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EVALUATING VARIOUS ADSORBENTS AND MEMBRANES FOR REMOVING RADIUM FROM GROUNDWATER
Citation:
Clifford, D., W. Vijjeswarapu, AND S. Subramonian. EVALUATING VARIOUS ADSORBENTS AND MEMBRANES FOR REMOVING RADIUM FROM GROUNDWATER. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER WORKS ASSOCIATION. American Water Works Association, Denver, CO, 80(7):94-104, (1988).
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
Field studies were conducted in Lemont, Ill., to evaluate specific adsorbents and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes for removing radium from groundwater. A radium-selective complexer and barium-sulfate-loaded alumina appeared to have the best potential for low-cost adsorption of radium from raw water or ion exchangebrines, provided that the problem of the ultimate disposal of spent media can be solved. A new, low-pressure (70-psig) RO module achieved radium and total dissolved solids (TDS) rejections of 91 and 87 percent, respectively. Central treatment with standard or low-pressure RO modules would be effective for radium removal--but expensive and unnecessary if TDS reduction is not also required. Point-of-use treatment using RO is effective for removing radium and may be cost effective for very small communities.