Conversion of Agricultural and Forest Wastes into Water Purifying Materials

Abstract

Water resources have been stretched around the world as a result of global population growth and the resulting demand for potable water, and wastewater treatment plants can no longer cope with the volumes of wastewater produced by expanding municipalities and industry. Water treatment materials are in high demand due to the expansion of waterworks and wastewater treatment plants, prompting research into reliable, easily accessible, and long-lasting materials to meet these needs. This chapter looks at how current and emerging technology can be used to turn agricultural and forest wastes into water treatment materials. Forest wastes (logging wastes and processing wastes) and agricultural wastes (crop waste from harvesting and processing; animal waste from poultry and livestock) are renewable, sustainable resources with commercial and industrial applications. Crop wastes from harvesting include straw, coconut fibre, oil palm bunches, corn silage, corncobs, leaves, stalks, sugarcane tops, banana trunk and leaves, and reject fruits, whereas crop wastes from processing include rice hulls, corn husks, stover, bagasse, peels, and palm kernel shells, all of which are carbon-based cellulosic materials. On the other hand, certain poultry and animal wastes have unique morphologies and low carbon content by mass. As a result, agricultural and forest waste filters offer superior performance characteristics to conventional filters.