Modified slow sand filter amended magnetic corncob biochar and zero-valent iron for arsenic removal from drinking water

IF 2.8 4区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Earth Sciences Pub Date : 2025-04-22 DOI:10.1007/s12665-025-12259-4

Taimoor Khan, Qasim Ali, Imdad Ullah, Shams Ali Baig, Dilawar Farhan Shams, Xinhua Xu, Muhammad Danish

{"title":"Modified slow sand filter amended magnetic corncob biochar and zero-valent iron for arsenic removal from drinking water","authors":"Taimoor Khan, Qasim Ali, Imdad Ullah, Shams Ali Baig, Dilawar Farhan Shams, Xinhua Xu, Muhammad Danish","doi":"10.1007/s12665-025-12259-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The toxicity of arsenic (As) in drinking water poses a significant risk to public health, and its effective removal is essential to reduce the associated risks. Modified slow sand filter (SSF) has emerged as a promising decentralized water treatment method in developing countries due to its user friendliness, economic viability, and environment-friendly properties. The present study investigated the total arsenic removal efficiency and turbidity reduction in laboratory-scale SSF columns designed for a 60-day filtration period. For this purpose, SSF columns were modified with magnetic corncob biochar (MCCB) and zero-valent iron (ZVI) layers in different ratios. The characterization tests, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), were conducted before and after the filtration. Results revealed that the MCCB surface was porous with a honeycomb-like structure before adsorption, containing cave-like holes favourable for arsenic removal. Similarly, the ZVI surface exhibited a tabular and thread structure. The EDS results confirmed the presence of Fe in the MCCB and ZVI, indicating the magnetic properties of both adsorbents. Notably, maximum As removal efficiency of 80% was observed in SSF(b) with a 10 cm MCCB layer after 60 days, whereas SSF(d) with a 10 cm ZVI layer achieved 99% within just 10 days of filtration. In addition, SSF columns containing ZVI layers achieved a maximum turbidity removal of 98% and 99% after 10 days of filtration, while SSF(b) with a 10 cm MCCB layer reached a turbidity removal of 99.9% after 60 days. Statistical analyses indicated that these differences were significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05), demonstrating the superior efficacy of the ZVI-based SSF for arsenic removal and the strong performance of MCCB in turbidity reduction. Overall, SSF-amended MCCB and ZVI demonstrated effective removal of As and turbidity. The study suggests that the designed SSFs are durable and user-friendly filter made of locally avaible low-cost materials for water filtration.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":542,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Earth Sciences","volume":"84 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Earth Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-025-12259-4","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The toxicity of arsenic (As) in drinking water poses a significant risk to public health, and its effective removal is essential to reduce the associated risks. Modified slow sand filter (SSF) has emerged as a promising decentralized water treatment method in developing countries due to its user friendliness, economic viability, and environment-friendly properties. The present study investigated the total arsenic removal efficiency and turbidity reduction in laboratory-scale SSF columns designed for a 60-day filtration period. For this purpose, SSF columns were modified with magnetic corncob biochar (MCCB) and zero-valent iron (ZVI) layers in different ratios. The characterization tests, including Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), were conducted before and after the filtration. Results revealed that the MCCB surface was porous with a honeycomb-like structure before adsorption, containing cave-like holes favourable for arsenic removal. Similarly, the ZVI surface exhibited a tabular and thread structure. The EDS results confirmed the presence of Fe in the MCCB and ZVI, indicating the magnetic properties of both adsorbents. Notably, maximum As removal efficiency of 80% was observed in SSF(b) with a 10 cm MCCB layer after 60 days, whereas SSF(d) with a 10 cm ZVI layer achieved 99% within just 10 days of filtration. In addition, SSF columns containing ZVI layers achieved a maximum turbidity removal of 98% and 99% after 10 days of filtration, while SSF(b) with a 10 cm MCCB layer reached a turbidity removal of 99.9% after 60 days. Statistical analyses indicated that these differences were significant (p < 0.05), demonstrating the superior efficacy of the ZVI-based SSF for arsenic removal and the strong performance of MCCB in turbidity reduction. Overall, SSF-amended MCCB and ZVI demonstrated effective removal of As and turbidity. The study suggests that the designed SSFs are durable and user-friendly filter made of locally avaible low-cost materials for water filtration.

查看原文本刊更多论文

改性慢砂过滤器加磁性玉米芯生物炭和零价铁去除饮用水中的砷

饮用水中砷的毒性对公众健康构成重大风险，有效去除砷对于减少相关风险至关重要。改良慢砂过滤器（SSF）由于其用户友好性、经济可行性和环境友好性，在发展中国家已成为一种很有前途的分散式水处理方法。本研究调查了实验室规模的SSF柱的总砷去除效率和浊度降低，设计为60天的过滤期。为此，用磁性玉米芯生物炭（MCCB）和零价铁（ZVI）层按不同比例对SSF柱进行改性。通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、x射线能谱仪（EDS）、x射线衍射仪（XRD）对过滤前后的材料进行表征。结果表明，MCCB吸附前表面呈蜂窝状多孔结构，含有有利于除砷的洞穴状孔洞。同样，ZVI表面也呈现出扁平和螺纹结构。EDS结果证实了MCCB和ZVI中存在铁，表明了两种吸附剂的磁性能。值得注意的是，使用10 cm MCCB层的SSF(b)在60天后观察到最大As去除效率为80%，而使用10 cm ZVI层的SSF(d)在过滤后10天内达到99%。此外，含有ZVI层的SSF柱在过滤10天后的浊度去除率达到98%和99%，而含有10 cm MCCB层的SSF(b)在过滤60天后的浊度去除率达到99.9%。统计分析表明，这些差异具有显著性（p < 0.05），表明基于zvi的SSF去除砷的效果更好，MCCB降低浊度的性能也更强。总体而言，ssf改性的MCCB和ZVI能够有效去除砷和浊度。研究表明，设计的ssf是一种耐用且用户友好的过滤器，由当地可获得的低成本材料制成，用于水过滤。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Environmental Earth Sciences 环境科学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

3.60%

发文量

494

审稿时长

8.3 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Earth Sciences is an international multidisciplinary journal concerned with all aspects of interaction between humans, natural resources, ecosystems, special climates or unique geographic zones, and the earth: Water and soil contamination caused by waste management and disposal practices Environmental problems associated with transportation by land, air, or water Geological processes that may impact biosystems or humans Man-made or naturally occurring geological or hydrological hazards Environmental problems associated with the recovery of materials from the earth Environmental problems caused by extraction of minerals, coal, and ores, as well as oil and gas, water and alternative energy sources Environmental impacts of exploration and recultivation – Environmental impacts of hazardous materials Management of environmental data and information in data banks and information systems Dissemination of knowledge on techniques, methods, approaches and experiences to improve and remediate the environment In pursuit of these topics, the geoscientific disciplines are invited to contribute their knowledge and experience. Major disciplines include: hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, geochemistry, geophysics, engineering geology, remediation science, natural resources management, environmental climatology and biota, environmental geography, soil science and geomicrobiology.