Resumen de A rapid estimation of metal contents in wastewater treatment for conductivity measurements
Francisco Prieto García, Enrique Barrado Esteban, Marisol Vega, Luis Debán
An efficient wastewater treatment for metal removal is based on the precipitation of metal ferrites by addition of iron(II) in alkaline and oxidizing conditions. The maximum efficiency is achieved for an iron(II)/total metal ratio of 15:1 (w:w) (Barrado et al., 1996a) which implies that the total metal concentration must be known. It has been established a linear empirical correlation (R²=0.997) between wastewater conductivity and the total metal concentration that allows a rapid estimation of the amount of iron(II) to be added for metal precipitation with no need of time-consuming metal analysis. The empirical correlation obtained overestimates the total metal concentration, and therefore the added iron(II), thus assuring maximum efficiency of metal removal. The occurrence of metal complexing substances modifies the wastewater ionic composition decreasing the conductivity measurements and the estimated metal concentration. However, it has been demonstrated that the estimated amount of iron(II) is still in excess to assure maximum metal precipitation
