Treatment of tunnel wash water: case study from Brno

Tunnel wash water has been repeatedly reported to contain higher volume of pollutants, but its treatment is not legally bounded in many countries of EU and elsewhere. In this study, three sam- plings of tunnel wash water were carried out during 2019 and 2020. First sampling determined the chemical p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Desalination and water treatment 2022-09, Vol.271, p.27-37
Main Authors: Korytář, I., Mravcová, L., Raček, J., Velikovská, K., Hlavínek, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biochar
Heavy metals
Road tunnel
Tunnel wash water
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Summary:Tunnel wash water has been repeatedly reported to contain higher volume of pollutants, but its treatment is not legally bounded in many countries of EU and elsewhere. In this study, three sam- plings of tunnel wash water were carried out during 2019 and 2020. First sampling determined the chemical pollutants and helped to design the experimental tunnel wash water treatment. Second and third samplings were analysed and later treated in glasses filter pre-tests using 4 different adsorbents. As adsorbent were used food waste biochar, activated food waste biochar, wooden biochar and as the conventional absorbent of granulated activated carbon as a control. The glasses pre-tests focused on determination appropriate contact time and amount of adsorbent. Analyses were focused on organic and inorganic pollutants contained in tunnel wash water. The results of the analysis included undissolved substances, C10-C40 hydrocarbons, chlorides, sulfates, heavy metals, and other chemical elements. The analyses showed that biochar had comparable effect on pollutants reduction such as granulated activated carbon. The adsorption had mainly effect on reducing concentration of toxic metals especially Zn (94.7%) and Cu (50.8%). The highest level of reduction was measured for Fe (98.0%). On contrary the results of tensides, sulfates and some of chemical elements showed small or none effect. For better reducing of all pollutants must pre- cede another level of treatment. The results showed that adsorption on the filter medium could be one of treatment processes, and cheaper biochar represents an eco-friendly way of treatment tunnel wash water, which belongs among the important strategies of circular economy.
ISSN:1944-3986
1944-3986
DOI:10.5004/dwt.2022.28791