Using activated carbon to remove toxicity from drinking water containing cyanobacterial blooms

Toxic blooms of cyanobacteria, including Anabaena species, which are neurotoxic, and Microcystis , which is hepatotoxic, are becoming increasingly common in potable water sources. Normal flocculation and chlorination processes do not remove the toxicity. The laboratory and pilot-plant experiments described in this article showed that the toxicity can be removed by both powdered and granular activated carbon, with and without chlorination, alum flocculation, and polyelectrolyte addition.