Economic evaluation of fluoride removal by membrane capacitive deionization

Abstract

Today, one of the most important issues of all is the supply of drinking and utility water, which is the most basic need for human beings, to be healthy and reliable, economical. Some substances in natural water sources pose a danger to living creatures when they exceed certain concentrations. Fluoride, which can be commonly found in water as a result of natural or industrial effects, poses various risks for the living not only in its deficiency, but also its excess. Therefore, the fluoride concentration should be under control. Membrane Capacitive Deionization Process is an effective method to remove ions from water. In this study, firstly, optimum conditions have been determined by working on the removal of fluoride from groundwater with MCDI which is prepared synthetically. Subsequently, the groundwater, which was obtained from Isparta province and containing 7.71 mg/L fluoride, was treated by the membrane capacitive deionization method at the optimum conditions determined by 99%. Groundwater fluoride concentration has been reduced below the drinking water fluoride limit. For this treatment, 0.06 kWh/m3 energy was expensed and this corresponds to an energy cost of $ 0.006/m3. These results are quite economical when compared to other groundwater fluoride removal methods.