Defluoridation of groundwater from Siloam Village, Limpopo Province, South Africa, using vermiculite modified with hexadecyltrimethylammonium

Abstract

South Africa is a water-scarce nation, and this has resulted to the use of groundwater as one of the alternative sources. Owing to the low socio-economic status of some communities in rural areas, where modern water purification equipment is not available, groundwater is consumed without prior treatment. Siloam Village, Limpopo Province, is one of such communities; however, the presence of excess fluoride in groundwater has led to the occurrence of fluorosis, which constitutes a health concern. Vermiculite which is a clay mineral is highly available in Limpopo Province and has not been exploited for defluoridation; thus, this study was aimed at the defluoridation of groundwater in Siloam Village using vermiculite ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ologundudu Tayo Oladipo, MSc, holds MSc. in Environmental Sciences. His research interests focus on groundwater including Hydrochemistry, Water Quality and Remediation among others. Durowoju Olatunde Samod*, PhD, holds PhD in Environmental Sciences with specialisation in Environmental geochemistry and Health. His research focus includes Hydrogeochemistry and Isotope hydrology, Environmental geochemistry and Health, Biogeochemistry and Ecohydrology, Water Quality and Remediation within environmental media. Odiyo John Ogony, PhD, holds PhD in Civil Engineering with specialisation in Water Engineering. His research focus includes hydrology, hydrogeology, environmental media including soils, air and water and wastewater resources and remediation, water quality and water treatment, water resources management and open channels hydraulics. Ekosse Georges-Ivo Ekosse PhD, DTech, FAAS, holds PhD in Soil Mineralogy and Doctor of Technology in Environmental Health and is Senior Professor of Applied Clay Mineralogy and Environmental Geology. His research covers clays and clay minerals, human and enzootic geophagia, extraction metallurgy, environmental geochemistry, natural and artificial porous materials, and reconstruction of paleoenvironments.

Water quality, geochemistry and human health risk of groundwater in the Vyeboom region, Limpopo province, South Africa

“…The study revealed that all boreholes complied with the recommended standards of < 1.5 mg/L set by SANS 19 . Higher levels of fluoride has been reported from groundwater samples from Siloam village, Makhado local municipality in the same province of South Africa 25 . Similarly the East African Rift system are known for high levels of fluoride in groundwater 3 .…”

Defluoridation of water through the application of carbonised bone as a green adsorbent: A review

“…[32][33][34] As stated by WHO 32 , consumption of water containing higher fluoride levels, in the range of 3 mg/L to 6 mg/L, could account for skeletal fluorosis. 32,35,36…”