Abstract Aims: Turbidity in higher than standard levels, indicates failure in the water treatment plant. An electrochemical disinfection process takes place through electricity transition between two or more electrodes. This research aimed to determine the reaction rate of electrochemical process for purification of polluted water. Materials &amp; Methods: This is a bench scale, experimental study performed in a batch system on synthetic wastewater. 1700ml of prepared synthetic wastewater was put in an electrolytic cell and constant 600mA current was flowed into the cell content through merged aluminum electrodes for 1 hour. Samples were taken from the batch in the beginning and every 10 minutes and were analyzed for, turbidity, Coliform bacteria (probably, confirmed and E. coli) and Heterotrophic Plat Count. Fisher exact test was used to analyze data. Findings: All the parameters of turbidity, HPC, total coliform, confirmed coliform and E. coli were decreased during the time. The electrochemical process reduced the average of turbidity below 3NTU after 50 minutes (91.05 removal). The HPC number reduced from 130n/ml to 2.4n/ml (98.15 removal) after 50 minutes. No coliforms were seen after 40 minutes of the electrochemical process. Conclusion: 40 minutes of electrochemical process in 600mA by aluminum electrodes is the optimum condition for removing the turbidity, Coliform bacteria (total, confirmed and E. coli) and HPC from polluted water

Ghadami, F.

Mosavi, S.

Pourmousa, M.

Rabbani, D.

kashan university of medical sciences

ISSN: 2383-2568  Quarterly of International Archives of Health Sciences 2016;3(1):23-26
C I T A T I O N    L I N K S
Article HistoryReceived: October 3, 2015          Accepted: February 6, 2016          ePublished: March 10, 2016
Correspondence
Address:  Health School, Kashan Uni-versity of Medical Sciences, Pezeshk Boulevard, 5th Kilometer of Kashan-Ravand Road, Kashan, Iran. Postal Code: 8715973449
Phone:  +983155540111
Fax:  +983155540111d-rabbani@kaums.ac.ir
*“Social Determinants of Health Re-search Center” and “Environmental Health Engineering Department, Health School”, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran1Environmental Health Engineering Department, Health School, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran2Statistics & Epidemiology Department, Health School, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
[1] Environmental engineering laboratory manual for first year engineering students 
[2] Electrochemical processes for the remediation of wastewater and contaminated soil: Emerging technology [3] Electrochemical treatment of pentachlorophenol in water 
and pulp bleaching effluent [4] Electrochemical technologies in wastewater treatment separation [5] Electrochemical removal (ECAR) for rural Bangladesh–merging technology with sustainable implementation [6] Removal of cod and turbidity to improve wastewater quality using electrocoagulantion technique [7] A novel electro-chemical process for water treatment [8] Effect of coagulants on electrochemical process for phosphorus removal from 
activated sludge effluent [9] Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: An effective tool for a fast microbiological diagnosis [10] Electrochemical coagulation of clay suspensions [11] 
Removal turbidity and separation of heavy metals using electrocoagulation-electroflotation technique: A case study [12] Electrochemical treatment of industrial wastewater [13] Ground water coagulation using soluble stainless steel electrodes [14] Treatment of chemical mechanical polishing wastewater by electro coagulation: System performances and sludge settling characteristics [15] Efficacy of electrolyzed oxidizing water for inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, and Listeria monocytogenes [16] Application of direct current to protect bioreactor against contamination [17] Disinfection of water by electrochemical treatment [18] Electrochemical treatment applied to food-processing industrial wastewater [19] Standard methods for the examination of water and Wastewater
Aims Turbidity in higher than standard levels, indicates failure in the water treatment plant. An electrochemical disinfection process takes place through electricity transition between two or more electrodes. This research aimed to determine the reaction rate of electrochemical 
process for purification of polluted water. 
Materials & Methods This is a bench scale, experimental study performed in a batch system on synthetic wastewater. 1700ml of prepared synthetic wastewater was put in an electrolytic 
cell and constant 600mA current was flowed into the cell content through merged aluminum electrodes for 1 hour. Samples were taken from the batch in the beginning and every 10 
minutes and were analyzed for, turbidity, Coliform bacteria (probably, confirmed and E. coli) 
and Heterotrophic Plat Count. Fisher exact test was used to analyze data.
Findings All the parameters of turbidity, HPC, total coliform, confirmed coliform and E. coli were decreased during the time. The electrochemical process reduced the average of turbidity below 3NTU after 50 minutes (91.05% removal). The HPC number reduced from 130n/ml to 2.4n/ml (98.15% removal) after 50 minutes. No coliforms were seen after 40 minutes of the electrochemical process.
Conclusion 40 minutes of electrochemical process in 600mA by aluminum electrodes is the 
optimum condition for removing the turbidity, Coliform bacteria (total, confirmed and E. coli) and HPC from polluted water.
A B S T R A C TA R T I C L E    I N F O
Article TypeShort Communication
AuthorsGhadami F.1 MSc,Pourmousa M.1 MSc,Mosavi S.2 MSc,Rabbani D.* PhD
 Keywords Water; Electrochemical Techniques; Enterobacteriaceae
How to cite this articleGhadami F, Pourmousa M, Mosavi S, Rabbani D. Determining the Reaction Rate of Electrochemical 
Process for Purification of Polluted
Water. International Archives of 
Health Sciences. 2016;3(1):23-26.
Determining the Reaction Rate of Electrochemical 
Process for Purification of Polluted Water
©2016 ASP Ins., Afarand Scholarly Publishing Institute, Iran
Copyright© 2016 ASP Ins. This open-access article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 
4.0 International License which permits Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, 
and build upon the material) under the Attribution-NonCommercial terms.
Determining the Reaction Rate of Electrochemical Process for Purification of Polluted Water                     24 
Int Arch Health Sci                             Winter 2016, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 
Introduction 
The size of colloidal particles in aqueous 
environments is 0.001-1µm and the general 
settling velocity of a particle with diameter of 
0.1µm is 3m in one million years. So, these 
particles cannot be removed by gravitational 
force and have to be removed by other 
processes [1].  
In general, water turbidity is due to clay, silt, 
viruses, bacteria, fulvic and/or humic acids, 
also from inorganic maters, e.g. asbestos, 
silicate and radioactive particles. Turbidity 
renders the water appearance objectionable; 
in addition, it may shelter microorganisms 
against disinfection. Also, turbidity in higher 
than standard levels, indicates failure in the 
water treatment plant [2, 3].  
Application of electricity for water treatment 
was first considered in Europe in 1889 and 
electro dialyze was applied first by Elmer for 
water demineralization in 1904 [4]. An 
electrochemical disinfection process takes 
place through electricity transition between 
two or more electrodes. The main advantage 
of the process is in site production of a 
chemical disinfectant [4, 5]. Also, this process 
has been used for water purification and 
deionization. Some anions and cations such as 
sulfate, phosphate, chloride, copper, mercury, 
lead, nickel and iron, as well as organic 
compounds, have been removed by this 
process. In addition, the process improves 
turbidity, taste and odor [6]. Direct current 
(DC) electricity and also high and low 
frequency alternative current (AC) electricity 
have been used for electrochemical treatment. 
Different types of electrodes have been used 
in this process such as graphite, composite, 
carbon fibers, titanium, stainless still, silver, 
and aluminum. Sometimes sodium 
chloride/sodium bromide has been added in 
order to improve the efficacy. Electrochemical 
treatment of water destroys a wide range of 
microorganisms. This process destroys about 
40 species of microorganisms in different 
sizes, e.g. viruses, bacteria and alga [6, 7].   
Electrochemical method has some advantages 
over other methods, e.g. reverse osmoses and 
ion exchange. Of course, this method has some 
limitations; for example the necessity of an 
electrical power supplies [6, 8-10]. Recently, 
some electrochemical processes have been 
represented that could remove color, BOD, 
COD, suspended solids and heavy metals from 
wastewater simultaneously [11, 12]. Khanniche 
et al. have claimed that their method can 
remove 99% of heterotrophic plate counts, 
coliforms, Streptococcus and Pseudomonas 
from river water samples and eliminate 90% 
of turbidity from drinking water [7].  
Abuzaid et al. succeeded to remove about 
95% of turbidity by still electrodes and 1Amp 
electrical current [13]. Also, Lai & Lin 
electrochemical study for turbidity removal 
by coupled Fe2+/Al3+ electrodes leads to 
96.5% reduction before 30 minutes reaction 
time [14]. Venkitanarayanan et al. have 
reported that electrochemical process in 10v 
through generation oxidizing agents kills E. 
coli (type H: 0157), Salmonella enteritis and 
Listeria monocytogenes [15]. Tokudoa & 
Nakanishi have applied 60mA direct current 
to prevent growth of E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, 
Pseudomona aeruginosa and Staphylococcus 
aureus [16]. Patermarakis & Fountoukidis have 
utilized a 2.5mA/cm2 direct current to remove 
numerous coliform bacteria and fecal 
Streptococci from natural surface water after 
a 30 minute reaction time [17]. Mosavian & 
Rezaie have reported 99.9% removing of fecal 
coliform by electrochemical process in 5A 
with steel electrodes [18].  
Despite many studies have taken place on 
electrochemical reduction of turbidity and 
microbes from polluted water, there is no 
available report of their reaction rates. So this 
research aimed to determine the reaction rate 
of electrochemical process for purification of 
polluted water. 
 
Materials & Methods 
This is a bench scale experimental study, 
which was carried out on artificially polluted 
water in a batch reactor in Water and 
Wastewater Laboratory of Health School of 
Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.  
The synthetic wastewater from the standpoint 
of turbidity and bacterial contamination took 
after river raw water quality. Afterwards 
1700ml of it was poured in an electrolytic cell 
and submerged aluminum electrodes passed 
600mA direct current through it.  
In each run, 40gr of clay (Mesh; 120µm) and 
50ml of municipal wastewater treatment 
plant effluent was added to 10 liters of tap 
water. At the beginning, one sample was taken 
from the prepared synthetic wastewater as 
the control sample and one sample was taken 
25                                                                                                                                                                                            Gadami F. et al. 
Int Arch Health Sci                           Winter 2016, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 
from the cell content every 10 minutes up to 1 
hour. This process was repeated on 5 different 
synthetic wastewater samples.  
The samples were analyzed for, turbidity, 
most probable number of coliform bacteria 
(total, confirmed and E. coli) and 
Heterotrophic Plat Count (HPC) according to 
the Standard Methods for Examination of 
Water and Wastewater book (21st edition) [19].  
Fisher exact test was used in SPSS 19 software 
to compare the data in different times. 
 
Findings 
All the parameters of turbidity, HPC, total 
coliform, confirmed coliform and E. coli were 
decreased during the time. The 
electrochemical process reduced the average 
of turbidity below 3NTU after 50 minutes 
(91.05% removal). The HPC number reduced 
from 130n/ml to 2.4n/ml (98.15% removal) 
after 50 minutes. No coliforms were seen after 
40 minutes of the electrochemical process 
(Figure 1). 
Figure 1) Turbidity, HPC, total coliform, confirmed coliform and E. coli removing rate by electrochemical treatment of 
polluted water 
Time (min) Turbidity (NTU) HPC (n/ml) 
Total coliform
(MPN/100ml)
Confirmed 
(MPN/100ml) 
E. coli
(MPN/100ml)
0 29.64±2.61 130.20±18.74 77.66±23.87 16.66±7.27 7.97±1.00
10 7.16±1.54 15.00±2.54 31.83±30.72 8.94±5.55 4.73±2.66
20 5.71±0.84 11.80±1.30 10.29±5.46 5.35±4.45 1.32±1.82
30 4.88±0.33 9.40±1.14 4.56±8.08 1.90±4.24 0.60±1.34
40 3.79±0.96 7.20±0.83 0 0 0
50 2.65±0.82 4.80±0.44 0 0 0
60 1.30±0.34 2.40±0.89 0 0 0
 
There was a significant difference between 
<30 minute reaction time and more for 90% 
removal of all variables (p=0.001); But, there 
was no significant differences between 30 to 
40 and 40 to 50 minute intervals (p>0.05).  
 
Discussion 
The findings showed that electrochemical 
process by 600mA and aluminum electrodes 
could remove coliform bacteria (total, 
confirmed and E. coli) up to 100% during a 
40-minute reaction time and more. Also, the 
process eliminated up to 95.61% of turbidity 
and 98.15% of heterotrophic bacteria. These 
findings are more efficient than what was 
stated by Barrera-Díaz et al. They have 
reported the removing of 93% of total 
coliform bacteria under optimal conditions of 
pH=4 and 18.2A/m2 current density by 
aluminum electrodes from food-industry 
wastewater [18].  
Our research showed that the electrochemical 
process reduced the turbidity from 
29.64+2.61 to 1.30+0.34NTU (95.61% 
removal). This result is compatible to the 
findings of Abuzaid et al. that stated the ability 
of removing 95% of turbidity by iron 
electrodes and 1A electrical current [13]. 
Another study by Lay et al showed that 
electrochemical process by iron and 
aluminum electrodes after 30 minutes of 
reaction time removes 96.5% of turbidity 
which in less than 30 minutes, is slightly 
better than our findings [14]. 
Generally, our findings are compatible with 
Tokudoa & Nakanishi [16] and also 
Patermarakis & Fountoukidis [17] but some 
differences may be related to unlike 
conditions like temperature, pH, electro 
conductivity and etc. 
 
Conclusion 
40 minutes of electrochemical process in 
600mA by aluminum electrodes is the 
optimum condition for removing the turbidity, 
Coliform bacteria (total, confirmed and E. coli) 
and HPC from polluted water.  
 
Acknowledgments: We are grateful from the 
Deputy of Research of Kashan University of 
Medical Sciences for financial assistance  
Ethical Permission: None declared by the 
authors.  
Conflict of Interests: None declared by the 
authors.  
Funding/Support: This research was 
financially supported by Deputy of Research 
of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. 
 
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