Polyacrylamide polymers (PAM) are one of the most common water treatment chemicals used in clarification processes. Concerns have been raised with regards to the aquatic and human toxicity of acrylamide monomer. Greener polymers, produced using potato starch, were investigated at lab-scale as a potential non-toxic alternative to the use of PAM within a ballasted flocculation process (Actiflo®). Even under extreme temperature (1 °C), starch and PAM showed comparable turbidity removal performances, although higher starch dosages (four to five times) were needed to achieve such results. Compared to PAM, activated starch polymers also benefited from the use of lower mixing energy and smaller microsand. A slight biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) release (≈0.15 mg C/L) was also measured while using starch polymer, but this did not impact trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation. These results indicate that activated starch polymers represent a promising alternative to the use of PAM polymers in a ballasted flocculation process.
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May 2015
This article was originally published in
Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua
Article Contents
Research Article|
November 28 2014
Evaluation of activated starch as an alternative to polyacrylamide polymers for drinking water flocculation Available to Purchase
Mathieu Lapointe;
1NSERC Industrial Chair on Drinking Water, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3A7, Canada
E-mail: [email protected]
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Benoit Barbeau
Benoit Barbeau
1NSERC Industrial Chair on Drinking Water, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, C.P. 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3A7, Canada
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Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2015) 64 (3): 333–343.
Article history
Received:
August 25 2014
Accepted:
October 19 2014
Citation
Mathieu Lapointe, Benoit Barbeau; Evaluation of activated starch as an alternative to polyacrylamide polymers for drinking water flocculation. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 1 May 2015; 64 (3): 333–343. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2014.114
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