Fluoride removal studies in water using natural materials : technical note

Excess fluoride in water causes health hazards to the natural environment. The removal of fluoride was attempted using natural materials such as red soil, charcoal, brick, fly-ash and serpentine. Each material was set up in a column for a known volume and the defluoridation capacities of these materials were studied with respect to time. According to the maximum defluoridation capacity these materials were added proportionately to the vertical column. Ten mg.ℓ-1 of fluoride was passed through the column and the variation of fluoride removal for a known rate of flow was studied. Correlation analysis of defluoridation capacity with time was done and an attempt has been made to classify them accordingly. The study reveals that red soil has good fluoride removal capacity followed by brick, fly-ash, serpentine and charcoal. Water SA Vol.29(3) 2003: 339-34