Pilot scale treatment of low turbidity water using compound bioflocculant and polymerized aluminium ferrum chloride

To investigate the application of compound bioflocculant (CBF) in drinking water treatment at pilot plant, CBF and polymerized aluminium ferrum chloride (PAFC) coagulant were used to treat raw water taken from Longhupao Reservoir in Heilongjiang Province for the removal of turbidity, COD, UV254 and residual Al. Coagulation test shows that the coagulation enhanced by CBF and PAFC exhibits more effective performance than that enhanced by the individual of them, and the total combination dosage is lower than that of the individual. The residual Al from PAFC can be removed efficiently by CBF. The removal efficiency of turbidity reaches 76.6% by combining CBF of 2 mg/L and PAFC of 15 mg/L, COD is decreased from 3.80 mg/L to 1.62 mg/L, and the concentration of residual Al is only 0.033 mg/L in the product water. It can be speculated that adsorption-bridging and sweep-coagulation processes are predominant in the flocculation process by the combination of CBF and PAFC.