Efficacy of the Electrocoagulation Treatment of Agricultural Drainage Water

Electrocoagulation is a promising treatment technique for agricultural drainage water, proposing an efficient removal of pollutants such as turbidity, nitrates (NO3-), dissolved solids (TDS), and salinity. The process utilizes the release of positively charged ions from electrodes to neutralize negatively charged pollutants, resulting in their coagulation and subsequent removal. The purpose of this study was to statistically characterize the relationships among the properties of agricultural drainage water (ADW) that has undergone electrocoagulation treatment (ECT). The unit was installed to treat samples of ADW collected from an agricultural experimental station in the Abis neighborhood of Alexandria, Egypt. The physicochemical characteristics were evaluated by testing various direct current (DC) values (A) and voltages (V). Specifically, the experiments included settings of 3 V at 0.45 A, 5 V at 0.45 A, 12 V at 0.01 A, and 12 V at 17 A. Treatment durations ranged from 10 to 60 min to identify optimal operational parameters for effective contaminant removal. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed as a multivariate analysis technique to assess relevant data from complex datasets and determine the effectiveness of the electrocoagulation treatment unit. The PCA and PCACOV functions in MATLAB were utilized to estimate the principal components. The first three principal components (PC1, PC2, and PC3) all exhibited eigenvalues greater than 1, indicating that they could adequately characterize the functionality of the ECT system. The total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, and nitrate (NO3-) parameters were found on the negative side of PC1, while the reaction time was positioned on the positive side. An increase in reaction time correlated with improved removal efficiencies for these parameters. Additionally, TDS, salinity, and electrical conductivity (EC) wastewater character-ristics were aligned along the positive PC2 axis, suggesting a simultaneous increase in these parameters. The distribution of both reaction time and dissolved oxygen (DO) on the positive side of PC1 indicated that longer reaction times resulted in higher DO levels. It was determined that ADW could be effectively treated using the ECT procedure, demonstrating a statistically significant interaction between treatment performance and wastewater parameters.