Electrocoagulation-Microfiltration for Drinking Water Treatment: A Case Study with the Typical Micro-Polluted Source Waters

Treatment of slightly-polluted surface water by Electrocoagulation-Microfiltration (EC-MF) was studied. The factors influences on removal efficiencies of TOC, NH₃-N and oil, such as current density, electrolytic time and pH value had been investigated. Based on the optimize experiments on the single factor, Xuzhou section of Beijing-Hangzhou Canal water was cleaned by EC-MF. The results showed that the above pollutants decreased with current density increasing. TOC and NH₃-N removal rate increased with pH value increasing, but oil removal was little affected by pH. Pollutants, such as ammonia-nitrogen, total phosphorus, bacterium and coliform, in micropolluted source water were preferable treated by EC-MF. The research results indicated that the way of disposing pollutants in source water by EC-MF was feasible and the effluent quality reach the national standard. In conclusion, EC-MF process was a highly effective water treatment technique and it offered the necessary operational parameters, suitable technical scheme for the project application.