J. Phys. IV France 107 (2003) 385
DOI: 10.1051/jp4:20030322

Partitioning of chromium (VI) and chromium (III) between dissolved and colloidal forms in a stream and reservoir contaminated with tannery waste water

J. Dominik¹, B. Bas², A. Bobrowski², T. Dworak¹, B. Koukal¹, E. Niewiara², M.-H. Pereira de Abreu¹, P. Rossé¹, E. Szalinska³ and D. Vignati<sup>1

1</sup>  Institut F.-A. Forel, Université de Genève, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
²  Depatment of Building Materials, Faculty of Material Sciences, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Krakow, Poland
³  Institute of Water Supply and Environmental Protection, Krakow University of Technology, Krakow, Poland

Abstract
Environmental fate of chromium rejected from tannery wastewater to the Dunajec River (southern Poland) was investigated using separation with tangential flow filtration followed by measurements with Cathodic Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry (CAdSV) and ICP-MS. Virtually all Cr(VI) was found in the dissolved fraction ( <1 kDa). Thus form was present at low concentrations. Cr(III) was rapidly transferred from dissolved and low molecular weight colloidal fractions to particles and high molecular weight colloids and thus scavenged from the water column of the Czorsztyn Reservoir to the sediments. The possibility of Cr remobilization via oxidation of Cr(III) in the presence of freshly precipitated Mn-oxides in water or at the water-sediment interface needs further investigation.

© EDP Sciences 2003