The pollutant removal efficiencies and operating costs of monopolar and bipolar configurations have been compared in several studies (Golder et al..2007; Bagramoglu et al..2007) 2007. Slaughterhouse wastewaters have been treated with mild steel and aluminium electrodes arranged in bipolar or monopolar configurations (Bagramoglu et al., 2007) The best performance was obtained using mild steel electrodes in bipolar configuration. Economic calculations were made based on the results but electrode consumption was calculated according to Faraday’s law which gives false results, especially when aluminium electrodes are used (Golder et al., 2007) studied Cr removal with EC by mild steel electrodes. Current efficiency for the dissolving of the mild stee! electrodes was lower when electrodes were in bipolar configuration (64.5%) than when they were in monopolar configuration (91.7%). This is probably due to the higher electrode potential of the electrodes in bipolar arrangement and competing reactions taking place on the electrodes. A complete removal of Cr*was obtained when electrodes were in the bipolar arrangement. However, treatment cost was lower with a monopolar arrangement when the ieatment was continued to the discharge li imilar results were reported when EC was used for the removal of fluoride from drinking water. 2.2.7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Electrocoagulation The advantages of the electrocoagulation technique in treating wastewater are ussed below. As well as some disadvantages it has. 2.2.7.1 Advantages of Electrocoagulation Elecrocoagulation is altemati ve wastewater treatments that dissolves metal anode using eletricity and provide active cations required for congulation without increasing the salinity of the water.The process has the capability to remove a large number of pollutants under a variety of conditions. Below are the advantages of electrocoagulation as outlined by (Mollah et al 2001) Q The process requires simple equipment and is easy to operate with sufficient operational latitudes to handle most problems encountered on runningWastewater treated by elctrocoagulation gives palatable clear,colorless,and odorless. Sludge formed by eletrocoagulation tends to be readily settleable and easy to dewater,because it is composed mainly of metallic oxides/hydroxides.Above all it is a low sludge producing techniques. Flocs formed by this process are similar to the chemical flocs.except that these flocs tends to be much larger contain less bound water.is acid resistant and more stable and therefore can be separated easily by filtration. idal This process has the advantage of removing the smallest coll particle,because the applied electric field sets them in motion,thereby facilitating the coagulation ‘The electrolytic process are controlled by electricity with no moving parts hence require less maintenance. The EC process avoids uses of chemicals, and so there is no problem of neutralizing excess chemicals and no possibility of secondary pollution caused by chemical substances added at high concentration as when chemical coagulation of wastewater is used. EC produces effluent with less total di olved solids (TDS) content as compared with chemical treatments. If this water is reused, the low TDS level contributes toa lower water recovery cost. ‘The gas bubbles produced during electrolysis can camry the pollutant to the top of the solution where it can be more easily concentrated, collected and removed. ‘The EC technique ean be conveniently used in rural areas where electricity is not available, since a solar panel attached to the unit may be sufficient to carry out the process.2.2.7.2 Disadvantages of Electrocoagulation Moillah et al., 2001 listed the disadvantages of using electrocoa gulation as fo jows electrodes are dissolved into the wastewater stream as a result of > The sacrifi oxidation and need to be regularly checked. of An impermeable oxide film may be formed on the cathode leading to loss of efficiency of the electrocoagulator. eo ‘The use of electricity may be costly in some places. of High conductivity of the wastewater suspension is required. sf Gelatinous hydroxide may tend to solubilize in some cases. 23 COMPARISON BETWEEN CHEMICAL COAGULATION AND ELECTROCOAGULATION Chemical coagulation and electrocoagulation have the same principle in which charged particle in colloidal suspension are neutralised by mutual collision with metallic hydroxide ions and are agglomerated ,followed by sedimentaton or flotation. These technologies can be considered competing technologies and therefore the comparisons of treatment eficiencies are important, As previously mentioned, reliable comparisons are difficult to conduct due to the dynamic nature of the process. Change of pH during the process and its effect on aluminium species formed has been studied by various authors. The formation of monomeric and poly meric aluminium hydroxides were compared when aluminium was added as AICIs or by electrocoagulation. According to results, there are no significant differences in the speciation of aluminium obtained by these two methods. The difference between electracoagulation and chemical coagul n is mainly in the way of which aluminium or iron ions are delivered (Avsar et al., 2007). The comparison between e Table 2.1 (Liu, et al., 2010). trocoagulation and chemical coagulation is reported in