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Water Treatment Issues:

Acid Water

Algae, cyanotoxins

Alkalinity

Alum (Aluminum Sulfate)

Aluminum

Ammonia

Arsenic

Asbestos

Bacteria

Barium

Benzene

Bicarbonate Alkalinity

Boron (Borate, Boric Acid)

Brackish Water

Bromine

Bromate

Cadmium

Calcium

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Tetrachloride

Chloramines

Chloride

Chlorine

Chromium

Color

Copper

Corrosion

Cryptosporidium

Cyanide

Dichloroethylene

Endocrine Disruptors

Fluoride

Giardia Lambia

Hardness

Heterotrophic Bacteria (HPC)

Hydrogen Sulfide

Iodine

Iron

Iron Bacteria

Lead

Magnesium

Manganese

Mercury

Methane

MTBE

Napthalene

Nickel

Nitrates and Nitrites

NMDA (N-Nitrosodimethylanime)

Norovirus

Odor

Organics

Perchloroethylene (PCE)

Perchlorate

Pesticides

pH

Pharmaceuticals

Radon

Radium

Selenium

Silica

Silver

Strontium

Sulfate

TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)

Trichlorethylene (TCE)

Tritium

Uranium

Vanadium

Vinyl Chloride

VOC


Mercury

Mercury (Hg) is one of earth's least abundant elements. It exists as an inorganic salt or as an organic compound (methyl mercury).

Mercury
As its Latin/Greek original name implies, mercury is a silver, runny liquid. Mercury is the only element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure.

 

It is the inorganic type that is detected in drinking water. Organic mercury is found in fish and comes from industrial manufacturing waste.

Inorganic mercury, if ingested, usually settles in the kidneys; organic mercury attacks the central nervous system.

• Inhalation of metallic mercury vapor, dermal application of medicinal products containing inorganic mercurous salts and ingestion of seafood contaminated with methylmercury have been known to cause neurological and behavioral disorders, such as: Hand tremors, irritability, shyness, changes in vision or hearing and memory problems.
• Short-term exposure to mercury may cause lung damage, nausea, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes and eye irritation.
• Children of mothers who have been exposed to mercury have exhibited delays in motor and verbal development as well as severe brain damage.
• Mercury also has negative effects on the liver, immune system and reproductive organs.

Mercury Cycle
The Factory to Fish to Fisherman Mercury Cycle

 

The MCL set by the EPA for mercury is 0.002 mg/L.

Treatment: Mercury is easily removed from water by activated carbon filtration. Reverse osmosis removes 95 to 97% of it.

 

Here are the leading treatment methods, according to Water Technology magazine:

• Both inorganic and organic mercury can be reduced in water with distillation, reverse osmosis and ion exchange.
• The activated carbon, specialty media adsorption and filtration products, such as solid block and adsorption filter, are also effective.
• EPA has approved the following methods for removing mercury from drinking water: Coagulation/filtration, granulated activated carbon, lime softening and reverse osmosis.
• Sulfide precipitation is a common method for removing inorganic mercury from wastewater.
• Starch xanthate is an alternative adsorption material to activated carbon.