VATIS UPDATE Article

In a new study researchers at EPFL, Switzerland, found a super-fine form of powdered activated carbon captures micropollutants more rapidly than the conventional kind and could by used in Swiss wastewater treatment plants. In the lab, EPFL researchers, further improved this approach using a super-finely ground variant of the powder, which accelerated micropollutant removal rates by a factor 5 or more. Their study, which could potentially have future applications in Swiss wastewater treatment plants, has been published in the journal Water Research.

In the lab, environmental chemists working with Tamar Kohn have now shown that using super-finely ground powdered activated carbon has the potential to bring down the cost of micropollutant removal. All ten representative micropollutants it was tested on were removed more efficiently, in some cases up to 65 times as fast. Achieving the removal target, which Swiss authorities have set at 80%, would therefore require both less time and less carbon. “As the next step, we will have to test the approach in a pilot study to be sure that it is workable in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant,” said Florence Bonvin, the lead author of the study.