Sorption of organic pollutants frequently detected in stormwater: evaluation of five potential sorbents
Journal article, 2018

Adsorption filtration is one of the most promising techniques for removal of dissolved, colloidal and particulate pollutants from stormwater. The aim of this study was to compare the capacity of five filter materials – cellulose, chitosan, chitosan-covered bark, pine bark and polypropylene/polyethylene (PP/PE) fibres – to sorb organic pollutants frequently detected in stormwater, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylphenols and phthalates. In batch tests, synthetic stormwater spiked with a mixture of the organic compounds was contacted with the materials for up to 24 h. The compounds were then liquid–liquid extracted and analysed using GC-MS. Cellulose and chitosan showed very low sorption capacity for the organic contaminants, whereas >70% of the initial concentration of most tested compounds was removed using PP/PE fibres, and >80% with pine bark and chitosan-covered bark. The highest adsorption capacity was found for PAHs (up to 44 μg/g) using PP/PE fibres and bark. For all tested compounds, maximum sorption was approached within 30 min using these materials.

priority pollutants

wood-based media

waste materials

adsorption filter

stormwater treatment

Author

Karin Björklund

University of British Columbia (UBC)

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Loretta Li

University of British Columbia (UBC)

Environmental Technology (United Kingdom)

0959-3330 (ISSN) 1479-487X (eISSN)

Vol. 39 18 2335-2345

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Building Futures (2010-2018)

Subject Categories

Water Engineering

Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1080/09593330.2017.1354924

More information

Latest update

10/30/2019