New application to remediate drinkable groundwater from excess of hardness ions by using sodalite bearing modified illite.

Calcium Hardness (Ca. H) and total Hardness ions in drinkable groundwater cause great problems for the entire world especially, the population communities which are located far from surface water sources. The present study investigates the use of Sodalite Bearing Modified Illite (SBMI) as a sustainable and new technique to eliminate these ions from drinkable groundwater to compatible with the instruction of the World Health Organization. The methodology was achieved by using a new method to remove these ions' excess calcium Hardness and total Hardness depending on two main processes; the adsorption as a first step and the coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation process as a second step. The results of this study were achieved through conducting three tasks; (1) Chemical analysis surveys for all the groundwater wells, to determine the areas which are more affected by these salts, and plot them on the location maps. (2) Conducting the alkaline modification of the Illite ore to obtain the (SBMI) which has a high surface area and high adsorption ability, and it had been characterized by using XRD, XRF, SEM, and FTIR techniques. (3) The experimental studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of the modified Illite on raw groundwater containing a high concentration of hardness ions, through the batch studies to determine the factors which affected its ability for removing these ions from groundwater. The present study illustrated that the removing efficiency for both total hardness (Ca. H + Mg. H) and calcium hardness (Ca. H) reached about 98%. Finally, the present study recommended using this technique, when there is a requirement for large quantities of treated water at a low cost.

Synthetization and characterization of SnCaAl2O3 nanocomposite and using as a superior adsorbent for Pb, Zn, and Cd ions in polluted water.

The presence of heavy metals in drinking water or wastewater poses a serious threat to the ecosystem. Hence, the present study focused on synthesizing SnCaAl2O3 core-shell nanoparticles (C.N.P.s) in the α-Alumina phase by thermal annealing a stacked structure sandwiched between two Al2O3 layers at low temperatures. The obtained structure showed Sn N.P. floating gate with an Al2O3 dielectric stacked tunneling barrier to remove the excess of these heavy metals from polluted water. To characterize the prepared composites, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) were used. The synthesized SnCaAl2O3 C.N.P.s composite was examined to utilize it as an adsorbent for removing Zn, Cd, and Pb divalent cations. The removal efficiency was studied by various parameters such as adsorbent dose, pH, contact time, metal concentrations, temperature, and coexisting ions. The experimental results were tested via Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The obtained results were convenient to the Freundlich isotherm model. Moreover, the adsorption thermodynamic behavior of Zn+2, Cd+2, and Pb+2 on the synthesized composite was examined, and the process is endothermic and spontaneous under experimental conditions. The results illustrated that the adsorption efficiency of the SnCaAl2O3 core-shell nanoparticles (C.N.P.s) ranged from 88% to about 100% for all cations.

Novel elimination method of iron and manganese ions from drinkable groundwater in Assiut, Egypt, by using sodalite-bearing modified illite.

The world's interest now is focusing on the applying of the principles of sustainable development in managing natural resources, especially in managing freshwater, which is one of the greatest challenges the whole world face. In this paper, the illite ore was tested to remove the excess of iron and manganese from groundwater which is used for drinking and household purposes in Assiut. To accomplish this goal, the study was based on two directions. The first direction focused on achieving a physicochemical analytical survey for all the groundwater produced by wells in Assiut governorate, and its averages are plotted on GIS maps, to illustrate the difference in the concentrations of iron and manganese. However, the second direction focused on the preparation and examination of the modified illite ore, and it was characterized by using XRD, SEM, FT-IR, and XRF techniques. The results showed that the sodalite-bearing modified illite (SBMI) was able to remove the excess of iron and manganese from raw groundwater with the efficiency of 99% and 97%, respectively.