Removing Organic Pollutants found in wastewater from canals using Adsorption

Technique

In Partial Fulfillment of

Science and Technology Education Curriculum

Required for Grade 8 Research for the

School Year 2019-2020

Proponent

Joelle Mae Semblante

March 2020
 CHAPTER I

Introduction

Organic pollution of rivers by wastewater discharge from human activities negatively

impacts people and ecosystems. Without treatment, pollution control relies on a combination of

natural degradation and dilution by natural runoff to reduce downstream effects.

Among the possible techniques for water treatments, the adsorption process by solid

adsorbents shows potential as one of the most efficient methods for the treatment and removal of

organic contaminants in wastewater treatment. Adsorption has advantages over the other

methods because of simple design and can involve low investment in term of both initial cost and

land required. The adsorption processes are widely used for treatment of industrial wastewater

from organic and inorganic pollutants and meet the great attention from the researchers.

In recent years, the search for low-cost adsorbents that have pollutant –binding capacities

has intensified. Materials locally available such as natural materials, agricultural wastes and

industrial wastes can be utilized as low-cost adsorbents. Activated carbon produced from these

materials can be used as adsorbent for water and wastewater treatment.

In this research we are going to use activated carbon as an adsorbent in removing organic

pollutants found in wastewater from canals using adsorption technique.

Statement of the Problem

In this study, the researcher would like to find out if activated carbon is an effective

adsorbent in removing organic pollutants found in wastewater from canals using adsorption

technique.
Hypothesis

There is no significant effect in using activated carbon as adsorbent using adsorption

technique in removing organic pollutants found in wastewater from canals.

Time, Place and Scope Limitations

This research study is limited only to the use of activated carbon as an adsorbent. This is for the

reason to focus only to the effects of using active carbon as adsorbent for the removal of organic

pollutants from water and wastewater. This project will be conducted at Looc, Mandaue City,

near the researcher’s house, this March 2020.

Definition of Terms

Wastewater- water that has been used in the home, in a business, or as part of an industrial

process

Activated Carbon- is a form of carbon processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase

the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.

Organic Pollutants- is the term used when large quantities of organic compounds. It originates

from domestic sewage, urban run-off, industrial effluents and agriculture wastewater.

Adsorption technique- is a wastewater purification technique for removing a wide range of

compounds from industrial wastewater.

 CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

Adsorption is of considerable industrial importance and is a major part of many different

process throughout the chemical and process industries, including many reactions - chemical and

bio-chemical, purification and filtration, gas and liquid processing and catalysis. Adsorption

techniques are used as high quality treatment processes for the removal of dissolved organic

pollutants, such as dyes, from industrial wastewater. In this perspective, the adsorbent often used

is activated carbon because it has the appropriate porous inner surfaces for the access of

gas/liquid.

Clean water is the most important and indispensable resource that maintains the demands

for the daily activities of every aspect of human society, such as drinking, cleansing, industrial

manufacture, and farm irrigation. However, the squandering of clean water at discretion and

careless handling of wastewater to aquatic systems from households and industries severely

contaminate the quality of natural aquatic environments. Waste inorganic and/or organic

chemicals, in particular heavy metal ions, in the water may be ingested by fish and may also

cause infection in humans, who catch and consume it.

Organic pollution is the term used when large quantities of organic compounds. It

originates from domestic sewage, urban run-off, industrial effluents and agriculture wastewater.

Wastewater with organic pollutants contains large quantities of suspended solids which reduce

the light available to photosynthetic organisms and, on settling out, alter the characteristics of the

river bed, rendering it an unsuitable habitat for many invertebrates. Organic pollutants include

pesticides, fertilizers, hydrocarbons, phenols, plasticizers, biphenyls, detergents, oils, greases,

pharmaceuticals, proteins and carbohydrates.

 CHAPTER III
Methodology
This study is going to make use of adsorption technique in removing organic pollutants found in

wastewater from canals with the experimental setup using Complete Randomized Design (CRD)

and will further use of Friedman’s one way ANOVA.

Treatments:

T1 – 20 g of activated carbon: S2 – 500 mL

T2 – 30 g of activated carbon: S2- 500 mL

T3 – 40 g of activated carbon: S2- 500 mL

TREATMENTS SAMPLE AND REPLICATION

20% 45% 60%

20% 45% 60%

T1 S1 S2 S3
20% 45% 60%

30% 50% 70%

30% 50% 70%

T2 S1 S2 S3
30% 50% 70%

40% 55% 80%

40% 55% 80%

T3 S1 S2 S3
40% 55% 80%

Materials and Equipment:

 AMOUNT UNIT ITEM

27 pieces(500ml) Test tubes

810 ml Wastewater (canals)

27 pieces Filter paper

1 piece Funnel

1 piece Stirring rod

810 grams Activated carbon

1 piece glass

Procedures:

Preparation of Activated Carbon and filter paper

Activated carbon and filter paper will be bought at Watsons at J Centre Mall Mandaue.

Collection of wastewater from canals

Wastewater from canals will be collected near the researcher’s house. Each test tube will contain

500 mL of wastewater.

Mixing Activated Carbon with wastewater

Respective grams of activated carbon will be placed in a test tube with wastewater. The

wastewater with the activated carbon will be mixed with the help of stirring rod.

Adsorbing Organic Pollutants

In a different container, a filter paper will be placed on the top of the glass. The wastewater

mixed with the activated carbon will be poured on the filter paper on the top of container. The

researcher will do the same with the rest.

Data Collection

TREATMENTS MATERIALS COUNT ON THE PRESENCE OF ORGANIC

POLLUTANTS

T1 S1 S2 S3

T2 S1 S2 S3

T3 S1 S2 S3

Bibliography

1. W. John Thomas (n.d) Adsorption Technology and Design. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780750619592/adsorption-technology-and-design
2. M.T. Amin (2014) Advances in Materials Science and Engineering. Retrieved from

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2014/825910/
3.https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Adsorption-Technique-for-the-Removal-of-
Organic-and-Rashed/722734f2133aab9a654cef21e3f97bc8f37d024b