Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

HEAVY METAL REMOVAL FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER BY USING NATURAL ADSORBENTS

R. Anbazhagan, R. Divya, Anjana Vijayan, M. Anitha and P. Thulasi Devi

Abstract

The industrial waste water containing heavy metal ions when released to nearby water bodies it causes serious damage to aquatic life and human health. There are many conventional methods used for industrial waste water treatment like Chemical precipitation, Chemical oxidation, Ion exchange, Membrane separation, Reverse osmosis, Electro dialysis etc… which are very costly and time consuming. Also they become inefficient and expensive especially when the heavy metal concentration is less than 100 ppm. Adsorption method is proven to be a cheap, convenient method for waste water treatment during all conditions. Many eco-friendly natural adsorbents like orange peel, banana peel ,fish scales, rice husk, walnut shells, grapes, neem bark, black gram, waste tea etc. are used for removal of heavy metal ions such as Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr[III]), Cr [VI]), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu) etc. In the present study investigation has been carried, about the combination of orange peel, fish scales and banana peel which is cheap and non-toxic adsorbent to remove heavy metal ions, especially chromium from waste water.