An Innovative Design of a Clay-Zeolite Medium for the Adsorption of Total Phosphorus from Wastewater.

ABSTRACT

Phosphorus significantly influences the eutrophication process, modifying the quality of waterways and habitat, especially in stagnant waterbodies exposed to septic tank effluent at high nutrient levels. This research explores the development of a cost-effective, efficient, and affordable on-site wastewater treatment system targeted as total phosphorus (TP) removal technology. The research objective is to demonstrate the TP removal efficiency of an optimized clay-zeolite medium by chemical adsorption. The study observes the effects of pellet medium design and modifications, influent concentrations, and contact time. Following various stages of optimization, the preliminary testing achieves a 45 ± 1.8% removal after 45 minutes of contact time. The optimized pellets are contained within a five-layer bench-scale model, achieving equilibrium TP removal of 72 ± 2.9% after 3 hours. Theoretical extrapolation to 12 contact hours indicates an achievement of 88% removal is possible. The results show a positive correlation with the linearized Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms.