Traces of arsenic can be selectively removed from drinking water by adsorption processes using
natural manganese oxides. Monocomponent adsorption of phosphate and arsenate has been
studied by means of column experiments with two natural manganese oxides. A simple technique
was proposed to deduce the concentration variations at the column outlet from the conductivity
and pH measurements. These macroscopic-scale data enabled us to obtain phenomenological
information on the type of surface reactions involved. Two behaviors were encountered with
the oxides: (i) only surface complexation was involved, the developed technique could be applied,
and adsorption isotherms could be rapidly and accurately measured by a series of column
experiments with very few analyses; or (ii) surface complexation was coupled with anion
exchange. The latter behavior was far more complex, and the direct deduction of arsenate
breakthrough from the conductivity and pH signals was no longer possible.
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