Antarctic granite rocks as wastewater surfactant degradation catalysts

Antarctica seawater surrounding research stations has been impacted by antibiotics, formaldehydes, surfactants, heavy metals, sunscreen chemicals, and coliforms. The removal of surfactants from water is challenging since biological approaches are ineffective at mineralizing organic molecules. To evaluate the effectiveness of an advanced oxidation process (AOP) on the degradation of surfactants at the "Pedro Vicente Maldonado" research station of Ecuador, the performance of Antarctic granite rocks as catalysts and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as an oxidant was researched. Following the coagulation-flocculation process, the AOP reduced the concentration of surfactant by 90 %, from 19.50 mg/L to 0.97 mg/L. This short communication summarizes initial research on a low-cost wastewater treatment that could be used to degrade surfactants after coagulation-flocculation processes.