Abstract
Fluoride contamination in water is a global health concern. While many studies have used simulated fluoride-containing solutions in labs, few have conducted defluorination experiment on natural fluoride-contaminated water. In this study, we prepare three defluorination pellets (P1, P2, P3) using cement, sludge, and rice husk powder with mass percentages of 75%: 20%: 5%, 70%: 20%: 10%, and 65%: 20%: 15%, respectively, and tested their defluorination efficiency in water samples taken from the South Jiaolai River in Shandong Province, China. An outdoor experiment was conducted in May and June in Jiaozhou, Shandong Province, which lasted for 24 days. For each treatment, 10 g/L of pellets were added to 50 L of natural water samples with 3 replicates. The initial fluoride concentration of the water samples was 1.90 mg/L, and the fluoride concentration and pH value were measured every 3 days. SEM, EDS, XRD, and FTIR were used for analyzing potential defluorination mechanisms. The results showed that 3 types of pellets were effective in fluoride removal. On the 24th day, the fluoride concentrations in the water samples treated with pellets were significantly lower than that of the control group. The fluoride concentration in water samples treated with P1, P2, and P3 decreased to 0.74, 0.75, and 0.99 mg/L, respectively. AlF3 and MgF2 could be found in the composition of the pellets after the treatment of water samples, and hydroxylated metal oxides and CaCO3 both contributed to the defluorination process. The prepared pellets have potential for application in defluorination of fluoride-contaminated surface water.
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The data is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr. Dunlian Qiu from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China for helpful comments that have improved the manuscript. We thank the AJE group for language polishing service.
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This work was funded by the Wastewater Treatment Technology Development Program (18H0364) commissioned by Sichuan Environmental Protection and Treatment Engineering Co. Ltd.
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Chun Yang: original draft, experiment, data analysis; Benhong Liu: conceptualization, review; Lei Liu: experiment, manuscript revision; Yi Zhang: experiment, manuscript revision; Rongting Xiang: data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yang, C., Liu, B., Liu, L. et al. The Effect and Potential Mechanism of Cement-Based Pellets for Fluoride Removal from Surface Water. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 496 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06532-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06532-0