Enhanced primary treatment during wet weather flow using ferrate as a coagulant, coagulant aid and disinfectant

This study evaluated the dual-function of ferrate as a coagulant and disinfectant for chemically-enhanced primary treatment during wet weather flow (WWF). For the first time, ferrate was thoroughly examined as a coagulant aid with aluminum sulfate (alum) to minimize the organic and inorganic contents along with microbial level during WWF. Ferrate as a coagulant was evaluated based on a two-level factorial design. At an optimized condition, a ferrate dose of 0.5 mg/L Fe with a cationic polymer (1.25 mg/L) removed 83% of turbidity, 87% of total suspended solids (TSS), 70% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and 23% of ortho-phosphate (OP). Linear models were developed and used to adequately predict the removals. Ferrate as a coagulant aid added with alum showed better removal of TSS while no improvement was observed in the removals of turbidity and COD. The disinfection capacity of ferrate was evaluated at different dosing points when it was used as a coagulant, coagulant aid and as post dosed as a disinfectant. In particular, ferrate dose of 8 mg/L Fe removed only 2 logs of E. coli when it was used as a coagulant compared to more than 3-log removal of E. coli when ferrate was used as a coagulant aid and as a disinfectant. At optimal ferrate dose of 10 mg/L Fe as a coagulant aid with 6 mg/L Al achieved the target levels of turbidity (<8 NTU), TSS (<25 mg/L), and ferrate-induced iron particles (<0.6 mg/L) along with 5-log removal of E. coli within 31 min. This study suggested that using ferrate as a coagulant aid/disinfectant might be considered an effective approach for treating the wastewater during WWF.