ABSTRACT
In geothermal systems, geothermal water ascends to the surface by reacting with the wall rocks causing mineral dissolution. Mineral-fluid equilibria play an important role in determining the chemistry of the discharge fluids. Boron is considered as one of the harmful elements present in geothermal waters. Boron has a marked effect on plants in terms of both nutrition and toxicity, and its over-dose or under-dose may cause toxicity or deficiency symptoms, respectively. An ion-exchange method using boron-selective chelating resins has been considered as the best and most effective method to remove boron from water. It has been reported that the chelating resins containing polyol functional groups – in which the hydroxyl groups are in the cis-position – show a high selectivity for boron removal by forming a stable complex. The use of boron-selective chelating ion-exchange resins still seems to be the most important method for boron removal.
