Use of waste glass for arsenic removal from drinking water in Bangladesh

277 Pages·2015·7.1 MB·English

Use of waste glass for arsenic removal
from drinking water in Bangladesh: a
laboratory and field-based study

Sultana Kudrati Khoda

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements of the University of Brighton, for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy

January, 2015

The University of Brighton
Declaration

I declare that the research work contained in this thesis, unless
otherwise formally indicated within the text, is the original work of
the author. This work has not been previously submitted to this or
any other University for a degree, and does not incorporate material
already submitted for a degree.

17/09/2015

........................................................ ......................................
Sultana Kudrati Khoda Date
Use of waste glass for arsenic removal from drinking water in Bangladesh: a
laboratory and field –based study
Abstract
A number of low-cost synthetic filtration media have been proposed for the removal
of arsenic (As) from drinking water in areas such as Bangladesh, where exposure to
environmental arsenic is a major human health issue. This PhD research project
examines the application of recycled glass and waste stainless steel fragments as a
practical medium for arsenic removal at a household scale. To assess the
performance of recycled glass media as a practical filter bed, glass granules were
differentiated by colour, size and mode of glass size reduction (imploded and
ground). The selected glass granules were used as media for batch adsorption and
column filtration experiments using a prepared As (III) test solution and using
natural As-contaminated water in Bangladesh, where recycled glass in column
filtration mode was used to treat arsenic contaminated natural water in the presence
of other metalloids.
Filter media made from recycled glass and waste stainless steel fragments were
characterized via SEM and PXRF. SEM study also gave information about the
mechanism of arsenic removal by glass granules. Sequential extraction experiments
were also performed on used filtration media to assess arsenic removal and
adsorption processes.
Results indicate that glass granules associated with stainless steel fragments (sstl)
can remove arsenic from drinking water at an efficiency suitable for household
application. Arsenic removal effectiveness depends largely on the presence of
stainless steel fragments with glass (introduced with the glass media during the
recycling and preparation process). The glass particle size and mode of size
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reduction was also found to influence the removal of arsenic: ground glass
performed better than imploded glass and smaller ground glass particles (s<0.5 mm)
performed better than imploded glass of the same size. Batch experiment results
concluded that glass colour may have minor influences on arsenic removal although
the differences were not significant. Further results also revealed that < 0.05 kg sstl
can remove arsenic to below acceptable limits from a 0.50 ppm arsenic solution with
an effectiveness >0.168 mg/g sstl. It was found that 57 kg of small clear DSGF (dry
sieved ground fresh) glass (s<0.5 mm) can treat 132.5 l of water with 100% removal
of arsenic from starting concentrations of 0.50 ppm, using a recycled glass filter
column.
There is a scope for improvement of the glass filter media by adding stainless steel
fragments but the study did not determine the potential and further work is required
to optimize the ratio of DSGF glass and stainless steel fragments. Considering the
price and operational drawbacks of other existing filters in Bangladesh, recycled
glass has potential to be used in more sustainable arsenic filter filtration units. The
results, coupled with the low cost of waste glass, indicate that waste glass should be
investigated further for use in domestic water filtration for arsenic removal.

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List of Abbreviations

Abbreviation Elaboration
AA Activated Alumina
AAN Asia Arsenic Network
AAS Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry
ACIC Arsenic Crisis Information centre
AFDTW Arsenic Free Deep Tube Well
AFS Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy
As Arsenic
ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
BACER-DU Bangladesh-Australia Centre For Environmental Research),
Department of Soil, Water and Environment, Dhaka University
BAMWSP Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation and Water Supply Project
BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
CIM Composite-Iron Matrix
DANIDA Danish International Development Agency
DCH Dhaka Community Hospital
DOM Dissolved Organic Matter
DPHE Department of Public Health and Engineering
DS Drysieved
DSGA Drysieved Ground Aged
DSGF Dry Sieved Ground Fresh
DSIA Drysieved Imploded Aged
DSIF Dry Sieved Imploded Fresh
DTW Deep Tube Well
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ETVAM Environmental Technologies Verification Programs for Arsenic
EXAFS X-ray absorption fine structure
FeOOH Iron Oxyhydroxides
FHCCG Ferric Hydroxide Coated Crushed Glass
FHCSS Ferric Hydroxide coated Scallop Shells
FOCCG Ferric Oxide Coated Crushed Glass
FOCSS Ferric Oxide Coated Scallop Shells
GFAA Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption
GFH Granular Ferric Hydroxide
GIH Granular Iron Hydroxide
GIS Geographic Information System
GMBD Ganges-Meghna-Brahmmaputra Delta
HFO Hydrous Ferric Oxide
HGAAS Hydride Generation Atomic absorption Spectroscopy
HNO Nitric acid
3
ICP-AES Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry
ICP-MS Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry
ICP-OES Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry
IOCC Iron oxide Coated Cement
MAV Maximum Acceptable Value
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MCL Maximum Contamination Level
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
OSM Optical Stereo Microscope
ppb Parts per billion
ppm Parts per million
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
PXRF Portable X-ray Fluorescence
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SE Sequential Extraction
SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
SES School of Environmental Studies
SORAS Solar Oxidation and Removal of Arsenic.
SS Stainless Steel
TCLP Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure
TM Trade Mark
TS Test solution
U.S.EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
WARP Waste & Resources Action Programme
WHO World Health Organization
WPP Water Partnership Program
WS Wetsieved
WSGA Wetsieved Ground Aged
WSGF Wetsieved Ground Fresh
WSIA Wetsieved Imploded Aged
WSIF Wet Sieved Imploded Fresh
XRF X-ray Fluorescence
ZVI Zero-valent iron

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Acknowledgements
At first I would like to thank Almighty Allah for giving me the intelligence, the
health, and the strength to perform and finish this investigation. My cordial thanks to
Professor Marie Harder, my major supervisor and Professor Andy Cundy, my second
supervisor for their time, continuous support and inspiration during my study period.
I must thank to Professor Imamul Huq and Md. Tanvir Ahmed Chowdhury,
Assistant Professor of Department of Soil, Water and Environment, Dhaka
University and all technical staffs of BACER-DU for their support to implement my
field experiments in Bangladesh. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank
Professor Callum Firth, Head of the School of the Environment and Technology for
the provision of the postgraduate facilities necessary to complete this research. I am
grateful to Dr Elizabeth Manzanares and Dr Ryan Woodard for their advice that was
really helpful in my study. I am indebted to Mr Christopher English, Mr Peter Lyon
for their support to use laboratory in the Brighton University. I must thank to
Doctoral College team for their valuable suggestion whenever I needed throughout
my study. My PhD study would be impossible without the blessings and wishes from
my family members and friends. I specially like to convey my thanks to my mother
Mariam Begum, my elder sister Dr Sultana Amena Ferdoucy and her family, my
younger sister Sultana Mahabbet-e-Khoda and her family for their unconditional
support and continuous inspiration for my higher study. I am also very grateful to all
the people I meet for providing me with all the logistics necessary for my research
work. I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Fatima Jesmin, Dr Khondokar Mahid
Uddin, Dr Elena Sazhina and my friends specially Zakir, Maria, Sayeed, Shamima,
Arif, Tauhida, Lina, Mukul, Masud and Mukta for their tremendous support while I
was studying. Finally I am grateful to my husband Dr Khondokar Mizanur Rahman
v
for his support and encouragement for my study. It will be unrealistic if I don’t thank
my baby girl Saniyah who sacrificed my company while I was in study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page no
Abstract............................................................................................................................ i
List of Abbreviations....................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................... v
Table of contents.............................................................................................................. vii
List of figures................................................................................................................... xv
List of tables..................................................................................................................... xxiv
Chapter 1 Introduction............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background...................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Arsenic acceptable limit.................................................................................. 4
1.3 Arsenic Chemistry........................................................................................... 4
1.4 Types of arsenic removal techniques............................................................. 9
1.4.1 Physico-chemical techniques.......................................................................... 9
1.4.1.1 Adsorption........................................................................................................ 9
1.4.1.2 Ion Exchange................................................................................................... 11
1.4.1.3 Coagulation-precipitation............................................................................... 11
1.4.1.4 Oxidation.......................................................................................................... 12
1.4.1.5 Lime softening.................................................................................................. 12
1.4.1.6 Membrane filtration........................................................................................ 12
1.4.2 Biological techniques....................................................................................... 14
1.4.2.1 Phytoremediation............................................................................................ 14
1.4.2.2 Bioadsorbents.................................................................................................. 15
1.4.2.3 Bio filtration..................................................................................................... 15
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1.5 Status of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh............................................ 16
1.6 Current use of arsenic removal technologies in Bangladesh....................... 22
1.7 Waste products in water treatment............................................................... 24
1.8 Glass as a potential filtration medium (Interaction of glass with water)... 25
1.9 Rationale for this thesis work......................................................................... 26
1.10 Project aim....................................................................................................... 27
1.11 Main objectives of the projects...................................................................... 27
1.12 Overview of the Thesis.................................................................................... 28
1.13 Conclusion........................................................................................................ 29
Chapter 2 Review of Literature............................................................................ 30
2.1 History of arsenic............................................................................................ 30
2.2 Distribution and occurrence of arsenic......................................................... 32
2.3 Sources of arsenic............................................................................................ 36
2.3.1 Natural sources of arsenic.............................................................................. 36
2.3.2 Anthropogenic sources of arsenic.................................................................. 37
2.4 Mechanism of arsenic exposure in natural water......................................... 38
2.5 Effect of arsenic pollution in human life and agriculture............................ 40
2.5.1 Human Health Effects.................................................................................... 40
2.5.2 Arsenic poisoning in agriculture.................................................................... 40
2.6 Review of different arsenic removal technologies........................................ 41
2.6.1 Arsenic oxidation............................................................................................. 43
2.6.2 Sorption materials for arsenic removal......................................................... 45
2.6.3 Arsenic removal by activated alumina (AA)................................................ 46
ALCAN filter................................................................................................... 47
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