Applying Saudi clay deposits for treatment of household water at the point-of-use

Abstract

This research aims to beneficiate the clay deposits abundant in the Al Baha district to produce ceramic filters for “point-of-use” household water treatment technology to remove dissolved solids from water that is no longer valid for drinking purposes to meet the needs of the community through a safe household and industrial water supply after further treatment purposes. In addition, it helps to reduce the expenses of citizens earmarked to buy drinking water. A sample of laterite, clay, and kaolin from Al Baha district was thermally treated at 800 °C, acid treated with HCl, analyzed by XRD, FTIR, and SEM, and tested for treatment of household water. The temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured. In the application step for point-of-use water treatment of household water, the treated materials were introduced in calcined kaolin filters and commercial polypropylene filters. Based on the results of household water treatment with raw and treated clay materials, the raw clay materials, has poor adsorption capacity. The thermal treatment of clay samples dehydrates the clay minerals into sintered aluminosilicates and enhances the conversion of poorly crystallized iron oxide to α-Fe2O3 without improving the adsorption capacity of clay materials. However, the acid treatment of the clay samples removes iron-bearing minerals leaving behind amorphous aluminosilicate matter characterized with improved adsorption capacity. It was concluded that the acid treatment of clay material by concentrated HCl acid completely leaches iron oxide phases and broke down and disintegrated the clay minerals into the amorphous matter with enhanced the adsorption capacity. The combination of selected acid-treated laterite, clay, and charcoal for the household water treatment filter at the point of use in the calcined kaolin filter and the polypropylene filter reduced the TDS content by 40–42%.