Role of Bioremediation as a Low-Cost Adsorbent for Excessive Fluoride Removal in Groundwater

Abstract

Fluoride pollution in groundwater in the past few decades has gained significance, mainly because of its dual impact on living beings, i.e., the small intake of fluoride is necessary for teeth whereas the excess amount of it if consumed, then a very painful noncurable disease called fluorosis occurs which directly effects our teeth, bones, and muscles. Various studies have been conducted for efficient removal of fluoride which includes the conventional and nonconventional methods of defluoridation. The conventional methods like Nalgonda technique, activated alumina, bone char, and reverse osmosis were used but were not suitable to be adopted for the rural areas as these techniques have various demerits like the Nalgonda technique uses high quantity dosage of alum due to which water may get imparted with taste changes. In activated alumina process major issue is the disposal of the alumina sludge. In bone char method, the water’s taste changes and has odor problem, as this technique uses the bones of animals so it is socially not acceptable by people due to the religious beliefs. The reverse osmosis process is an expensive method to adopt and the process is temperature dependent. Similarly, other methods involve lots of skilled personnel for operation and maintenance. The nonconventional method, i.e., adsorption techniques using low-cost adsorbents like rice husk, neem leaves, kikar leaves, orange peel powder, chalk powder, etc., can be used for fluoride removal. Moreover, the adsorption technique is suitable to adopt as there is no skilled setup required and materials are easily available. By adopting adsorption technique, any adsorbent material could be selected on the basis of easy availability (especially for rural areas), economical value, and ease to use by the rural people.