Electrocoagulation
One of the major challenges facing mankind today is to provide clean water to a vast majority of the population around the world. The need for clean water is particularly critical in developing countries. Rivers, canals, estuaries and other water-bodies are being constantly polluted due to indiscriminate discharge of industrial effluents as well as other anthropogenic activities and natural processes. In the latter, unknown geochemical processes have contaminated ground water with arsenic in many counties. Highly developed countries are also experiencing a critical need for wastewater cleaning because of an ever-increasing population, urbanization and climatic changes.
Both the treatment of wastewater prior to discharge and the reuse of wastewater have become absolute necessities. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop innovative, more effective and inexpensive techniques for treatment of wastewater.
A wide range of wastewater treatment techniques are known, which includes biological processes for nitrification, denitrification and phosphorous removal, as well as a range of physico-chemical processes that require chemical addition. The commonly used physico-chemical treatment processes are filtration, air stripping, ion exchange, chemical precipitation, chemical oxidation, carbon adsorption, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, volatilization and gas stripping.
Electrocoagulation is the passing of an electrical current through water. It is a proven and very effective process for the removal of contaminants in that water. Electrocoagulation systems have been in existence for many years and were originally patented by Dietrich in 1906. Our Electrocoagulation systems are very much more refined with high efficiency rates of contaminant removal at low capital and operating costs. Electrocoagulation is based upon scientific principles involving the responses of water-based contaminants to strong electric fields and electrically induced oxidation & reduction reactions. The process is able to remove over 99% of some heavy cations, and also appears to be able to electrocute microorganisms in the water. Colloids are charged and precipitated. Significant amounts of other ions and colloids are also removed. Oily emulsions are broken.