Abstract
An estimated 35 million people in Bangladesh are now at risk of arsenic toxicity and treatment of arsenic contaminated water is essential. Among the methods available for removing arsenic from water, adsorption on activated alumina is a promising one for implementing on a small-scale rural community or household levels. In this research work, the effects of a selected number of water quality parameters such as arsenic concentration, oxidation state of arsenic and pH in removing arsenic by activated alumina were evaluated. Bed Volume (BV), quantity of adsorbed arsenic and removal efficiency up to 50μg/L arsenic level in the effluent were calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of activated alumina in removing arsenic. The results of the study show that pentavalent arsenic is removed efficiently than trivalent arsenic. The BV of treated water decreases with the increase of arsenic concentration for both of the As(V) and As(III). The study reveals that the removal efficiency of As(V) is better within the pH range of 5.0 to 6.0, whereas As(III) removal increases at higher pH values.
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