Removal of Organic Contaminants by Granular-Carbon Filtration

GRANULAR sorption is a -activated reliable and -carbon effective adsorption s a reli ble and effective means of removing most organic impurities found in potable water supplies. Plant operations and pilot column studies have shown carbon filtration to be an effective process for removing detergents,1 insecticides,2 viruses,3 specific chemical pollutants,4 and taste and odor pollutants.5 These results confirm postulations that carbon bed filtration would remove a high percentage of undesirable organic contaminants from water efficiently over a wide range of impurity concentration conditions. The utilization of granular-carbon filtration is a relatively simple and economical procedure. It is possible to adopt existing plant filters for a combination filtration-adsorption unit process with minimum alteration, by filling them with granular carbon. This article summarizes carbon bed design criteria for the filtration-adsorption technique as well as for adsorption alone.