Desalination 227 (2008) 327–333 Nitrate removal of brackish underground water by chemical adsorption and by electrodialysis M.A. Menkouchi Sahli a , S. Annouar b,c , M. Mountadar b , A. Soufiane c , A. Elmidaoui a* a Separation Processes Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, B.P. 1246, Kenitra, Morocco Tel. /Fax: +212 (7) 37 30 33; email: elmidaouiazzedine@yahoo.fr b Unit of Analytic Chemistry and Environmental Engineering; c Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry and Analysis, Faculty of Sciences, El Jadida, Morocco Received 14 February 2007; Accepted 30 July 2007 Abstract Nitrate content has increased in Morocco, especially in underground water of agrarian areas. Several processes including degradation processes and separation processes can remove nitrate from water. Two separating processes were studied to remove nitrate from brackish underground water: adsorption on industrial animal waste and electrodialysis equipped by anion monovalent membrane. The results show that a desired product water quality can easily be obtained by electrodialysis contrary to chemical adsorption which requires a great reactional surface. Keywords: Brackish water; Denitration; Adsorption; Chitosan; Electrodialysis 1. Introduction Today the protection of health and the respect of the environment are among man’s first pre- occupations. One of the most important concerns is the contamination of underground waters by the nitrates. In Morocco, as in several other countries, this contamination worsens continually following the demographical and economical *Corresponding author. development which main origin comes from agri- cultural practices [1,2]. The main sanitary risks to consider during of the consumption of nitrates in quantity passing these norms required by OMS to 50 ppm are methaemoglobinaemia and formation of the nitrosamines [3]. Facing these permanent risks and the difficulty to warn of this contami- nation, the elimination of these ions becomes a necessity. Various methods have been tested for the denitration of waters, among others: biological 0011-9164/08/$– See front matter © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.desal.2007.07.021