Iron and manganese removal from groundwater by using limestone filter with iron-oxidizing bacteria
Loading...
Date
2019-06
Authors
Tommy Huang Lick Wei
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Groundwater is an important resource that can complement the increasing
demand for fresh water needs. It is abundant in many areas; unfortunately, it commonly
presents with iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) which requires further treatment process
to ensure the water quality is acceptable. The main objective of this research was to
evaluate the performance of the groundwater treatment using limestone filter alone and
limestone assisted with iron-oxidizing bacteria (IOB) found at the Kampung Chap
Water Treatment Plant, Kelantan. IOB has been used at the treatment plant,
immobilized on the surface of the sand filter. Limestone with the particle size of range
0.6-2.36 mm was the host alternative to the IOB in this research. Limestone also acts as
adsorption media as previous studies have indicated its capability in removing heavy
metals. The groundwater sample from USM Borehole was first characterized. The
comparisons of the treatment performances were made based on the filter column at a
flow rate of 4.0 L/hour and retention time of 2.94 minutes. The result indicated that the
2.0 hours of operation time was the optimum running time for both treatment methods.
With the 2.0 hours operation time, the percentage of Fe removal was 77.69% for
limestone filter alone and 81.72% for limestone assisted with IOB, while the
percentage of Mn removal was 82.60% for limestone filter alone and 83.63% for
limestone assisted with IOB. Overall, the groundwater treatment by limestone assisted
with IOB has better performance than the use of limestone filter alone. As the operation
time increases, the performance of the treated groundwater is better. The IOB can
catalyze the oxidation of soluble form of Fe (II) and Mn (II) to the insoluble form of Fe
(III) and Mn (IV) respectively. It can be concluded that the presence of IOB is
beneficial in improving the removal of Fe and Mn in the groundwater.