biostudies-literatureUnknown7(1)Pei HIn this study, low-cost and non-polluting quartz sand was respectively mixed with AlCl₃, FeCl₃ and PAFC to synergistically remove Microcystis aeruginosa. Results showed that quartz sand could markedly increase the algae removal efficiency and decrease the coagulant doses. The increase of removal efficiency with AlCl₃ and FeCl₃ was only due to the enhancement of floc density by the quartz sand. However, the removal efficiency with PAFC was increased not only by the enhanced floc density, but also by the enlarged floc size. Flocs from 50 mg/L sand addition were larger than that with other sand doses, which was on account of the appropriate enhancement of collision efficiency at this dose. After coagulation, the extracellular organic matter (EOM) anScientific reports13586https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC5648817biostudies-literatureUsing quartz sand to enhance the removal efficiency of M. aeruginosa by inorganic coagulant and achieve satisfactory settling efficiency.PMC5648817Li HMa CPei HJin YXu HSun JfalseUsing quartz sand to enhance the removal efficiency of M. aeruginosa by inorganic coagulant and achieve satisfactory settling efficiency.In this study, low-cost and non-polluting quartz sand was respectively mixed with AlCl₃, FeCl₃ and PAFC to synergistically remove Microcystis aeruginosa. Results showed that quartz sand could markedly increase the algae removal efficiency and decrease the coagulant doses. The increase of removal efficiency with AlCl₃ and FeCl₃ was only due to the enhancement of floc density by the quartz sand. However, the removal efficiency with PAFC was increased not only by the enhanced floc density, but also by the enlarged floc size. Flocs from 50 mg/L sand addition were larger than that with other sand doses, which was on account of the appropriate enhancement of collision efficiency at this dose. After coagulation, the extracellular organic matter (EOM) an2017-01-01T00:00:00Z2017 Oct2026-05-05T21:46:29.574Z2019-03-27T02:59:26ZS-EPMC56488172905159910.1038/s41598-017-14143-z