Removal of arsenic from groundwater by electro-ultrafiltration

The objective of this study was to examine the removal of arsenic from groundwater by a laboratory scale electro-ultrafiltration (EUF) system. Two groundwater samples taken from I-Ian County located in the northeastern part of Taiwan were studied. These well waters were selected based on their As(III) and As(V) contents; the As(III) to As(V) ratios of the well water were 1.8 and 0.4 for Well-#1 and Well-#2, respectively. In the absence of electrical voltage, the total arsenic removal efficiencies were 1% and 14% for Well-#1 and Well-#2 samples, respectively, using 100-kDa membranes. The higher As removal efficiency of Well-#2 than that of Well-#1 sample might be attributed to different charge characteristics of As(V) and As(III). Upon the application of an electrical voltage of 25 V to the ultrafiltration (UF) system, it was able to reduce the total arsenic concentrations in both groundwater samples by over 79%. The result suggested the possible association between As(III) species and dissolved organic matter which enhanced the As removal.