engleski

Removal of Atrazine Herbicide from Model Wastewater

Manufacturing and application of atrazine have been already forbidden in the most of European countries while in Croatia it is only listed as a toxic compound, and it is still in use. Atrazine may be released to the environment in wastewater from manufacturing facilities and through its agricultural application. This herbicide presents a serious threat to the local ecosystem because of its easy migration to ground and surface water. Additionally, during spring season there is an excess of atrazine concentration above the maximum contaminant level (MCL) due to leaching of atrazine from agricultural sources. In order to maintain quality of Croatian rivers and Mediterranean Sea, wastewaters loaded with atrazine are usually treated with activated carbon filters before releasing to the recipients. That practice has lead to an idea for this study considering application of different types of synthetic zeolites as potential adsorbents for the efficient atrazine removal. Also, atrazine degradation with combination of adsorption and advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs), UV/H2O2, UV/Fenton, has been taken into the consideration. Preliminary results have shown significant efficiency of studied processes. Regarding adsorption experiments, it has been found that residual atrazine concentration was in the range from 40 to 55% of initial atrazine concentration, depending on type of zeolite. Applied AOTs resulted in complete removal of atrazine from model wastewater, so they can be used as polishing step after the treatment by adsorption. Complete atrazine removal was also achieved by introducing UV irradiation into the studied model wastewater.

wastewater treatment; atrazine; adsorption; zeolites; AOTs

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