To Evaluate the Efficiency of Char and Biochar for Waste Water Treatment

Appropriate waste administration is a basic key to ecological sustainability. Solid waste management and waste water treatment is a worldwide issue due to increment in both urbanization and industrialization. Water is one of significant common assets and is basic for maintainability of life. Toxic industrial effluents released into sewage systems and drains without treatment that deteriorating the water quality for drinking and irrigation. Char and Biochar produced from pyrolysis are stable carbon rich compounds which have various beneficial applications like soil conditioning, remediation, carbon sequestration and water treatment. To study efficiency of char and biochar for wastewater treatment, composite sample was collected from the Main Outfall Drain, Lahore. Ten treatments consisting of different quantities of biochar (T1=200 g, T2=400 g, T3=600 g, T4=800 g and T5=1000 g) and of char (T1=200 g, T2=400 g, T3=600 g, T4=800 g and T5=1000 g) were taken. Sample wastewater was analyzed (pre and post) for different heavy metals after being filtered through biochar and char filters. Significant decrease in concentration of heavy metals was observed. In biochar value of Cr decreased from (0.32 ppm to 0.02 ppm), Fe (0.15 ppm to 0.01 ppm), Zn (0.11 ppm to 0.03 ppm), Ni (0.09 ppm to 0.03 ppm), Pb (0.17 ppm to not detected) and Mn (0.10 ppm to 0.04 ppm). In char treated water also decrease in heavy metals was observed and significant results were observed in T10 (Cr=0.22, Pb=0.43, Fe=0.14, Zn=0.11, Ni=0.1 and Mn=0.12). It could be concluded from results that efficiency of biochar in treating wastewater is much better as compared to char as the reduction in heavy metals values is significant in case of aforementioned. Hence, biochar could be used as a sorbent for wastewater remediation.

Author(s): Ayesha Rasheed, Saman Sana, Saif-ur-Rehman Kashif, Zeeshan Umer and Maria Khatoon

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