Emergent treatment processes for raw water from upper-reach of Huangpu river polluted by phenol

In this paper, the emergent treatment for raw water from upper-reach of Huangpu river polluted by phenol was studied through small scale and pilot experiments. The removal capacities for volatile phenol of individual coagulation, individual powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption and PAC adsorption-flocculation process were examined, and the optimum technological parameters for emergent treatment was concluded through experiments for PAC series selection, adsorption time, adsorption model and PAC dosage. The results showed enhanced flocculation process can´t effectively remove phenol in raw water. Bamboo-based PAC has the better adsorption capacities for phenol than coal-based and coconut shell-based PAC and its optimum adsorption time was 2.5h. Freundlich adsorption isotherms of phenol on bamboo-based PAC at 25°C was expressed as q_e=0.4286C_e^0.2408. Normal treatment enhanced by PAC could be used as an effective emergency measure for sudden phenol pollution incidents. The optimum dosage of bamboo-based PAC was 40mg/L when initial concentration of phenol was 0.0356mg/L.