Removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions under different conditions was investigated using either clay (montmorillonite) or micelle-clay complex, the last obtained by adsorbing critical micelle concentration of octadecyltrimethylammonium ions onto montmorillonite. Batch experiments showed the effects of contact time, adsorbent dosage, and pH on the removal efficiency of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions. Langmuir adsorption isotherm fitted the experimental data giving significant results. Filtration experiments using columns filled with micelle-clay complex mixed with sand were performed to assess Cr(VI) removal efficiency under continuous flow at different pH values. The micelle-clay complex used in this study was capable of removing Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions without any prior acidification of the sample. Results demonstrated that the removal effectiveness reached nearly 100% when using optimal conditions for both batch and continuous flow techniques.

Kinetic studies on the stability of the pain killer paracetamol in Al-Quds activated sludge demonstrated that paracetamol underwent biodegradation within less than one month to furnish p-aminophenol in high yields. Characterizations of bacteria contained in Al-Quds sludge were accomplished. It was found that Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the bacterium most responsible for the biodegradation of paracetamol to p-aminophenol and hydroquinone. Batch adsorptions of paracetamol and its biodegradation product (p-aminophenol) by activated charcoal and a composite micelle (octadecyltrimethylammonium)-clay (montmorillonite) were determined at 25°C. Adsorption was adequately described by a Langmuir isotherm, and indicated better efficiency of removal by the micelle-clay complex. The ability of bench top reverse osmosis (RO) plant as well as advanced membrane pilot plant to remove paracetamol was also studied at different water matrixes to test the effect of organic matter composition. The results showed that at least 90% rejection was obtained by both plants. In addition, removal of paracetamol from RO brine was investigated by using photocatalytic processes; optimal conditions were found to be acidic or basic pH, in which paracetamol degraded in less than 5 min. Toxicity studies indicated that the effluent and brine were not toxic except for using extra low energy membrane which displayed a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC-50) value of 80%.

In this study, the stability of chlorpyrifos, a known pesticide, in fresh water and sludge was investigated. The results showed that chlorpyrifos underwent hydrolysis in both media to give two main metabolites: 3,5,6-trichoro-2-pyridiniol (TCP) and diethylthiophosphoric acid (DETP). The hydrolysis reaction in both media was found to follow first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 7.10 × 10 −8 (R 2 = 0.999) in pure water and of 9.30 × 10 −8 (R 2 = 0.996) in sludge. Chlorpyrifos degradation's half-life value in pure water was 112 d and in sludge was 85.9 d. The efficiency of Al-Quds University wastewater treatment plant demonstrated that the ultrafiltration-hollow fiber unit (UF-HF) was insufficient in removing chlorpyrifos from spiked secondary treated wastewater samples, whereas the combination of ultrafiltration-spiral wound unit (UF-SW) followed by activated carbon (AC) column was quite efficient and yielded a complete removal of the pesticide. Batch adsorption experiments using either AC or micelle-clay complex were performed and the experimental results were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Adsorption analysis using Langmuir isotherm revealed that Q max for the AC was higher than that of the micelle-clay complex, while Freundlich isotherm showed almost similar values of n (3.413 vs. 3.745) for both adsorbents, despite the fact that the activated carbon filter showed higher k F value. Filtration column of mixed micelle-clay complex and sand demonstrated a breakthrough point after the third fraction for chlorpyrifos removal and a complete removal for all fractions collected in the *Corresponding author.