Lead removal from water by adsorption on spent coffee grounds

Industrial water and drinking water contamination by lead is recognized as a public health problem in several countries of the world, including Italy. Lead is on the second position on the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) list for dangerous elements. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also recognized lead as a probable human carcinogen. In this study the potential of spent coffee grounds (SCG) for the removal of lead from contaminated water was investigated. Batch experiments were performed at 25 °C on untreated SCG. The results obtained showed that the adsorption equilibrium of lead on SCG is well described by the Langmuir equation, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 2.46 mg g-1. Overall, this study strongly supports the use of SCG for the removal of lead, and probably of other metal species, from industrial and drinking waters