Agricultural waste has
increased colossally with development in agricultural production causing environmental
nuisance and degradation. Utilization of coconut husks, one of such type of waste, as a biosorbent for polluted surface water treatment, was
considered in this study. Polluted surface water was gently passed through two
similar columns loaded with 100 and 200 g of coconut husk char respectively.
The treated water samples collected after 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 mins were
examined for SO42-, NO3- and PO43-
ions concentration. Removal efficiency for SO42-, NO3-
and PO43- ions on 100 g coconut husk char after 150
mins detention time were 70, 78 and 91% respectively. Freundlich isotherm model
gave a better description of the data (R2 > 0.96). Sorption data
was well described by second order pseudo kinetics (R2 >
0.85). An amount of 100 g of the biosorbent
has a
strong affinity for these types of ion removal in contaminated water. Coconut husk
char as a biosorbent
is a panacea to significant concentrations of polyatomic ions in polluted surface water.
