Validation of defluoridation method with “acacia arabica” plant byproduct through 2n factorial experimentation-A statistical approach.

ABSTRACT

Adsorption is one of the most efficient physicochemical processes known to remove fluoride from drinking water. Activated carbon adsorption is conventionally the most used material for this purpose. The aim of this study was to know the variables that influence the adsorption process of fluoride ion from aqueous media, so as to optimize the operating conditions. Factorial experimentation within a certain domain was used to determine the influence level of several parameters, such as initial pH of the solution, particle size, adsorbent’s concentration agitation time and their interactions. A statistical analysis of the results showed that within the selected domain all the parameters have influence at a significance level of 1% excepting initial pH that only has influence at a significance level of 5 %. Some of the possible interactions between these parameters also have significant influence on the adsorption process especially first order ones, including significance levels of 5 and 1%. This means then that optimization of operating conditions water treatment using the studied adsorption technique will not imply additional costs. This emphasizes the importance of Acacia arabica fruit carbon as an alternative to activated carbon.