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Title: Bacteria attenuation by iron electrocoagulation governed by interactions between bacterial phosphate groups and Fe(III) precipitates

Journal Article · · Water Research
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Utrecht (Netherlands)
  3. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Iron electrocoagulation (Fe-EC) is a low-cost process in which Fe(II) generated from an Fe(0) anode reacts with dissolved O2 to form (1) Fe(III) precipitates with an affinity for bacterial cell walls and (2) bactericidal reactive oxidants. Previous work suggests that Fe-EC is a promising treatment option for groundwater containing arsenic and bacterial contamination. However, the mechanisms of bacteria attenuation and the impact of major groundwater ions are not well understood. In this work, using the model indicator Escherichia coli (E. coli), we show that physical removal via enmeshment in EC precipitate flocs is the primary process of bacteria attenuation in the presence of HCO3-, which significantly inhibits inactivation, possibly due to a reduction in the lifetime of reactive oxidants. Here, we demonstrate that the adhesion of EC precipitates to cell walls, which results in bacteria encapsulation in flocs, is driven primarily by interactions between EC precipitates and phosphate functional groups on bacteria surfaces. In single solute electrolytes, both P (0.4 mM) and Ca/Mg (1-13 mM) inhibited the adhesion of EC precipitates to bacterial cell walls, whereas Si (0.4 mM) and ionic strength (2-200 mM) did not impact E. coli attenuation. Interestingly, P (0.4 mM) did not affect E. coli attenuation in electrolytes containing Ca/Mg, consistent with bivalent cation bridging between bacterial phosphate groups and inorganic P sorbed to EC precipitates. Finally, we found that EC precipitate adhesion is largely independent of cell wall composition, consistent with comparable densities of phosphate functional groups on Gram-positive and Gram-negative cells. Our results are critical to predict the performance of Fe-EC to eliminate bacterial contaminants from waters with diverse chemical compositions.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AID-OAA-A-13-00002
OSTI ID:
1828154
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1397363
Journal Information:
Water Research, Vol. 103; ISSN 0043-1354
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (6)

Bacterial bioreporter detection of arsenic associated with iron oxides journal January 2018
Field demonstration of solar-powered electrocoagulation water treatment system for purifying groundwater contaminated by both total coliforms and arsenic journal June 2019
Electrocoagulation as a Pretreatment for Electroxidation of E. coli journal November 2019
Electrodisinfection of real swine wastewater for water reuse journal July 2018
Field demonstration of solar-powered electrocoagulation water treatment system for purifying groundwater contaminated by both total coliforms and arsenic text January 2019
Field demonstration of solar-powered electrocoagulation water treatment system for purifying groundwater contaminated by both total coliforms and arsenic text January 2019