Removal of Fluoride from Drinking Water using Gypsum
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Date
2012
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Excess amount of fluoride in drinking water causes detrimental health impacts such as dental and skeletal flurosis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the maximum acceptable concentration of fluoride in drinking water is 1.5 mg/L (Darchen et al, 2010). According to Sri Lanka Standards desirable and permissible levels of fluoride is
0.6 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L respectively. In tropical countries like Sri Lanka, the lowering of the fluoride regulatory limits in drinking water is required due to high consumption of water by the people living in the regions with high natural fluoride concentrations. Therefore, excess fluoride in drinking water must be removed to the permissible level. There are several techniques available to remove excess fluoride from drinking water based on adsorption, precipitation, ion exchange and membrane separation. (Dou et al, 2012).
However, most of these methods are highly specialized and cost intensive in that they cannot be implemented successfully at community level. In this research we propose to utilize gypsum, a ubiquitous mineral in nature, to mitigate excess fluoride from drinking water based on precipitating common ion effects
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Keywords
Mineral Resources and Technology, Water Treatment methods, Water Quality managment