Nitrate removal from groundwater using electrolytic reduction method

Nitrate (NO3-) contamination of groundwater is a major concern throughout intensive agricultural areas. In the present laboratory scale study, an electrolytic reduction method employing copper cathode and insoluble triple mixed oxide anode was studied for the denitrification of groundwater in a divided cell. Influence of process parameters such as pH, current density and time were studied and the optimal conditions of operation were found to be at pH 8, at 0.89 mA/cm(2) for 7 h. It is possible to remove nitrate below the limit of the drinking water standard using this method. The denitrification was found to follow pseudo first order kinetics with a k value of 0.23 h(-1).