River water was treated by continuous electrocoagulation (EC) for acetaminophen (AP), natural organic matter (NOM measured as UV254), and elements removal. HRT at 40 min with 0.5 mg/L AP exhibited best removal efficiency for NOM (55.9%) and AP (53.4%) removal. Except for aluminium, other elements in river water were removed completely. EC sludge (floating and settled) XRD spectrum showed peaks from AP were reduced, and few peaks left were from aluminium hydroxide formed by EC. Several bonds in functional groups of AP and NOM were significantly deformed. FESEM images revealed that sludge was highly porous material as needed for adsorption. EDAX showed that floating sludge had slightly higher carbon compared to settled sludge whereas nitrogen was higher in settled sludge. Other elements concentration in both sludges were similar proving that water treatment was due to electro-floatation, adsorption, and sweep flocs. Single-factor ANOVA showed significant variance at HRT for NOM (F4.066 = 92.67, p = <0.05) and AP (F4.066 = 20.59, p = <0.05) removal. Variance was significant between treatments at different drug concentration for NOM (F3.478 = 88.53, p = <0.05) and AP (F3.478 = 529.85, p = <0.05) removal. NOM removal correlated well with AP removal during continuous electrocoagulation.
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