The Removal of Arsenic from Contaminated Water using a Hybrid Membrane Process.

The objective of this study is to develop a method to reduce arsenic concentrations in contaminated water. This work is also aimed at increasing the specificity of membrane separation processes. Arsenic in contaminated waters is often present in the form of negatively charged oxyanions. These are relatively small molecules which cannot be separated directly by ultrafiltration. Oxyanions can be captured by polyelectrolytes and separated by ultrafiltration. Results will be presented on the use of two polyelectrolytes; polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly-diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DADMAC) at various feed concentrations. A semi-continuous process utilizing PEI in a circulation loop was tested. The restfits indicate that better than 99.6 % recovery (permeate concentration < 0.001 $\mu$g/L) can be achieved based on an initial arsenic concentration of 300 $\mu$g/L. The results indicate that this treatment method is suitable as a main treatment process for drinking water or a polishing step after arsenic precipitation.