WORLD JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
Majumder et al.
World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
SJIF Impact Factor 5.210
Volume 4, Issue 07, 1276-1284.
Research Article
ISSN 2278 – 4357
REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER BY
USING LIVING PLANT (IPOMOEA AQUATICA)
Tej Pratap Singh1 and C B Majumder*2
1
Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee-247667, Uttarakhand, India.
2
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee-247667,
Uttarakhand, India.
Article Received on
12 May 2015,
Revised on 03 June 2015,
Accepted on 24 June 2015
ABSTRACT
In the present study removal of fluoride has been studied by using an
aquatic plant species Ipomoea aquatica. The percentage removal of
Fluoride was examined every 24 hours of time interval till 10 days.
Fluoride pollution is now recognized as a global problem. Fluorides
*Correspondence for
are considered as serious contaminants even when they are present at
Author
low levels since it persists for a long time in air, soil, and water and
C B Majumder
exerts negative effects at all levels of an ecosystem. Thus, immediate
Professor, Department of
Chemical Engineering, IIT
attention is the need of the hour to remediate the environment from
Roorkee, Roorkee-
fluoride pollution. Till date, the conventional methods have been
247667, Uttarakhand,
developed primarily to remove fluoride from waste water. These
India.
methods are very slow and expensive. Besides, not much research has
been done so far to remediate Fluoride from soil. This study focuses on
the uptake and accumulation of fluoride by Ipomoea Aquatica. The discharge of industrial
waste water, without any prior treatment in the environment has always affected the health of
human beings, plants and animals.
KEYWORDS: Phytoremediation, Plant growth chamber, Aquatic plant, Fluoride, Ipomoea
Aquatic.
INTRODUCTION
The industrial sector has experienced an unprecedented progress in the 21st century not only
in India but across the globe. On the flipside this global advancement introduced new
obstacles particularly in the area of environmental and preservation. The economic,
agricultural and industrial expansions are mostly accountable for the pollution caused to the
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ecosystem (jadia and Fulekar, 2009). They introduce harmful pollutant in to the soil and
water; consisting of variety of inorganic and organic compounds. In India, soil and ground
water pollution becomes one of the main environmental concerns, and many contaminated
sites have been claned up in these two decades by several technologies likes soil washing,
Nalgonda method, Prasanthi nilayam method and bioremediation for reduce and removal of
fluoride concentration in drinking and industrial water (Venkateswara Rao, 1997). The
prominent states, which are severely affected in India, are Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Several conventional methods are available for
treatment of fluoride from industrial effluents like Membrane filtration (Ndiaye et al., 2005)
precipitation (Pathasarathy et al., 1986), nanofiltration (Simons, 1993), ion-exchange (Ruixia
et al., 2002), electro coagulation flotation (Hu et al., 2005), adsorption (Mohapatra, et al.,
2004) and Phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is an expanding technology that employs
higher plants for the cleanup of contaminated environments that has several advantages over
physical remediation methods, including lower cost. Phytoremediation is the direct
application of green plants to stabilize or absorb the contaminants from water and soil
.Phytoremediation involves phytoextraction (Kumar et al., 1995), rhizofiltration (Dushenkov
et al., 1995), phytostablization (Salt et al., 1995) and phytotransformation/phytodegradation
(Susarla et al., 2002). The present study deals with removal of fluoride from industrial waste
water by considering above mentioned factors.
Table 1: Concentration of Fluorides in different minerals
S.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Minerals
Meteorites
Dunite
Basalt
High Calcium
Granite
Alkali rocks
Shale
Sand stone
Deep sea clays
Deep sea carbonates
Fluoride (mg/L)
28-30
12
100
520
--1200-8500
740
270
1300
540
Source: Shrikantet. al. 2012
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Table 2: Fluoride affected areas in India: Source: S.jagtap.et.al.2012
S.No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Name of State
Affected districts
Assam
Goalpara, Kamrup, KarbiAnglong, and Nagaon
Adilabad, Anantpur, Chittoor, Guntur,
Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Krishna,
Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak, and Nalgonda
Aurangabad, Banka, Buxar, Jamui,
Bihar
Kaimur(Bhabua), Munger, Nawada, Rohtas, and
Supaul
Bastar, Bilaspur, Dantewada, Janjgir-Champa,
Chhattisgarh
Jashpur, Kanker, Korba, Koriya, Mahasamund,
Raipur, Rajnandgaon, and Surguja
East Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, South
Delhi
West Delhi, West Delhi, Kanjhwala, Najafgarh,
and Alipur
Ahmadabad, Amreli, Anand, Banaskantha,
Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Dohad, Junagadh,
Gujarat
Kachchh, Mehsana, Narmada, Panchmahals,
Patan, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surat,
Surendranagar, and Vadodara
Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hissar, Jhajjar,
Haryana
Jind, Kaithal, Kurushetra, Mahendragarh,
Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, and Sonepat
Jammu and Kashmir Doda, Rajauri, and Udhampur
Bagalkot, Bangalore, Belgaun, Bellary, Bidar,
Bijapur, Chamarajanagar, Chikmagalur,
Karnataka
Chitradurga, Davangere, Dharwad, Gadag,
Gulburga, Haveri, Kolar, Koppal, Mandya,
Mysore, Raichur, and Tumkur
Palakkad, Palghat, Allepy, Vamanapuram, and
Kerala
Alappuzha
Amravati, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli,
Maharashtra
Gondia, Jalna, Nagpur, and Nanded
Bhind, Chhatarpur, Chhindwara, Datia, Dewas,
Dhar, Guna, Gwalior, Harda, Jabalpur, Jhabua,
Madhya Pradesh
Khargaon, Mandsaur, Rajgarh, Satna, Seoni,
Shajapur, Sheopur, and Sidhi
Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Bandh,
Orissa
Cuttack, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Keonjhar,
and Sonapur
Amritsar, Bhatinda, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib,
Punjab
Firozepur, Gurdaspur, Mansa, Moga, Muktsar,
Patiala, and Sangrur
Ajmer, Alwar, Banaswara, Barmer, Bharatpur,
Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittaurgarh, Churu,
Rajasthan
Dausa, Dhaulpur, Dungarpur, Ganganagar,
Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jalor,
Jhunjhunun, Jodhpur, Karauli, Kota, Nagaur,
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Range of F
(mg/lit.)
1.45 - 7.8
1.8 - 8.4
1.7 - 2.85
1.5 - 2.7
1.57 - 6.10
1.6 - 6.8
1.5 - 17
2.0 - 4. 21
1.5 - 4.4
2.5 - 5.7
1.51 - 4.01
1.5 - 10.7
1.52 - 5.2
0.44 - 6.0
1.54 - 11.3
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16
Tamilnadu
17
Uttar Pradesh
18
West Bengal
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Pali, Rajsamand, Sirohi, Sikar, SawaiMadhopur,
Tonk, and Udaipur
Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode,
Karur, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Perambalur,
Puddukotai, Ramanathapuram, Salem,
Sivaganga, Theni, Thiruvannamalai,
Tiruchirapally, Vellore, and Virudhunagar
Agra, Aligarh, Etah, Firozabad, Jaunpur,
Kannauj, Mahamaya Nagar, Mainpuri, Mathura,
and Mau
Bankura, Bardhaman, Birbhum,
Dakshindinajpur, Malda, Nadia, Purulia, and
Uttardinajpur
1.5 - 3.8
1.5 - 3.11
1.5 - 9.1
MATERIAL & METHODS
The Ipomoea Aquatics plant were collected from unpolluted water bodies in and around
Roorkee, Uttarakhand and acclimatized for 15 days in laboratory. Healthy plants were cut off
from acclimatized mother plants and care was taken to use the plants with almost the same
biomass (3.15 g fresh weight).These plants were acclimatized in 10% Hoagland’s solution for
one weeks laboratory conditions. The different concentrations of fluoride (5, 10 and 20ppm)
were prepared in 10% Hoagland’s solution using sodium fluoride. The experiment was
performed under standard physiological conditions providing 14hr per day fluorescent light
of 114µ moles/m s intensity 28 0C temperature and 60 to 65% relative humidity to set all
parameter to plant growth chamber.
In this study plants were grown in a hydroponic system. As a result the nutrient solution used
plays an essential role in plant growth. The nutrient for hydroponic system is equivalent to
the fertilizer (NPK) given to the soil for plant growth. In present study Hoagland’s half
strength nutrient solution was used. The preparation of Hoagland’s half strength nutrient
solution is as follows:
KH2PO4=0.068 g/l
KNO3=0.253 g/l
Ca(NO3)2 =0.59 g/l
H3BO3 =0.00142g/l
MgCl2.6H2O =0.20 g/l
MnCl2=0.000578 g/l
Fe-EDTA=1 to 3ml
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The above mentioned chemicals are mixed in 1 L of distilled (Millipore) water. This solution
is then used as nutrients solution. Aquatic creeper Ipomoea Aquatica L. (water spinach) was
selected to assess its removal capacities for fluoride from water under laboratory conditions.
Ipomoea Aquatica L. is a perennial fresh and marine water weed spread across the world and
carries its entire life cycle as free-floating plant, only the root system is completely
submerged. This species takes up metals from water, produces an internal concentration
several folds greater than their surroundings and shows much higher metal-accumulating
capacity than non-hyper accumulating terrestrial plants. Therefore this species was selected
for present Phytoremediation experiment. The concentrations of fluoride were measured with
the help of spectrophotometer (Model DR 5000, HACH).
Prepration of stock solution:
The stock solution of 100mg/l fluoride was prepared by dissolving 0.221g of anhydrous
sodium fluoride (NaF) in one liter of millipore water. The test solution of 20mg/l fluoride
concentration was prepared from stock solution.
Phytoremedation of toxic element by aquatic plants: Surface water which is used for drinking
as well as seawater resources are being contaminated by various toxic elements through
discharging of industrial effluents, and from natural sources. Therefore, remediation of
contaminated aquatic environment is important as it is for terrestrial environment.
Phytoremediation of the toxic contaminants can be readily achieved by aquatic macrophysics
or by other floating plants since the process involves biosorption and bioaccumulation of the
soluble and available contaminants from water (Brooks and Robinson, 1998). Taking these
factors into consideration the present study focused on phytoremedation of fluoride from
industrial waste water.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Table -3: Variation of contact time on Removal of Fluoride
Contact
time(Days)
0
1
2
3
4
5
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Initial
concentraton
of(mg/l)
20
20
20
20
20
20
Amount
adsorbed
by(mg/l)
0
0.2586
4.653
5.248
5.478
5.491
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Final
concentration
of (mg/l)
20
19.74
15.347
14.752
14.522
14.509
% Removal
0
1.293
23.265
26.24
27.39
27.455
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7
8
9
10
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20
20
20
20
20
5.455
5.290
5.2433
5.4079
5.055
14.545
14.71
14.756
14.592
14.945
27.275
26.45
26.216
27.0395
25.275
Effect of contact time on removal of fluoride (20mg/l):
Effect of initial fluoride concentration
The initial concentration of fluoride in the experiment run was 5, 10, 20 ppm in the various
compartments and neutral pH was maintained; these concentrations were reduced by the
aquatic plant species Ipomoea aquatic to 2.919, 6.0875, and 14.512 ppm. The percentage
removal of fluoride for the three concentrations were identical, in the range of the 32.21 to
34.37 % .This follows the trend that has been reported by Maine et al. (2004).
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Effect of pH
In the second experiment performed the concentration was kept constant at 20mg/l and the
pH was varied as 3, 6, 9 and 12. In other words the plant sapling was subjected to extreme
condition such as high metal concentration, ultra acidic and basic condition. The plant
Sapling began to disintegrate after the five days of exposure due to it being subjected to
extreme condition as the result the removal percentage was constant after the 10 days. The
plant final concentration at the end of the experiment at the neutral pH was 3.901, 3.483,
3.021 and 5.098 mg/l respectively for fluoride concentration.
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Table-4: Removal capacity of fluoride in the various parts of IpomoeaAquatica plant
after Phyto tratment
S.No
01
02
03
Part of plant
Root
Leaves
Stem
Removal capacity of fluoride(µg/gm)
1.015
0.0085
0.0054
From the Table 3&4 it was observed that. The initial concentration of Fluoride is 20 mg/liter;
the removal capacity of fluoride in different parts of plant(Ipomoea Aquatica L) likes Root,
Leaves and Stem is 1.015,0.0085 and 0.0054 µg/gm respectively. The removal percentage is
becomes all most constant after (Four to ten) days. It means the removal approach is very
slow. To find out the mechanism of fluoride removal by Ipomoea Aquatica plant the
experiment was carried out by taking different parts of plant, like root, stem and leaves of
Ipomoea Aquatica plant. 1.5 gm of root, stem and leaves were weighed separately and dried
under sunlight for 72 hours (3 to 4 days). The dried root, stem and leaves were ground into
fine powder by using mortar. The powders are digested by Nitric acid (HNO3) to appear a
clear solution by diluting distilled water. The final volume of the samples made up to the
mark in a 100 ml standard volumetric flask. From that the fluoride concentrations were
determined by different parts of plant (Ipomoea Aquatica) using Spectrophotometer (Model
DR 5000, HACH). From the table-4 it was concluded that the removal of fluoride by using
different parts likes Root, leaves and Stem of Ipomoea Aquatica plant is follows it
phytovoltization mechanism of fluoride removal.
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