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PURIFICATION OF WATER BY NATURAL ADSORPTION PROCESS

K MANOJ KUMAR (R101226),N HEDGERAO(R101811),P SUNIL(R101844),SK IRFAN BASHA (R101883)
Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, RK Valley
Cuddapah, India -516329

Abstract: Fulfillment of water requirement for flushing and

drinking we implement an natural purification technique to

filter out the calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and
fluorine by using the natural adsorption process, in this paper
we take BIO MASS (upper layer of soil),BRICK ASH,SAND as the
main raw materials, coming to the process in the first step we
will pass the contaminated water along with soil, here it self
no changes will occur just soil act as coolant and then from
soil to brick ash here florin will be adsorbed by the ash, and in
the next stage of the process calcium carbonate and
magnesium carbonate particles will be adsorbed by the sand
after this one we get the pure water which will be
consumable. It is an technique of no maintenance and with
low initial cost, including provision of relocate the setup.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: [1] S
Chidambaram, AL Ramanathan* and S Vasudevan, (Technical
note)-Fluoride removal studies in water using natural materials.
[2] Resources and Environment 2013, 3(3): 53-58 DOI:
10.5923/j.re.20130303.02, Sure ndra Roy*, Gurcharan Dass,
Fluoride Contamination in Drinking Water A Review.
Nemade, P.D., Kadam, A.M. and Shankar, H.S. (2010)
Removal of arsenite from water by soil biotechnology ,

INTRODUCION
Water is the major medium of fluoride intake by humans.
Fluoride in drinking water can be either beneficial or
detrimental to health, depending on its concentration. The
presence of fluoride in drinking water with in permissible
limits is beneficial in the calcification of dental enamel.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the
maximum acceptable concentration of fluoride is 1.5 mg/l,
South Africas acceptable limit is 0.75 mg /l, while Indias
permissible limit of fluoride in drinking water is 1 mg/l.
Concentrations beyond these standards have shown dental and
skeletal fluorosis, and lesions of the endocrine glands, thyroid
and liver. Fluoride stimulates bone formation and small
concentrations have beneficial effects on the teeth by
hardening the enamel and reducing the incidence of caries.
Water treatment provides usable water for domestic
agricultural & industrial purposes helps to conserve & enhance
water in quality and quantity; in addition prevents degeneration
of our water sources of surface & ground. Green technologies
today provide impressive water quality at competitive costs
without
contributing to global warming this technical
specification presents a green biological purification engine
using a natural adsorption process
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ISBN
NO : 978 - 1502893314

SOURCE AND EFFECT OF FLUORIDE

The fluoride -bearing minerals or fluoride-rich minerals
in the rocks and soils are the cause of high fluoride content
in the groundwater, which is the main source of drinkingwater in India Water is the major medium of fluoride intake by
humans. Fluoride in drinking water can be either Beneficial or
detrimental to health, depending on its concentration. The
presence of fluoride in drinking water within permissible limits
is beneficial in the calcification of dental enamel. According to
the World Health Organization (WHO), the maximum
acceptable concentration of fluoride is 1.5 mg/l, South Africas
acceptable limit is 0.75 mg/l , while India s permissible limit
of fluoride in drinking water is 1 mg/l. Concentrations beyond
these standards have shown dental and skeletal fluorosis(see
the below fig 1 and 2), and lesions of the endocrine glands,
thyroid and liver. Fluoride stimulates bone formation and
small concentrations have beneficial effects on the teeth by
hardening the enamel and reducing the incidence of caries.
Mc Donagh et al. Described in great detail the role of fluoride
in the prevention of dental fluorosis. At low levels (<2 ppm)
soluble fluoride in the drinking water may cause mottled
enamel during the formation of the teeth, but at higher levels
other toxic effects may be observed. Severe symptoms lead to
death when fluoride doses reach 250450 ppm. It is found
that the IQ of the children in the high fluoride areas (drinking
water fluoride 3.15 ppm) is significantly low.

Fig: 1 Effect of fluoride on teeth

Fig: 2 Effect of fluoride on bones

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carbonate will adsorbed by sand finally we get consumable

cleared water.

Methodology
Raw materials
Here we are taking the biomass (upper layer of red soil) and

Incinerated Bick ash and sand as our basic raw materials.

Red soil

Contaminated water

Fig. red soil

Incinerated brick ash

Sand

Fig. Brick ash

Drinkable water

Rough flow sheet

With Reference to:

Fig. sand
Coming to the main process we are passing the
contaminated water through first stage in which we use red
soil as biomass of coolant here it self no reactions will occur
with water, suppose if we passing water at 20 degrees
centigrade after coming from soil we will get the water
around 18 or 17 degrees centigrade. In second stage we
passing the water through the incinerated brick ash here the
main adsorption will takes place where the fluoride will
adsorbed by the brick ash here we will get a indication like
the brick ash will change its color to light yellowish. After that
we send water that is come out from brick ash column
through grinded rock material - sand here water will repurified after the
calcium carbonate and magnesium

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Considerable work on DE fluoridation has been done all

over the world. The most economical adsorbent for fluoride
removal from drinking water is activated alumina. Borah and
Dey has reported other adsorbents like silica gel, soil, bone
charcoal, zeolites, betonies, etc which controls the fluoride
contamination. They also carried out pilot scale study for the
treatment of fluoride using coal particles as adsorbent
materials. The amount, contact time and particle size of the
adsorbent influenced the treatment efficiencies of fluoride.
Concluding Remarks
Rock minerals and waste disposal contributes fluoride
contamination in groundwater. Researchers have observed
different concentrations of fluoride for the different diseases.
To mitigate fluoride contamination for an affected area, the
provision of safe, low fluoride water from alternative sources
should be investigated as the first option otherwise various
methods, which have been developed for the DE fluoridation

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of water can be used to prevent fluoride contamination.

Groundwater of a particular area should be thoroughly studied
before its use for domestic purposes and accordingly a suitable
method can be chosen for its treatment. Our process a bio
safety and low cost one without using any external energy to
give a better solution for contaminated water.

References:
[1] WHO, 1984, Environmental Health Criteria for Fluorine and
Fluorides., Geneva, 1-136.
(2)WHO (World Health Organization), 2006,
Guidelines for
Drinking-Water Quality: Incorporating First Addendum to Third
Edition., World Health Organization, Geneva., 375 p
(3)McDonagh, M.S., Whiting, P.F., Wilson, P.M., Sutton,
A.J.,Chestnutt, I., Cooper, J., Misso, K., Bradley, M., Treasure, E.
and Kleihnen, J., 2000, Systematic review of water fluoridation.,
Brit. Med. J., 321, 855859.
(4)Borah, L. and Dey, N.C., 2009, Removal of fluoride from low
TDS water using low grade coal., Indian J. Chem. Technol., 16, 361363.
(5) Prof. Shankar(iit-b) research topic
(6) Meenakshi, R.C., Garg, V.K., Kavita, Renuka and Malik, A., 2004,
Groundwater quality in some villages of Haryana, India: focus on
fluoride and fluorosis., J. Hazardous Mater., 106, 85-97.
(7) Misra, A.K. and Mishra, A., 2007, Study of quaternary aquifers in
Ganga Plain, India: Focus on groundwater salinity, fluoride and
fluorosis., J. Hazardous Mater., 144, 438-448.
(8) Venkateswarulu, P., Rao, D.N., Rao, and K.R., 1952, Studies in
endemic fluorosis, Vishakapatnam and suburban areas., Indian J
Med Res, 40, 353-62.
(9) Meenakshi, R.C. and Maheshwari, 2006, Fluoride in drinking
water and its removal., J. Hazardous Mater., 137, 456-463.
(10) Yadav, A.K., Kaushik, C.P., Haritash, A.K., Kansal, A. and Rani,
N., 2006, Defluoridation of groundwater using brick powder as an
adsorbent., J. Hazardous Mater., 128, 289-293.
(11) Fluoride Contamination in Drinking Water A Review
by
Surendra Roy , Gurcharan Dass JCDM College of Engineering,
Haryana, India

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