Treatment of dissolved perchlorate, nitrate, and sulfate using zero-valent iron and organic carbon

Waters containing ClO and dissolved NO, derived from detonated explosives and solid propellants, often also contain elevated concentrations of other dissolved constituents, including SO. Four column experiments, containing mixtures of silica sand, zero-valent Fe (ZVI) and organic C (OC) were conducted to evaluate the potential for simultaneous removal of NO, SO and ClO. Initially, the flow rate was maintained at 0.5 pore volumes (PV) d and then decreased to 0.1 PV d after 100 PV of flow. Nitrate concentrations decreased from 10.8 mg L (NO-N) to trace levels through NO reduction to NH using ZVI alone and through denitrification using OC. Observations from the mixture of ZVI and OC suggest a combination of NO reduction and denitrification. Up to 71% of input SO (24.5 ± 3.5 mg L) was removed in the column containing OC, and >99.7% of the input ClO (857 ± 63 μg L) was removed by the OC- and (ZVI + OC)-containing columns as the flow rate was maintained at 0.1 PV d. Nitrate and ClO removal followed first-order and zero-order rates, respectively. Nitrate >2 mg L (NO-N) inhibited ClO removal in the OC-containing column but not in the (ZVI + OC)-containing column. Sulfate did not inhibit ClO degradation within any of the columns.