Characteristic of Natural Organic Matter Removal by Ferric and Aluminium Coagulation

Natural organic matter removal efficiency and characteristic by ferric chloride and aluminium sulphate were studied. Results showed that ferric chloride was effective in natural organic matter removal when coagulant dosage was higher than 15 mg/L, while aluminium was effective at lower dosage. The TOC of water was reduced to 4.19 mg/L and 9 mg/L at a dosage of 10 mg/L for aluminium sulphate and ferric chloride respectively, while TOC was reduced to 2.44 mg/L and 1.69 mg/L at the dosage of 20 mg/L. Ferric chloride decreased pH sharply than aluminium sulphate which made hydrolysate more positive and attachable for natural organic matter. UV254 and SUVA results showed that ferric chloride removed more conjugate structure materials and unsaturated band contents than aluminium. Ferric chloride was more effective in reducing lower molecular weight organic matter and hydrophilic substances than aluminium, when the dosage of coagulant was 20 mg/L, the removal efficiency of relative molecular weight below 10 000 was 16.4% and 6.1% respectively, while aluminum was more effective in high molecular weight matter removal than ferric chloride.