Synergy Between Low-Cost Chitosan and Polyaluminum Chloride (PAC) Improves the Flocculation Process for River Water Treatment

Currently, there is a demand for effective flocculant systems that can be used without adverse impact on the environment and health. However, the challenge is to find the minimum dose to achieve the same efficacy as conventional flocculants. One technique involves using a mixture of natural and synthetic flocculants, the synergistic effects of which can enhance treatment efficiency. Thus, this work provides an approach using a low-cost chitosan (CH56)-polyaluminum chloride (PAC) mixture as a flocculant system for river water. Therefore, water quality was monitored in the Tamazula and Humaya rivers, which are sources of water for potabilization plants. According to the results of flocculation tests, the use of the mixture required a lower dosage (0.75 mg L-1 of CH56 with 1 mg L-1 of PAC; 0.75 mg L-1 of CH56 with 2 mg L-1 of PAC) than that used with individual flocculants (3 mg L-1 of CH56; 5 mg L-1 of PAC). Conveniently, the mixture produced larger and more compact flocs, favoring sedimentation kinetics and thus flocculation. Fractal dimension (FD) and lacunarity (Λ) from microscopy images were used as indicators of the quality of the flocs formed. In general, CH56 and the mixture performed better than PAC, and the mixture allowed the best removal of the model microplastic (polystyrene). Flocculant mixtures reduced the concentration of copper ions by 58%, of tetracycline by 22%, of microplastics by 80%, and of bacteria by >90%. Hence, the authors believe that this work offers valuable information that could be used for potabilization plants aiming to reduce the dose of PAC and introduce chitosan into their coagulation-flocculation process.