Granular activated carbon optimization for enhanced environmental disaster resilience and malathion removal from agricultural effluent

Abstract

The study aimed to address the critical problem of malathion pesticide contamination in agricultural runoff and its adverse impact on the environment. It specifically focused on utilizing granular activated carbon (GAC), derived from both coal (CBAC) and peat (PBAC), as a promising solution for effective malathion removal. This study focused on the substantial influence of particle size and GAC dosage on the removal efficiency of malathion. It was determined that optimal conditions, resulting in an impressive 90% removal efficiency, were achieved when the initial malathion concentration of 7 μg L-1 was reduced to approximately 1.14 μg L-1 and 1.5 μg L-1 for CBAC with particle sizes of 0.063 mm and 1.0 mm, respectively. In contrast, PBAC exhibited a removal efficiency of 2.87 μg L-1 under similar conditions. The study further employed the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms models to analyze the adsorption behavior of malathion on GAC. The equilibrium data closely aligned with both models, and the maximum adsorption capacity was determined to be an impressive 248.1 mg g-1. These findings highlight the significant potential of GAC, whether coal or peat-based, as a highly effective absorbent material for mitigating malathion contamination in agricultural runoff. This research contributes to enhancing environmental disaster resilience by offering a viable method for optimizing GAC use, thereby reducing the detrimental effects of pesticide contamination on the environment.

Performance of a modified and intermittently operated slow sand filter with two different mediums in removing turbidity, ammonia, and phosphate with varying acclimatization periods

“…The phosphate concentration in the inlet sample was 6.278 ± 1.006 mg/L, whereas the phosphate concentrations at the CC and SC outlets were 5.071 ± 0.631 mg/L and 5.416 ± 1.038 mg/L, respectively. Phosphate is a soluble compound in water; thus, adsorption and chemical attachment on the media surface caused by different affinities are possible mechanisms in ISSF [ [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] ].…”