Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia
Thesis (PhD. (Civil Engineering))
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
2023
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| Online Access: | http://openscience.utm.my/handle/123456789/728 |
| _version_ | 1825623469931364352 |
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| author | Saadon, Syaiful Akhmal |
| author_facet | Saadon, Syaiful Akhmal |
| author_sort | Saadon, Syaiful Akhmal |
| collection | OpenScience |
| description | Thesis (PhD. (Civil Engineering)) |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-05T17:34:39Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:openscience.utm.my:123456789/728 |
| institution | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia - OpenScience |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-05T17:34:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:openscience.utm.my:123456789/7282023-09-10T16:00:33Z Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia Saadon, Syaiful Akhmal Water—Purification—Arsenic removal Groundwater—Arsenic content Water filters Thesis (PhD. (Civil Engineering)) The presence of high concentration of arsenic in groundwater has resulted in health hazards to more than 500,000 residents in rural area of Cambodia. Economic constraints among the rural population have led to this study in developing a low cost household arsenic filter (HAF). The developed HAF consists of two basic mechanisms, i.e, filtration (sand and gravel layers) and adsorption (modified laterite). This study focused on the ability of modified laterite (ML) for arsenic removal. Laterite is a local material and readily available in many parts of Cambodia. Characterization study by BET showed that heating treatment at 550oC increased the surface area of the laterite. Organic compounds present in laterite were decomposed during heat treatment thus increasing the iron content by ~32%. Characterization by XRD showed that the heating process changed the phase of the minerals from goethite (a-FeOOH) to hematite (a-Fe2O3). Based on Langmuir adsorption isotherm, the maximum adsorption capacity of arsenic was found to be 0.21 mg/g. The highest percentage of arsenic removal (98.8%) in batch study was obtained under the following conditions: initial arsenic concentration 500 ppb, pH 7, adsorbent loading 7 g/L, temperature 30oC and agitation speed of 250 rpm. In the field study, three types of filters were constructed; modified laterite filter (filter ML), sand filter (filter S) and modified laterite + sand filter (filter ML + S). The filters were allowed to be in operation for 28 weeks and during that period about 7760 L of groundwater highly contaminated with arsenic (maximum 810 ppb) was filtered. The results revealed that filter S and filter ML removed 94% and 96% of arsenic, respectively. Filter ML + S removed about 99% of arsenic in raw groundwater, which comply with World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water limits of 10 ppb. The HAF (filter ML + S) was then distributed to 30 selected houses in Prey Torting and Veal Sbov village, Kampong Cham province, Cambodia. Prior to that, finger nails samples were collected from 100 villagers of the selected household for arsenic testing. It was found that 8 villagers were having arsenicosis symptoms where >0.5 µg/g of arsenic was detected. The HAF was left for six months during which the household may consume treated water for drinking. Similar results were obtained i.e 99% of arsenic was removed from the contaminated groundwater during the six months period. It was also found that no arsenic was detected in any of the finger nails samples after the six months period. Awareness studies showed that 90% of the users acknowledged that the HAF was easy to operate and maintain. Finally, this study concludes that the application of HAF is a practical, affordable and efficient way in serving the rural residents by providing arsenic free portable water. Faculty of Engineering - School of Civil Engineering 2023-09-10T07:36:48Z 2023-09-10T07:36:48Z 2018 Thesis Dataset http://openscience.utm.my/handle/123456789/728 en application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Universiti Teknologi Malaysia |
| spellingShingle | Water—Purification—Arsenic removal Groundwater—Arsenic content Water filters Saadon, Syaiful Akhmal Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title | Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title_full | Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title_fullStr | Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title_short | Modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in Cambodia |
| title_sort | modified laterite for the removal of arsenic from groundwater in cambodia |
| topic | Water—Purification—Arsenic removal Groundwater—Arsenic content Water filters |
| url | http://openscience.utm.my/handle/123456789/728 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saadonsyaifulakhmal modifiedlateritefortheremovalofarsenicfromgroundwaterincambodia |