Removal of Fluoride using low-cost materials as an adsorbent

Abstract

In the present work, locally available adsorbents such as Sugarcane Bagasse, Coconut Husk and Rice Husk were tested for defluoridation. The characterizations of the three adsorbents were carried out to study the effect of pH, different doses of adsorbent and variation in initial concentration of fluoride at constant temperature of 30±2 °C on removal efficiency of fluoride. It was observed that as the pH value increased, the removal efficiency increased to some time and later became constant in case of Sugarcane Bagasse at adsorbent dose of 0.5g/100 ml at contact time duration of 75 minutes. The removal efficiency decreased with gradual increase in initial fluoride concentration due to the capacity of adsorbent materials. The study revealed the applicability of low-cost adsorbents for the removal of fluoride from drinking water.