Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

BATCH STUDIES OF WATER DEFLUORIDATION USING BARK OF SAPINDUS TRIFOLIATTUS

S.B. Thakare, A.V. Parwate and M. Rao

Abstract

India is among the 23 nations in world where fluoride contaminated ground water is creating health problems. Around 62 million peoples including 6 million children below the age of 14 years in 20 states of the country are affected with dental, skeletal and/or non-skeletal fluorosis. Ground water in many parts of India contains fluoride in the range of 1.0 mg/L to 15 mg/L. In some situation these values may be more than 15 mg/L. Fluoride is a salt of an element called fluorine and fluorine is the 17th most abundant element constituting about 0.065% of the earth's crust. Fluoride enters surface water and ground water system through dissolution and leaching of mineral deposits and rock formation, precipitation and flooding events and release of inadequately treated or untreated waste into the environment. A study was conducted to investigate the possibility of removing fluoride from water using bark of sapindus trifoliatus. Different parameters of sorption viz effect of dose of sorbent, pH, initial fluoride concentration; contact time and particle size of sorbent were studied.The study reveals that bark of sapindus trifoliatus (BST) is a better adsorbent with good adsorption capacity and higher adsorption potential.