Influence of the inherent properties of drinking water treatment residuals on their phosphorus adsorption capacities

Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the phosphorus (P) adsorption and desorption on five drinking water treatment residuals (WTRs) collected from different regions in China. The physical and chemical characteristics of the five WTRs were determined. Combined with rotated principal component analysis, multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the inherent properties of the WTRs and their P adsorption capacities. The results showed that the maximum P adsorption capacities of the five WTRs calculated using the Langmuir isotherm ranged from 4.17 to 8.20 mg/g at a pH of 7 and further increased with a decrease in pH. The statistical analysis revealed that a factor related to Al and 200 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Al (Al_ox) accounted for 36.5% of the variations in the P adsorption. A similar portion (28.5%) was attributed to an integrated factor related to the pH, Fe, 200 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Fe (Fe_ox), surface area and organic matter (OM) of the WTRs. However, factors related to other properties (Ca, P and 5 mmol/L oxalate-extractable Fe and Al) were rejected. In addition, the quantity of P desorption was limited and had a significant negative correlation with the (Feox + Al_ox) of the WTRs (p < 0.05). Overall, WTRs with high contents of Alox, Feox and OM as well as large surface areas were proposed to be the best choice for P adsorption in practical applications.