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Characterisation and elimination of compounds difficult to remove during water treatment
Summary
This Czech PhD thesis characterizes algal organic matter and evaluates coagulation, oxidation, and activated carbon adsorption for its removal from water, finding that the non-proteinaceous fraction is poorly removed by conventional coagulation at below 25% efficiency. The thesis also addresses the topical issue of microplastic occurrence in water as part of its broader investigation of anthropogenic micropollutants in water treatment.
The Ph.D. thesis deals with the characterization of algal organic matter (AOM), which is difficult to remove in water treatment, and on the basis of AOM character, various methods for its elimination, e.g. coagulation, oxidation with subsequent coagulation and adsorption onto activated carbon are assesed. Special emphasis is placed on identifying the optimal conditions of the processes and on describing the mechanisms and interactions involved. In terms of anthropogenic micropollutants, the thesis deals with the highly topical issue of the occurrence of microplastics in water. It was found that the removal efficiency of the individual AOM components varies substantially depending on the elimination method used. The identified optimum conditions of individual methods and especially the mechanisms that apply to the removal of target substances varied widely. The non-proteinaceous fraction of AOM was removed with very low efficiency (max. 25%) by conventional coagulation even under optimized conditions (pH 6.6- 7.5 for aluminium sulfate as the coagulating agent and pH 7.5-9.0 for polyaluminium chloride) and it was given by the high content of low molecular weight (LMW) substances that are difficult to coagulate. The dominant coagulation mechanism was adsorption onto aluminium hydroxide precipitates....