Waste Water Treatment

Zeolite removes and holds heavy metals by ion exchange. (Blanchard et al., 1984). An effective removal of heavy metal ions is achieved through ion exchange in a pH range of 3.5 - 8.0 and even in the presence of alkali or alkaline earth cations. Clinoptilolite is a suitable ion exchanger to decrease the heavy metal content of weakly alkaline wastewaters from several thousand ppm down to 100 ppm and even 10 ppm.

Important issues concerning Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) include the control of odours and gases from treatment tanks, reactors, clarifiers and composting operations that exist on the WWTP site. Zeolite is superior at controlling odours such as: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), Ammonia (NH3), and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). Refer to the Odour Control Section for more detail on how zeolite works in this application.Ammonia is a major issue stemming from treatment of municipal wastewater. Polishing columns, containing high clinoptilolite zeolite (Zeocan Zeolite), are commonly used to lower the level of ammonium to acceptable discharge levels.

In composting the sludge generated at the WWTP zeolite enables the nutrients to be held (via cation exchange) within the compost while reducing odours. Zeolite also has the ability to hold heavy metals. Refer to the Composting Section to learn more detail. Zeolite will drastically improve the compost material.

Improvement of the Biological Degradability of Wastewaters Using Activated Zeolites A Study Supported by NATO's Science for Peace Programme, 1999 NATO Project #SFP972494 NATO Country Director Dr. Scot E. Smith Hungarian Project Director Dr. Peter Princz.