DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE ELECTROCOAGULATION (EC) REACTOR FOR LEAD REMOVAL FROM EX-MINING POND WATER

Exposure of tin ore and the associated minerals such as galena (PbS), arsenopyrite
(FeAsS), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), stannite (Cu2FeSnS4), teallite (PbSnS2), pyrite
(FeS), etc to air during mining might cause the oxidation and dissolution of the
minerals which lead to the release of heavy metals to the mining pond. One of such
heavy metals is Pb. Ex-mining pond water was reported to contain Pb as high as
69.46 mg/L. Consumption of water containing Pb can cause toxic effects to humans,
including brain damage. This is the reason ex-mining pond water is not
recommended as drinking water source. The conventional treatment of water does
not easily remove Pb from water. A promising and emerging treatment technology
for Pb removal is by the application of electrocoagulation (EC). However, the EC
process has problem of systematic reactor design, scale-up, among others.