Transport and retention of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in a drinking water treatment plant. Effects of coagulation, filtration and raw water properties on the removal efficiency

Article Article scientifique Article Transport and retention of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in a drinking water treatment plant. Effects of coagulation, filtration and raw water properties on the removal efficiency eng 2025-11 author Ramirez Arenas Lina Marcela 0000-0001-7721-5227 688754 author Noyer Robin Damien Maurice 858260 author Gentile Stéphan Ramseier author Zimmermann Stéphane author Perdaems Pauline author Ramaciotti Pascal author Liu Wei author Stoll Serge 0000-0003-3158-4208 29148 Forel Communs (FOREL) 100067 10.1016/j.colsuc.2025.100067 2949-7590 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2949759025000149 Increasing use and release of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) into aquatic systems, including water compartments use to produce drinking water, represent a risk for human health through direct NPs ingestion. Since drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) provide and guarantee the quality of the water for human consumption, in this study, the TiO2 NPs removal efficiency of a conventional DWTP which provides drinking water for half million consumers is investigated. For that purpose, a pilot-scale DWTP is considered. Experiments were first conducted without considering the coagulation process in order to evaluate the efficiency of the filtration processes (sand and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration) and the specific impact of the coagulation (with Polyaluminum Chloride (PACl)) on TiO2 NPs removal. Results show that filtration processes through sand and GAC achieve an overall TiO2 NPs removal of 96.3% ± 1.0. The NPs removal was mainly attributed to straining and adsorption processes during filtration. Our results also indicate that the addition of coagulant significantly improves TiO2 NPs removal with a global removal efficiency >99.5% ± 0.5. The higher removal efficiency in presence of coagulant is related to NPs surface charge reduction and aggregation, significantly increasing their retention and attachment in the filter media. TiO2 nanoparticles Drinking water treatment Filtration Coagulation Removal efficiency Dewey 550 Dewey 333.7-333.9 41 Département F.-A. Forel des sciences de l'environnement et de l'eau 153 18 Institut des sciences de l'environnement 0DB false 755 Environmental Physical Chemistry Colloids and surfaces. C, Environmental aspects 3 b9f38ff4-40f6-43c2-a193-0ae407b3f98d Article (Published version) Public Transport_and_retention_of_TIO2_Col.pdf 3180937 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 b9db6e2fb572131144cdb9af8cac924ffbfe6402ca06f8da45e01c74b730ecb3 openAccess Faculté des sciences / Section des sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement / Département F.-A. Forel des sciences de l'environnement et de l'eau Centres et instituts / Institut des sciences de l'environnement

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Transport and retention of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in a drinking water treatment plant. Effects of coagulation, filtration and raw water properties on the removal efficiency	Colloids and surfaces. C, Environmental aspects			2025	61	52

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Noyer, Robin Damien Maurice