Remediation of Cu(II) from Well Water of Iraq by Using Cortex of Fruits and Agricultural Waste

Abstract

Copper ion Cu(II) is among the main pollutants present in excessive amounts in underground water in many locations in Iraq. The present work studies adsorptive removal of Cu(II) from well water using waste materials such as watermelon shell, lemon, and banana peels. Influences of many parameters like initial concentration, dosing, contact time, pH, and particle sizing were examined. The elimination efficiency of the watermelon shell was 90 % compared with that of lemon Peel was 78 %, while for banana Peel was observed to be 65 %. Meanwhile, the highest possible adsorption capacity was 9.54 mg/g for watermelon shell, 8.24 mg/g for lemon peel, and 7.65 mg/g for banana peel. The column test was applied to the real well water, confirmed that reloading of the column could enhance its own removing efficiencies by 15–30 %. However, characterization of adsorption of the watermelon shell, measured from FTIR and SEM micrograph, verified that watermelon shell is a powerful adsorbent due to its own functional groups as well as cavities on its surface texture. In the same context, comparison between adsorption capability of watermelon shell and both Langmuir and even Freundlich models points out that Langmuir is much better fit the experimental data. Overall results confirm that watermelon shell is an excellent and also alternative adsorbent material for eliminating copper ions. Moreover, it is natural, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective for treating contaminated well water in Iraq.