Studies on the electrolytic treatment of marine sediment

Abstract

study on the electrolytic treatment of marine sediment was conducted in Tsukuba University, Japan. It is found that the electrolvtic treatment of marine sediment suspensions based on oxidant formation at the electrodes was able to reduce both organic carbon and Vibrio. As with results for electro-oxidation in water, Vibrio destruction was much faster than organic matter reduction. The rate of reduction for organic carbon in sediment was much slower compared to that in water. Oxidant formation (measured as total residual oxidant or TRO) rate was much faster than the sediment oragnic carbon oxidation rate, and there is a tendency for excess TRO accumulation especially if there is little or no organic matter present in the water. From the results of Vibrio, two rates of Vibrio destruction were observed. The initial destruction rate very high but lasted only for a short time (about 10 minutes) followed by a slower destruction rate. The faster rate of Vibrio destruction may be attributed to the death of the microorganisms in sediment regions, which are easily accessible, by TRO. The second phase of slower destruction may be attributed to death of Vibrio in less TRO-accessible regions in the sediment.