Exploring time-dependent seawater desalination capacity of terracotta clay soil and coconut shell charcoal

Abstract

A study assessed the effectiveness of two locally available materials, terracotta clay soil, and coconut shell charcoal, as desalination membranes. The research also explored the impact of exposure time on the desalination process. The study employed a 3 × 3 factorial experiment using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. It compared three different desalination membranes: pure clay, pure charcoal, and a combination of clay and charcoal in a 2:3 ratio. Additionally, three exposure times of seawater to the membranes were examined: 4 h, 8 h, and 12 h. The findings revealed that the different desalination membranes significantly affected (p < 0.05) the salinity level and the treated seawater's sodium and chloride ions content. Notably, clay soil demonstrated higher effectiveness in desalinating water than charcoal and the combination of clay and charcoal. However, the exposure time to the membranes did not significantly affect any of the parameters studied. Based on these results, it is evident that clay soil possesses the potential to serve as a desalination membrane, attributed to its higher Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and efficiency in reducing salinity. Future research could investigate ways to improve the efficiency of this material, study the effects of various parameters on the desalination process, and explore scaling up the desalination process for large-scale water production. Overall, this study contributes to developing cost-effective and sustainable methods for providing clean water to areas facing limited access to fresh water.