Page 222 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Green and Eco-Friendly Materials for Removal of Phosphorus 203

biological methods suffer from the drawbacks of limitation to low concentrations
and requirement for skilled labor for operation (Smolders et al., 1994). The adsorp-
tion process is considered to be the most prominent among all methods for removing
phosphorus (Karageorgiou et al., 2007). Even at low concentrations, adsorption is
workable and exhibits a high efficiency for phosphorus removal. Adsorbents such
as bentonite, zeolite, red mud, lanthanum hydroxide, and iron-related adsorbents
have been successfully employed for the removal of phosphorus by the adsorption
technique (Sakadevan and Bavor, 1998; Boujelben et al., 2008; Drizo et al., 2006).
Still, there remains a huge demand for cost-effective approaches and methods for the
maintenance of phosphorus balance. Among several methods studied, the adsorp-
tion technique surpasses the rest, since it can be used for reduction, elimination, and
reclamation by using suitable adsorbents (Ali and Gupta, 2006; Wahab et al., 2011a).
The adsorption technique using solid adsorbents has been successfully applied for
the removal of phosphorus. It is found to be highly effective and inexpensive and
has the ability to recycle phosphorus, thus fulfilling all the criteria for an efficient
treatment method.

10.2.1 reMoval froM various sources
Phosphorus is present in several sources other than wastewater, such as in sediments,
lakes, waste stabilization ponds, swine lagoon liquid, and so on, which have been
treated by different methods. This subsection demonstrates the removal of phosphorus
from different sources other than wastewater. Activated alumina treated with aluminum
sulfate was adopted for the treatment of river and lake water with a low concentra-
tion of phosphorus. The adsorption ability of modified adsorbent was enhanced by 1.7
times when compared with the untreated one (Hano et al., 1997). Further, excessive
phosphorus present in a lake in Germany was eradicated using Periphyton submerged
on artificial substrata (Jobgen et al., 2004). In 2005, biological phosphorus present in
sediments and causing eutrophication in lakes and ponds was treated with a microor-
ganism having the ability to solubilize phosphorus. Burkholderia glathei, isolated from
rhizospheric soil, was investigated during the treatment of phosphorus-contaminated
sediments in a bioslurry reactor (Kim et al., 2005).
The uptake of phosphorus in a waste stabilization pond was examined using
microalgae. Continuous culture bioreactors were used for the experiment to find the
effects of different parameters such as phosphate concentration, intensity of light,
and reaction temperature. Powell and co-workers advocated the successful biologi-
cal removal of phosphorus in a waste stabilization pond using microalgal biomass
(Powell et al., 2008).

10.2.2 reMoval froM WasTeWaTer
Urano and Tachikawa (1991) investigated activated alumina for the removal of phos-
phorus from domestic and industrial wastewaters. Simultaneous removal and recovery
were attained after the experiment, suggesting that adsorption was a suitable method
for the effective removal of phosphorus from wastewater. It was noted that no harm-
ful by-products were formed, and moreover, it was a low-cost material. Other than