Studies on the removal of phosphate from drinking water by electrocoagulation process

The present study provides an electrocoagulation process for the removal of phosphate from drinking water using mild steel as the anode and stainless steel as the cathode. The studies were carried out as a function of pH, temperature, current density, and so forth, and the adsorption capacity was evaluated using both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiency of 98% was achieved at a current density of 0.05 A center dot dm(-2) at a pH of 6.5. The adsorption of phosphate preferably fitting the Langmuir adsorption isotherm suggests monolayer coverage of adsorbed molecules. The adsorption process follows second-order kinetics. Temperature studies showed that adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous in nature.