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• Oxidation of manganese (II) in Island Billabong water (PDF 540 KB)

About the report

Manganese (II) added to unfiltered Island Billabong water at pH 7 is significantly reduced in concentration, presumably by oxidation to MnOx, in a few days. Experimental difficulties precluded a definitive conclusion that bacteria catalyse this oxidation process. However, there is strong circumstantial evidence that this is so. There was evidence of a time lag before oxidation commenced in the unfiltered solutions and this suggests that the bacterial population may require an activation period.

Oxidation of manganese (II) occurred in both filtered and unfiltered Island Billabong water at pH 9. The rate was considerably faster in the unfiltered water. In the filtered water the oxidation appeared to be autocatalytic. The oxidation mechanism in the unfiltered billabong water was not elucidated.