Acacia etbaica as a Potential Low-Cost Adsorbent for Removal of Organochlorine Pesticides from Water
Abraha Gebrekidan1*, Mekonen Teferi2, Tsehaye Asmelash3, Kindeya Gebrehiwet4, Amanual Hadera1, Kassa Amare5, Jozef Deckers6, Bart Van Der Bruggen7
1Department of Chemistry, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
2Department of Biology, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
3Department of Microbiology, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
4Department of Land Resource Management & Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
5Department of Earth Science, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia.
6Department for Earth and Environmental Science, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
7Department of Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems (ProcESS), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
 DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2015.73022   PDF    HTML   XML   4,099 Downloads   5,462 Views   Citations

Abstract

The presence of pesticides in the environment is of great concern due to their persistent nature and chronic adverse effect on human health and the environment. Water bodies are subject to pollution by organochlorine pesticides, especially in developing countries, where water pollution is a key sustainability challenge. Hence, activated carbon is considered a universal adsorbent for the removal of organochlorine pollutants from water. Activated carbon from Acatia etbaica was prepared using traditional kilns with low investment costs. Pesticides such as aldrin, dieldrin and DDT were selected for adsorption because of their common usage in agricultural and malaria control activities and may occur in high concentrations in surface waters that are used as drinking water sources. The effect of the adsorbent dose and initial concentration were investigated. To describe the equilibrium isotherms the experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Freundlich model gave the best correlation with the experimental data. Activated carbon prepared from Acacia etbaica was found to be an effective and low-cost alternative for the removal of organochlorine pesticides from aqueous solutions. The preparation method allows the use of this material by local communities for effective remediation of pollution by pesticides.

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Gebrekidan, A. , Teferi, M. , Asmelash, T. , Gebrehiwet, K. , Hadera, A. , Amare, K. , Deckers, J. and Bruggen, B. (2015) Acacia etbaica as a Potential Low-Cost Adsorbent for Removal of Organochlorine Pesticides from Water. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 7, 278-291. doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2015.73022.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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