Abstract
Depending on the quantity and concentration, drinking water containing fluoride (F(-)) ions can have either favorable or unfavorable impacts on individuals and the environment. High levels of F(-) (over 2 to 4 mg/L) can cause skeletal problems, dental fluorosis, and brain damage in children. Conventional F(-) removal is often complex and thus causes an adverse effect on the environment and financial burdens. The use of persulfate salts to enhance the electrocoagulation process is one of the most recent advances in the removal of F(-) from water. To investigate the efficacy of F(-) removal, a laboratory-scale electrochemical batch reactor with iron and aluminum electrodes was employed with various persulfate doses, pH values, current intensities, and supporting electrolyte concentrations. It was observed that the performance of the enhanced electrocoagulation process by persulfate increased over time, and it worked well in a certain range of pH. Also, for the initial F(-) concentration of 10 mg/L, increasing the supporting electrolyte concentration to 1.5 g/L improved fluoride removal efficiency from 80 to 91.2%, but higher concentrations (2.5 g/L) reduced efficiency to 71%. The most effective removal of F(-) was found to occur at a persulfate dose of 0.2 mg/L. At this dose, F(-) removal efficiency exceeded 92% for all studied F(-) concentrations. Overall, electrocoagulation using persulfate salts proved more efficient than electrocoagulation alone at removing fluoride from water sources.