Wastewater Treatment by Improving the Local Clay Capacity with Chemical and Thermal Activation

Worldwide, liquid effluents are generally discharged into the environment untreated, which, in turn, are affecting humans, animals and plants. Preserving our environment is a priority, especially with the emergence of epidemics in recent years. As a part of our investigation, we aim to treat the wastewater of the Ouargla region by enhancing the adsorption capacity of local clay collected from El-Oued (Elmghaier, south of Algeria) using thermo-chemical activation for the removal of organic pollutants. The clay used was (illite, kaolinite, and quartz 62.0%, 27.0% and 11.1%, respectively). The experiments proved the efficiency of enhancing the adsorption capacity of local clay by thermo-chemical activation in the treatment of urban wastewater to determine the efficiency by the following characteristics: chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and turbidity, respectively. Acid-activated clay with sulphuric acid achieved high efficiency on polluted water purification at the ideal concentration (0.75 N) and an adsorption rate of (80.16%, 90.74%, 93.33% and 90.74%), while the result decreased in the optimal concentration of acid activated clay HCl (0.134 N) and the adsorption rate was 73%, 60.92%, 94.31% and 65.57%. The thermal activation effect of the clay studied under optimal temperature conditions (400°C) shows that the adsorption ratio increased with higher temperatures (82%, 65%, 89.56% and 78.65%).