evaluation of electrochemical process on polyphosphate removal from the aqueous solution

aims: the effect of electrochemical process on polyphosphate alone has not been yet investigated. the aim of this study was to study polyphosphate removal from synthetic wastewater by electrochemical process.  materials & methods: this research was carried out experimentally on 50 samples of synthetic wastewater. in each run 2000ml of sw took place in a batch. a constant 600ma direct current was applied on the batch content through steel electrodes. first synthetic wastewater samples with initial concentrations in the range of 2-16mgl-1-p were examined and one sample was taken every 2min during 12min. then samples in the range of 2 to 32mgl-1-p were tested and one sample was taken every 10min during 1 hour. residual phosphorous in taken samples was measured according to standard methods book. findings: the removal efficiency was 85-99.85%. residual phosphorous concentration was reduced below 1mgl-1-p (iranian standard) in 1.15ma/cm2 dc. the needed reaction time was 10min. for 2-16mgl-1-p initial concentration whereas at higher concentrations it was 30min. also, the reaction was first order with respect to the residual phosphorous concentration. conclusion: this process is efficient for removal of the over 99% of poly phosphate from the wastewater and able to reduce the residual phosphorous in effluent to less than iranian standard limits for reuse (&le1mgl-1;).