Application of Granular Activated Carbon in the Water Industry

1 April 1989

journal article
Published by Wiley in Water and Environment Journal

Vol. 3 (2) , 174-181
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-6593.1989.tb01505.x

Abstract

Until the mid 1980s granular activated carbon (GAC) was used in only a small number of water‐treatment plants in the UK. Since then the material has been installed in over 30 plants, either as a result of an operational decision to treat the water by GAC or for the purpose of full‐scale experiments. GAC is used for a variety of reasons including taste and odour control, removal of a wide range of synthetic organic compounds (for example volatile chlorinated solvents, pesticides, oils) of molecular weight 100–500, and adsorption of trihalomethane precursors (molecular weight 10³‐10⁵). The performance of different GACs for a particular duty may vary by a factor of 10, and the best GAC for one application may be the worst for another. Thus, to minimize the cost of GAC treatment, it is essential to identify the purpose for which GAC is being used and then to select, by pilot trials or by more rapid laboratory procedures and mathematical modelling, the most appropriate GAC for that particular application.

Keywords

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