Magnetic separation in water pollution control

Magnetic separation as applied to waterborne contaminants is successful in reducing the solids content of a water sample and in removing the dissolved orthophosphate from the aqueous slurry. The contaminants are chemically associated with a magnetic seeding material, and subsequent removal of this seed sweeps the pollutants from the system. The advantage of this form of treatment over conventional techniques is the high speed and large handling capacity of a magnetic filtering device. Flow rates in laboratory scale tests of 50 to 150 gallons per minute per square foot are common, and higher slurry flow is possible. This represents nearly an order of magnitude improvement over the processing speed of present filtration machinery.