Removal of emerging pollutants through Granular Activated CarbonA. Katsigiannis, C. Noutsopoulos ⇑ , J. Mantziaras, M. Gioldasi Sanitary Engineering Laboratory, Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens,Iroon Polytechniou 9, Zografou, 157 80 Athens, Greece Removal of Emerging Contaminants from water via Granular Activated Carbon columns. Breakthrough curves obtained for each contaminant and adsorption models applied. The system removed endocrine disrupters more efficiently than pharmaceuticals. The Modified dose–response model gave the best results among the models examined. Microbiological growth observed, indicating biodegradation as a removal mechanism The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of adsorption at Granular Activated Carbon(GAC) columns on the removal of selected Emerging Contaminants (ECs) from water at concentrationsfound in the aquatic environment (from ng/L to few l g/L) and to obtain breakthrough curves for eachsubstance. For this scope several fixed bed column experiments have been conducted in a pilot-scaleGAC column system. The ECs examined were the Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) Bisphenol-A(BPA) and Triclosan (TCS) and the Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) Ibuprofen (IBU),Naproxen (NPX) and Ketoprofen (KFN). All experiments were performed with tap water spiked withthe target compounds at concentrations up to 2 l g/L. For the evaluation of the breakthrough curves of each EC several adsorption models were used (Bohart–Adams model, Thomas model, Yoon–Nelsonmodel, Wolborska model and Modified dose–response model). According to the results all target com-pounds could effectively be removed by GAC adsorption. EDCs were more effectively removed fromthe water than NSAIDs. Among target compounds, TCS exhibited the highest removal efficiency. For a3.1 m/h surface velocity, the removal rates on the 5th day of continuous operation were 74.7% for BPA,86.7% for TCS, 57.4% for IBU, 65.6% for NPX and 61.4% for KFN for a bed depth of 8 cm, whereas practicallycomplete removal was achieved for all target compounds for a bed depth of 16 cm. During the experi-ments microbiological activity was observed, which resulted in the stabilization of the breakthroughcurves which significantly extended the column service time. 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved http://www.academia.edu/21619952/Removal_of_emerging_pollutants_through_Granular_Activated_Carbon |