Selective removal of arsenic in water: Reduction of waste and energy use increasing sustainability

Most of the arsenic (As) removal methods remove the major part of the other ions in water, especially anions which are important for general water quality measures. However, the efficiency of selective removal is decided on the basis of competitive ions and their concentrations, removal capacity and required water quality parameters. To reduce the waste and energy use for water treatment, selective As removal and easy separation of adsorbent materials and produced water is a basic need. Although As removal is efficient, if the material cannot be easily separated, additional energy and high-tech instruments are required, which increase the energy use and cost of the operation. Another major characteristic of a sustainable selective As removal method is regeneration and re-use capability. The number of cycles that can effectively remove As determine the capacity of re-use. With increased re-use capacity, waste generation can be significantly reduced as well as the energy use.