Removing lead in drinking water with activated carbon

Abstract

A point‐of‐use (POU) granular activated carbon (GAC) fixed bed adsorber (FBA) was evaluated for reduction of soluble and insoluble lead from drinking water. Some of the factors which affect lead removal by GAC were evaluated, such as carbon type, solution pH, and a limited amount of work on competitive interactions. The design criteria for lead reduction by a POU device are also addressed. Minicolumns were used to evaluate the capacity of carbon for lead under a variety of conditions. The importance of surface chemistry of the carbon and the relationship with the pH of the water for lead reduction was demonstrated. Results indicate that a properly designed POU‐GAC‐FBA can reduce lead in drinking water to below the EPA action level of 15 ppb while being tested under a variety of conditions as specified under the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International Standard 53 test protocol.