Phosphorus And Nitrogen Removal Performance Of Zeolite And Rice Husk From Wastewaters

Nitrogen and phosphorus-rich wastewater effluents result in the eutrophication of water resources and threaten aquatic life. Therefore, aquatic life can be supported by wastewater treatment. In this study, filter column tests assessed the phosphorus and nitrogen removal performance of both zeolites, abundantly available in Türkiye, and rice husk, abundantly available waste material, from synthetic wastewaters. Materials were used alone and in mixtures (25:75, 50:50, and 75:25). Phosphorus and nitrogen solutions at different concentrations (0, 10, 25, and 50 mg L-1) pass through filter media at a flow rate of 5.0 mL/min. Effluent samples taken at the end of the 3rd, 6th, 12th, 24th, and 48th hours were subjected to pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) analyses. The highest nitrogen removal efficiency (75.1%) was achieved with 75:25 zeolite: rice husk mixture at the end of the 3rd hour from 10 mg L-1 influent concentration and the lowest with the same mixture at the end of the 48th hour from 50 mg L-1 influent concentration. The highest phosphorus removal efficiency (19.4%) was achieved with pure zeolite at the end of the 3rd hour from 10 mg L-1 influent concentration and the lowest (0.14%) with 25:75 zeolite: rice husk mixture at the end of the 48th hour from 50 mg L-1 influent concentration. Based on the present findings, it was concluded that rice husk further improved the nitrogen removal efficiency of zeolite.