Occurrence of Arsenic in Groundwater in the Suburbs of Beijing and its Removal Using an Iron-Cerium Bimetal Oxide Adsorbent

Abstract

Abstract The occurrence of arsenic (As) in groundwater in fourteen villages in Houshayu Town, Shunyi District, Beijing, China, was investigated, and a column experiment for the removal of As was conducted on-site with a pellet type iron-cerium (Fe-Ce) bimetal oxide adsorbent prepared in lab. The As concentration in the groundwater of twelve villages exceeds the maximum contamination level (10 µg/L) of the World Health Organization, and two of them exceed that of China (50 µg/L). A column experiment at a space velocity of 3 h-1 shows that the Fe-Ce adsorbent could remove As(V) (total As, 71 ± 19.7 µg/L) from groundwater with high efficiency. Around 11,500 bed volumes were gained when As(V) in the effluent exceeds 10 µg/L, giving an accumulated adsorption capacity of 6.0 mg As(V)/g adsorbent. Both batch tests and the column test suggest that humic substances might compete with As(V) for the adsorption sites, which disappeared after the column was continuously operated for more than two weeks. The effluent quality including heavy metals, radioactivity, etc., was confirmed to meet the drinking water standards of WHO and China.