenic removal from water using natural iron mineral–quartz sand columns

The study has investigated the feasibility of using siderite-coated quartz sand and/or hematite-coated quartz sand columns for removing As from water. Arsenic-spiked tap water and synthetic As solution with As concentrations from 200 to 500 μg/L were used for the experiments. Since three coating methods employed to prepare siderite-coated quartz sand and hematite-coated quartz sand had no significant impact on As adsorption in batch tests, the column fillings were produced by means of the simplest one involving mechanically mixing the Fe mineral with quartz sand. Fixed bed tests show that the combination of siderite-coated quartz sand and hematite-coated quartz sand greatly promoted the column performance in removing As and the presence of As(III) in the influent improved the removal efficiency of the column. The relatively low capacity in treating As-spiked tap water arose from the suppression of FeCO3 dissolution in the presence of high HCO3− concentration (333 mg/L), which consequently limited the formation of fresh Fe(III) oxides. However, the H2O2-conditioning greatly increased As adsorption capacity of the column for remediating As-spiked tap water. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test shows that the spent adsorbents were not hazardous and could be safely disposed of to landfill.