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Removing Fulvic Acid by Lime Softening
Author(s) -
Liao Marcia Yunmen,
Randtke Stephen J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1985.tb05592.x
Subject(s) - softening , chemistry , calcium carbonate , lime , coprecipitation , crystallinity , adsorption , fraction (chemistry) , fulvic acid , carbonate , calcium , water softening , divalent , trichloroacetic acid , inorganic chemistry , mineralogy , chromatography , metallurgy , organic chemistry , materials science , humic acid , composite material , crystallography , fertilizer
Lime softening was found to remove a significant fraction of a fulvic acid extracted from groundwater. Removal of the fulvic acid was attributed to coprecipitation and involved its adsorption onto calcium carbonate crystals during the early stages of the softening reaction. Favorable conditions for removal included a high pH, an excess of divalent calcium, a minimum amount of carbonate, and finely divided calcium carbonate solids of poor crystallinity. Test results suggest that the softening process can be modified to improve the removal of fulvic acid without compromising the removal of hardness.