Defluoridation of Water using Corn Cobs Powder: An Effective Risk Reducing Agent

Abstract

The presence of a unique chemical called fluoride in water, has a major impact on human health. In many places, ground waters are the primary source of water and is found to be with high concentrations of fluorides. Most of the adsorbents used for the removal of fluoride from drinking water are activated carbon-based materials and is found to be most expensive. There is a need for an alternative, effective, efficient, and cheaper adsorbent material. Hence, in the present work, an attempt has been made to remove the fluorides in drinking water using agricultural waste i.e., corn cobs powder as a natural adsorbent material along with fabricated filter. The results are verified with the limits recommended by Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS:10500–2012). The water samples were collected from different places namely Uppinahally, Doddagatta and Yadapura villages in Arsikere taluk of Hassan district. Parametric studies were performed and comparative results were presented. It is observed that, filtration with corn cobs powder reduces the fluoride content for the samples from Uppinahally, Doddagatta and Yadapura from 2.5.