Authors:

Juliana Gutierrez

Date Created:

Not specified

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About Paper:

Growing public concern over water quality coupled with increasing violations of drinking water regulations has increased widespread reliance on pitcher filters for at-home treatment. While these filters are known to remove chlorine effectively, most studies only focus on contaminant removal efficiency without investigating the underlying mechanisms, leaving a critical knowledge gap regarding the current condition of the chlorine in the water. To address this, the present study seeks to assess whether free chlorine adsorbs onto pitcher filter media without undergoing chemical transformations or chemically decomposes to form other secondary reactive intermediates. Regarding this, different masses (1-2.5g) of the mixed filter media and each media component were exposed to free chlorine at 4 mg/L to monitor its concentration over time, resulting in a noticeable decrease. Additionally, spectrophotometric analysis was employed along with triplicate testing for precise outcomes. Initial results showed removal percentages over 90% for all mixed filter media masses, presenting a maximum value of 96.79% for 1.5g. This work demonstrates that pitcher water filters effectively remove chlorine from the aqueous phase, although it remains unclear whether the chlorine is being adsorbed onto the solid phase filter media or undergoes a chemical reaction. Future research intends to develop mass balances for obtaining a better understanding of the free chlorine behavior when interacting with the media and to determine if it chemically degrades to form reactive intermediates, that may then react with other contaminants in solution. Keywords: Pitcher Filter; Chlorine; Drinking Water Treatment; Mass Balance

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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No topics listed

Co-authors:

Juliana Gutierrez