Mn(II) removal from groundwater with manganese oxide-coated filter media

Removing soluble manganese from groundwater requires a strong chemical oxidant, such as ozone or potassium permanganate, or raising the pH to alkaline value (over pH 9). Biological or adsorption processes can also be applied. Filter media naturally or industrially coated with manganese oxide are effective in adsorptive manganese removal. In this work, a layer of commercial manganese oxide coated medium was added to the top of an experimental sand/anthracite filter column to improve manganese removal. The coated layer was ca 28 cm thick (20% of the total filter depth) and the sand layer was 110 cm thick. The coated layer enhanced the manganese removal markedly. Manganese removal increased by over 91%, and <0.02 mg/L of manganese remained in the treated water. Also iron removal was enhanced. Filters with added coated layer recovered faster than reference filter from filter backwashes. Sodium hypochlorite feed, which was tested in regeneration of the filter medium, had a slight negative effect on the filter performance.