Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Removal of Arsenic Using a Cationic Polymer Gel Impregnated with Iron Hydroxide
Published on: June 28, 2019
Biosorption of arsenic from contaminated water by anaerobic biomass
Md Rashadul Islam Chowdhury1, Catherine N Mulligan
1Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard W., EV6-187 Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract:
The potential of an anaerobic sludge from an anaerobic wastewater treatment plant to remediate (inorganic) arsenic contaminated water was evaluated. The granular biomass was chemically modified as PO(4)-biomass and Cl-biomass. The biomass was then investigated in equilibrium batch experiments and continuous flow fixed-bed column operation. Initial arsenic concentration, contact time and solution pH affected the biosorption capacity. Arsenate exhibited greater removal rates than arsenite. Adsorption data fitted better with the Langmuir than the Freundlich isotherm model. Kinetic data followed a pseudo-second-order model. In column operation, at pH 5, 90 and 220 bed volumes of water with the respective arsenate concentrations of 500 and 200 μg/L were treated. Desorption of almost 40% arsenate was achieved by using 0.5M NaCl solution. Protein/amino acid-arsenic interaction was proposed as the dominant mechanism in the biosorption process. The arsenic-laden biomass satisfied USEPA's Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test and can be safely disposed of as non-hazardous waste.
Related Concept Videos
Microbial Bioremediation of Uranium
Bioremediation
Microbial Wastewater Treatment
Microbial Bioremediation of Hydrocarbons
Microbial Leaching
Acid Mine Drainage

