Evaluation of single and multilayered reactive zones for heavy metals removal from stormwater

Abstract

In this paper, the ability of granular activated carbon (GAC), silica spongolite (SS) and zeolite (Z) to remove heavy metals from aqueous solutions has been investigated through column tests. The breakthrough times for a mobile tracer that does not sorb to the material for SS, GAC and layered SS, Z and GAC were as follows: 2.54×10(4) s, 2.38×10(4) s and 3.02×10(4) s. The breakthrough time (tbR) for Ni was in the range from tbR=1.70×10(6) s for SS, through tbR=3.98×10(5) s for the layered bed, to tbR=8.75×10(5) s for GAC. The breakthrough time for Cd was in the range from tbR=1.83×10(5) s for GAC to tbR=1.30×10(6) s for SS, Z, GAC. During the experiment, the concentration of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in the solution from a column filled with construction aggregate and the concentration of Pb, and Cu in a filtrate from the column filled with several materials was close to zero. The reduction in metal ions removal was due to high pH values of the solution (above 8.00). In addition, during the testing period, an increase in Cd and Zn concentrations in the filtrate from the column filled with the layered bed was observed, but at the end of the experiment the concentrations did not reach the maximum values. The test results suggest that the multilayered permeable reactive barrier is the most effective technology for long time effective removal of heavy metals.

Simultaneous Adsorption of Heavy Metals from Roadway Stormwater Runoff Using Different Filter Media in Column Studies

“…According to the ÖNORM B 2506-3 (2016) mineral-based mixture of adsorptive materials are defined as technical filter media which is here denoted as "TF". Studies showed that a combination of several filter media (for example zeolites, vermiculite, activated carbon, dolomite, sand and soil) are necessary to achieve effective simultaneous removal of multiple contaminants [2,5,13,15]. The technical filter media (TF-I, TF-II and TF-III) investigated in this study are combinations of various sorbents such as zeolite, vermiculite, dolomite, activated carbon, coconut fibre, expanded clay and soil media.…”

“…However, some of these treatment technologies are not effective for the removal of dissolved pollutants, spatially too limited or usually suffer from early clogging [2,13]. Stormwater infiltration/filtration systems that utilize granular adsorptive filter media enabling high infiltration rates, which can be retrofitted in small compact systems, are receiving increasing interest due to their ability to remove both dissolved and particulate pollutants [13][14][15]. The removal of pollutants is achieved via a number of processes including sedimentation, filtration, sorption, ion exchange, surface complexation and transformation [5,12,16,17].…”

Permeable Reactive Barriers for Preventing Water Bodies from a Phosphorus-Polluted Agricultural Runoff-Column Experiment

“…Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are also listed as an active barrier system [19], permeable reactive interceptors [20], a structure lime drainage system [8] or permeable drainage filters [21]. This method has been developed over the past decade and is used to treat groundwater and subsurface runoff from inorganic constituents such as P [22,23], ammonium [23], and heavy metals [24]. The main advantage of PRB is in situ treatment of contaminated groundwater which significantly reduces the treatment costs [25].…”

Optimization Model for the Design of Multi-layered Permeable Reactive Barriers

“…Inputs to the optimization model were based on the cost of buying 1 Mg of reactive material and the parameters determined from laboratory tests performed in the Department of Geotechnical Engineering of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences [33][34][35] In order to solve the optimization task, equation (2) can be used to determine the required resident time for contamination removal [36]: …”