Adsorption of Lead from Synthetic Solution Using Adsorbent Developed from Drinking Water Treatment Plant’s Sludge

Human activity increases along with advances in technology and industry in Indonesia. Environmental pollution seems to be worsening with time. Hazardous metal which is released to the environment from industry activities, such as chromium can cause poisoning and serious impact on living organisms including humans. Adsorption is widely used in separation process and it is considered as an efficient method. In this research, adsorbent from sludge obtained from drinking water treatment plant in Palembang were prepared. The adsorbent was used to adsorb lead in synthetic solution. The sludge was activated using sodium hydroxide and the experiment was conducted on mass of 2.5 – 5.0 grams of adsorbent, pH 5 – 9 and contact time varied between 30 to 150 minutes. The adsorption results were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) to measure lead content after adsorption. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was conducted for functional group analysis and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis for element identification. The results showed that the highest adsorption of lead was obtained at pH 9, adsorbent mass 5 grams, and contact time 120 minutes with efficiency results of 99.8%.