Abstract
BackgroundThe existence of heavy metals and coliform bacteria contaminants in aquatic system of Akaki river basin, a sub city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has become a public concern as human population increases and land development continues. Hence, it is the right time to design treatment technologies that can handle multiple pollutants.ResultsIn this study, we prepared a synthetic zeolites and copper doped zeolite composite adsorbents as cost effective and simple approach to simultaneously remove heavy metals and total coliforms from wastewater of Akaki river. The synthesized copper–zeolite X composite was obtained by ion exchange method of copper ions into zeolites frameworks. Iodine test, XRD, FTIR and autosorb IQ automated gas sorption analyzer were used to characterize the adsorbents. The mean concentrations of Cd, Cr, and Pb in untreated sample were 0.795, 0.654 and 0.7025 mg/L respectively. These concentrations decreased to Cd (0.005 mg/L), Cr (0.052 mg/L) and Pb (bellow detection limit, BDL) for sample treated with bare zeolite X while a further decrease in concentration of Cd (0.005 mg/L), Cr (BDL) and Pb (BDL) was observed for the sample treated with copper–zeolite composite. Zeolite X and copper-modified zeolite X showed complete elimination of total coliforms after 90 and 50 min contact time respectively.ConclusionThe results obtained in this study showed high antimicrobial disinfection and heavy metal removal efficiencies of the synthesized adsorbents. Furthermore, these sorbents are efficient in significantly reducing physical parameters such as electrical conductivity, turbidity, BOD and COD.
Highlights
Rapid population growth and the consequent increase in anthropogenic activities have resulted in high demand for scarce water resources, generation of large volumes of wastewater requiring treatment technologies capable of removing multiple pollutants [1]
Crystallinity studies of adsorbent To investigate the crystal structure and phase transformation of the synthesized zeolite X and copper doped zeolite X, we carried out X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements of the samples
The use of copper-doped synthetic zeolite and bare synthetic zeolite were investigated for their combined heavy metal removal, antibacterial activity and reduction of physical parameters (BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD), turbidity and electrical conductivity)
Summary
Rapid population growth and the consequent increase in anthropogenic activities have resulted in high demand for scarce water resources, generation of large volumes of wastewater requiring treatment technologies capable of removing multiple pollutants [1]. Akaki river is believed to be highly polluted chemically, physically and bacteriologically, and as a result the river water is unfit for domestic, industrial, commercial and agricultural uses [5]. Those industries discharging their effluents to this river and river tributaries require more treatment technologies that can handle multiple pollutants [7]. The existence of heavy metals and coliform bacteria contaminants in aquatic system of Akaki river basin, a sub city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has become a public concern as human population increases and land development continues. It is the right time to design treatment technologies that can handle multiple pollutants
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