Use of Orange Peel Waste for Arsenic Remediation of Drinking Water

Arsenic is a toxic element and is found in natural waters throughout the globe. The purpose of present study is to demonstrate the As (V) uptake by orange peel from real ground water samples through adsorption. Different parameters such as pH, shaking speed, contact time, adsorbent dosage, concentration, volume and temperature etc, were optimized. The maximum uptake capacity was observed at pH-7. The sorption was found to be time dependent and the kinetics followed well by the Morris-weber, Pseudo second order and Elovich equations. The Freundlich, Langmuir, Dubinin Redushkevich and Flory–Huggins isotherm were used to model the adsorption behavior of arsenic retention. Thermodynamic parameters calculated from these isotherms show that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Orange peel was found to be effective (~85%) for arsenic removal from real water systems containing concomitant ions.