Removal of Lead (Pb) and

Copper (Cu) From Waste water

using Low Cost Agricultural
Adsorbent
Keywords:
Activated carbon, adsorbent,
efficiency, filtration, low cost,
waste water
 Abstract
In India the water resources problem is becoming more and
more severe because of the acceleration of the process of
urbanization and an increased human population,
industrialization, use of fertilizers in the agriculture and man-
made activity which is highly polluted water with different harmful
contaminants. The municipal wastewaters of Akola city directly
discharge into Morna River without any treatment and people
living on downstream side using the river water for drinking and
for irrigation purposes. The research was carried out to identify
and remove harmful heavy metal such as Pb & Cu through
different Low cost Activated carbon prepared from rice husk, corn
cob and sugarcane bagasse and calculated the efficiency of
removal. The raw wastewater Sample was obtained to meet the
requirements of sampling program and so that it does not
deteriorate or become contaminated before it reaches the
laboratory

O.
The wastewater samples were collected from Ganesh
Ghat on Morna River bank which flow through the Akola
city area, the low cost activated carbon form Agricultural
waste was prepared by adopting standard procedure, the
raw material was collected locally. Presence of Pb and Cu
in raw wastewater were found 0.27 mg/l and 0.13 mg/l
respectively. The filtration unit was set up in such a way
that equal amount of raw wastewater passes through three
different low cost activated carbon bed. The highest
removal of Pb & Cu was found in activated corn cob
powder with 79.49 % & 98.93 % respectively removal
efficiency in compared with activated rice husk and
sugarcane bagasse powder. By using low cost agricultural
waste as a source of activated carbon can effectively for
filtration of waste as well as potable water.
Introduction
In India the water resources problem is becoming more
and more severe because of the acceleration of the process
of urbanization and an increased human population,
industrialization, use of fertilizers in the agriculture and
human-made activity which is highly polluted water with
different harmful contaminants. The municipal wastewaters
of Akola city directly discharge into Morna River without
any treatment and people living on the downstream side
using the river water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
Akola is a growing industrial city and also the visitor place
in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra State popularly known
as a cotton city, spreading on an area of 10 Sq.km. It is
situated on the bank of the river “Morna,” in Western
Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state and comes under sub-
tropical zone.
The municipal wastewaters of Akola city directly discharge
into Morna River without any treatment and people living on
the downstream side using the river water for drinking and
irrigation purposes. Now a day due to a shortfall in rains and
change in climatic conditions the water level in the river is
reduced considerably, and ample water with current in the flow
is not available, and thereby this wastewater discharge is
polluting the river water. The farmers in the locality of river
use this river water for irrigation of vegetable farming. The
hazardous waste containing in the water may create an ill
effect in the vegetables and thereby human health. The
wastewater contains various dissolved impurities which are
responsible for the infertility of the land; it has also seen that
major infectious diseases are spreading up in the environment
due to the polluted water of Morna, Mosquito breeding due to
rising of plants and weeds in the stream of Morna River is the
common problem in Akola.
Materials and Methods
Study area
The experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2017-
2018 at the field of the Department Farm Structures of Dr. Panjabrao
Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. Akola is situated in Western
Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state and comes under sub-tropical
zone.
Selection of Wastewater Sampling Sites
The wastewater samples were collected from Ganesh Ghat on Morna
River bank which flows through the Akola city. the samples were
collected in cans of 5 liters capacity, and the wastewater samples were
starting filtering in the morning (10 h), and then the wastewater
samples were passes through the filtering media through the beds of
Brickbat, coarse sand, fine sand one after another. Finally, it will pass
equally through Activated Rice Husk Powder, Activated Sugarcane
Bagasse Powder, and activated Corn Cob Powder and Pb and Cu of
the wastewater were analyzed.
 Selection of Low-cost Agricultural
Adsorbent:
Selection of the Agricultural Waste for the
development of low-cost adsorbents depends
upon many factors. The Agricultural Waste
should be freely available, inexpensive and non-
hazardous in nature. Moreover, for good
adsorption results, high contents of carbon or
oxygen in the adsorbent are very necessary. The
locally available agricultural waste material
collected, and the low cost activated carbon was
prepared by adopting the following standard
procedure.
Preparation of Activated carbon from
Rice husk and Sugarcane bagasses
For Activation of rice husk & sugarcane bagasse, the
similar procedure was followed, the raw agricultural
waste rice husk & sugarcane bagasse were washed
with deionized water, dried at 105o C for 24 h in an
oven. These dried rice husk & sugarcane bagasse were
placed in a furnace and carbonized at 800o C for 3 h.
After treatment rice husk & sugarcane bagasse were
cooled to room temperature, the rice husk &
sugarcane bagasse were taken into a crucible and
digest for 30 min with 50:50 (v/v %) of 69% HNO3 and
the rice husk & sugarcane bagasse were wrapped with
aluminum foil. Then the rice husk & sugarcane
bagasse was kept at 400o C for 10 min followed by
several times items of washing with distilled water.
Then the rice husk & sugarcane bagasse was dried at
120o C in Hot air oven. This Activated carbon derived
from rice husk & sugarcane bagasse were stored in
separate airtight containers free from moisture until
 Corn cob
Corncob was cut into small pieces of approximately
2 cm3. Corncob was carbonized at 280°C in a
furnace for 4 h. The carbonized materials were
grounded. To this point, the materials were in a non-
activated form. To activate the carbons, 100 g of
each carbonized and grounded material was treated
with 400 mL of 30% H3PO4 for 3 h in a 500 mL
Erlenmeyer flask. After this treatment, the materials
were washed several times with distilled water. The
carbons were then dried at 50°C for 10 h and then
again, at 160°C for 3 h. (Ensuncho-Muño A.E. et. al
2014)
 Determination of Lead (Pb)
Lead (Pb)

Procedure
Atomize the working standards on an AAS
using acetylene nitrous oxide as fuel instead of
air acetylene fuel at a wavelength of 283.3 nm.
Prepare a standard curve of known
concentration of Pb by plotting the absorbance
values on the y-axis against their absorbance of
the soil sample extract and determine the Pb
content in the water from the standard curve.
Table 1
Lead of Morna river water and After Treated with ARHP, ASBP, ACCP

Lead (Pd) mg/l

Days Initial ARHP ASBP ACCP
1 0.22 0.18 0.11 0.08
2 0.13 0.12 0.04 0.06
3 0.2 0.06 0.03 0.04
4 0.3 0.03 0.08 0.06
5 0.33 0.06 0.24 0.03
6 0.33 0.09 0.17 0.09
7 0.4 0.16 0.21 0.1
8 0.34 0.2 0.18 0.02
9 0.16 0.18 0.16 0.03
10 0.32 0.16 0.2 0.05
Average 0.27 0.12 0.14 0.06
Fig. 1.
Lead of Morna river water and After Treated with
ARHP, ASBP, ACCP
 Determination of Copper (Cu)
Copper (Cu)
Flame the standard on an AAS at a wavelength of
324.8 nm (Cu line of the instrument).
Copper is an essential element for the plant as a
micronutrient. However, this heavy metal is an
inhibitor of microbial activity at relatively low
concentrations. Deficiency may cause crop damages
and also leading to dieback of the plant. From Table 2
Prepare the standard curve with the known
concentration of Cu on the x-axis by plotting against
the absorbance value on the y-axis.
Table 2. Copper of Morna river water and after treated with
ARHP, ASBP, ACCP

Copper (Cu) mg/l

Days Initial ARHP ASBP ACCP
1 0.004 0.001 0.004 0.004
2 0.016 0 0.005 0.002
3 0.033 0 0.006 0.002
4 0.042 0.003 0.007 0.0021
5 0.85 0.003 0.008 0
6 0.027 0.006 0.007 0
7 0.029 0.004 0.009 0
8 0.026 0.005 0.01 0.002
9 0.024 0.005 0.06 0.001
10 0.27 0.006 0.01 0.001
Average 0.13 0.00 0.01 0.00
Fig 2. Copper of Morna river water and After
Treated with ARHP, ASBP, ACCP
Results and Discussion
Lead (Pb) in very high concentration may reduce
root growth. If in excess there is a reduction of
chlorophyll production and plant growth by lead. In
table 1 it showed that the Lead were present in
Morna River water ranges from 0.13 to 0.4 mg/l.
Removal of Lead from activated Corn Cob powder
was 0.06 mg/l with removal efficiency of 79.49 %
as shown in Fig. 1.
It was observed that initial Copper content in raw
wastewater range from 0.004 to 0.85 mg/l — the
highest removal efficiency 98.93 % from the
activated corn cob.
Conclusion

The manufacturing of activated carbon from

agricultural waste is economical. For treatment
of wastewater, the Activated Carbon derived
from Corncob gives better removal efficiency
for removal of Lead and copper as compare to
activated sugarcane bagasse and activated rice
husk powder.