Investigation of the removal of some pharmauceticals by coagulation under different experimental conditions

In this study, the removal of three different groups of analgesic painkiller pharmaceuticals (paracetamol, naproxen, diclofenac) by coagulation from drinking water under different experimental conditions were investigated. In the first stage of the study, the optimum dosage and pH of the coagulants (Al2(SO4)3.18H2O, MgCl2.6H2O, FeSO4.7H2O, FeCl3.6H2O) were determined at 20 C. In the second stage of the study, the effect of pharmaceuticals concentration, temperature and superfloc A100, nano-magnetite as coagulant aids, on removal of pharmaceuticals were investigated. According to the first stage of the study, the highest removal efficiencies of naproxen and diclofenac with 100 mg/L FeSO4.7H2O at pH 5 were found 58.2% and 57.6%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest removal efficiency of paracetamol was determined 46% with 100 mg/L FeCl3.6H2O at pH 11. The results of the second stage of the study showed that temperature was an effective parameter on removal of pharmaceuticals from drinking water by coagulation process. It was observed that the removal efficiencies of pharmaceuticals were increased with increasing temperature. The removal efficiencies of paracetamol with FeSO4.7H2O were found 26.8% and 42.4% at 10 C and 25 C, respectively. The results of the study showed that initial pharmaceutical concentration was effective on the pharmaceutical removal efficiencies. It was determined that the removal efficiency was increased with decreasing pharmaceutical concentration. While 0.5 mg/L diclofenac was removed with 94%, 5 mg/L diclofenac was removed 30% with Al2(SO4)3.18H2O at the optimum conditions.