Removal of metals in groundwater using $($a selected organic material$)$ biosorbent in continuous column adsorption

Background:

Groundwater is water that is from a natural stream that flows below the surface of the ground $[1].$ Many households predominantly in rural areas depend on such flow streams as their drinking water and other needs. As much as this stream is natural and bears no cost to get water from it$,$ it comes with a few drawbacks. Groundwater is highly concentrated with heavy metals, which are often above the allowable quality limits set in government regulations. Most of these contaminants are detrimental to human health and remain dangerous when ingested at high concentrations. Even when groundwater is pumped to an integrated water supply system in a household, it creates various issues such as corrosivity to the pipes and stains the tubs and sinks$.$ Moreover, the smell of groundwater can be upsetting to humans which leads to nausea and other related short illnesses.

According to the regulations published by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, there are certain quality limits per contaminant $($metal$)$ that must not be exceeded since it may cause health complications when ingested. Therefore, water treatment strategies are needed to reduce the levels of contaminants in groundwater to make it safe for drinking. Amongst, many treatment processes, adsorption is one of the most cost$-$effective and has promising results in removing heavy metals. The adsorption process involves the use of an adsorbent. There are various options of adsorbents that can be used for this application, for example, activated carbon and others. The drawback of using activated carbon in adsorption is the high cost, the generation of waste as spent AC$,$ and its low ability to be regenerated. As such, there is a need to search for adsorbents that are from natural sources and can be used effectively.

Problem statement:

Considering a community in a $($selected rural area$)$ that depends on the groundwater for drinking, there have been several reports of people in this area getting sick from ingesting water from this stream. The community is in desperate need of a treatment system that will reduce the concentration of heavy metals in the stream. The treatment system will be an adsorption column with its associated tanks, piping, and control systems.

Aim and objective: The objective of this work is to evaluate the design of an adsorption treatment system.

Scope of work:

The design engineer instructs you to investigate the contaminants and their concentrations in the selected groundwater stream. You may use literature to find the data and present it in a tabulated format.

You are instructed to select the appropriate bio adsorbent that is suitable to remove the contaminants you have found in $(1)$ above.

Produce a design of the adsorption treatment system including the pumping of groundwater from the source to the site, piping, and the control system.

Size the pump and its associated valves $($suction and delivery$)$ that can deliver $($five last digits of your student number$)k\frac{g}{h}$ of wastewater.

The length of the pipe is $($last two digits of your iD no$.)$ in meters, and the height of the adsorption tower is $3m.$

Use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to prepare your calculations so your spreadsheet can be stored in the plant data for process operators employed as intems to assist the community in running the treatment site.