Occurrence of Contaminants in Drinking Water Sources and the Potential of Biochar for Water Quality Improvement

In this work, the occurrence of contaminants in drinking water sources was described in relation to their treatment options based on both conventional (e.g., coagulation-flocculation, sedimentation filtration, and chlorination) and advanced treatment techniques (e.g., membrane filtration, ozonation, and biofiltration). However, due to apparent drawbacks of these methods (e.g., formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs)), it is desirable to develop an alternative option for safe drinking water. In this respect, biochar is recognized as an effective candidate to resolve the limitations in treating common pollutants typically occurring in drinking water such as microbial contaminants, inorganic contaminants, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). As biochar can exhibit different types of interactions with adsorbates, its sorption processes can be explained by diverse mechanisms, e.g., p-p electron donoracceptor interactions, complexation, precipitation, H-bonding, and electrostatic attraction. In light of the attractive features of biochar (e.g., enhanced sorption properties, cost-effectiveness, and environmentally friendly nature), we offer in-depth discussion on biochar-based water treatment technologies for large-scale water purification operation. The abstract was adopted from: Palansooriya, K.N., et al., 2019. Occurrence of contaminants in drinking water sources and the potential of biochar for water quality improvement: A review. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, pp.1-63.

This work was carried out with the support of "Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Effects of plastic mulch wastes on crop productivity and agro-environment, Project No. PJ014758)" Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.Corresponding author email: yongsikok@korea.ac.kr