Characteristics of manganese-coated sand using SEM and EDAX analysis.

"Manganese-coated sand" is a type of silica medium coated with manganese oxides, formed from the sorption of manganese oxides during long-term filtration via the process of rapid sand filtration, followed by aeration in a water treatment plant. Locally available manganese-coated sand, both for packing and as a byproduct of filtration processes for water treatment plants in Taiwan, was found to be a low-cost and promising adsorbent for removal of Mn(2+) from raw water. This study was conducted to build the basic data for coating hydrated manganese oxide on the sand surface to utilize the adsorbent properties of the coating and the filtration properties of the sand.