Can water treatment residual be useful? A preliminary investigation in the Canadian Prairies

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Drinking water treatment is essential to the protection of public health in the modern society. Coagulation is the most widely used water treatment process in the world for particulate and colloidal matter removal from water, which results in large quantities of water treatment residual (WTR) production. As alum (hydrated aluminum sulfate salt) is the most commonly used coagulant, aluminum-based sludge is the most common WTR. Traditionally landfilling and agricultural application are the two common strategies of aluminum-based sludge management. The former is costly and the second may have difficulty in finding willingness among agricultural producers due to the concern of deteriorating soil health. The partner of this project pays over $1 million annually to landfill its aluminum-based sludge, which is a heavy financial burden. In light of the main elements, e.g., Al, Si, and Ca, in aluminum-based sludge, aluminum-based sludge may be made into value-added products such as adsorbent, bricks, ceramsite, and concrete. We will work with the partner to explore the possibility of transforming a costly to manage waste into marketable products. The main goal of this project is to preliminarily explore the possibility of developing value-added products using wastewater stream (aluminum-based sludge) generated at the industrial partner's facility. Specific objectives are: 1) Conduct systematic literature research on valorization of aluminum-based sludge; 2) Characterize the aluminum-based sludge generated at the plant in different seasons; and 3) Explore directly reusing aluminum-based sludge for emerging pollutant removal from water matrices. The project will not only help the partner to further enhance its environmental stewardship but also reduce operational costs or even open up new profit opportunities. Such an endeavor also has implications to the sustainable development of the region and Canada.