Dried Seaweed (Sargassum ilicifolium) as an Adsorbent for Phosphorous Removal from Aqueous Solutions

Aquaculture is a source of significant lt;br / gt;amounts of wastes, which generally leads to lt;br / gt;deterioration of water quality. Removal of lt;br / gt;phosphorous (P) from aquaculture wastewater lt;br / gt;is an important environmental challenge. lt;br / gt;In the present study, efficacy of dry sea weed lt;br / gt;(Sargassum ilicifolium) to remove water P was lt;br / gt;investigated under laboratory conditions. Several lt;br / gt;levels of medium pH (3.510), initial P lt;br / gt;concentration (0.0150.45mgl1), contact time lt;br / gt;(760min), particle size (0.55mm) and the sea lt;br / gt;weed particle concentration (1040gl1) have lt;br / gt;been monitored. The results showed a high efficiency lt;br / gt;of the sea weed to remove water P under lt;br / gt;different conditions (83.197.7% P removal). lt;br / gt;Among the tested pH, 3.5 had the lowest lt;br / gt;P removal. P removal linearly increased along lt;br / gt;with time progress. The lowest P removal was lt;br / gt;observed in the lowest initial P concentration lt;br / gt;(0.015mg/l), however, there was no significant lt;br / gt;difference among the groups with initial P concentration lt;br / gt;of 0.150.45 mg/l. P removal in 10g/l lt;br / gt;sea weed concentration was significantly lower lt;br / gt;than those of 20 and 40g/l. P removal significantly lt;br / gt;increased with decrease in sea weed particle lt;br / gt;size. Regression analysis showed that the lt;br / gt;weight of factors to remove P from the medium lt;br / gt;was as follow: particle size (β = 0.659) gt; particle lt;br / gt;concentration (β = 0.427) gt; time (β = 0.227) gt; lt;br / gt;initial P concentration (β = 0.190) gt; medium pH lt;br / gt;(β = 0.113). In conclusion, dry S. ilicifolium is lt;br / gt;capable to efficiently remove P from wastewater lt;br / gt;at aquaculturerelevant concentration. The lt;br / gt;P removal capability of the seaweed markedly lt;br / gt;increases by decrease in particle size and increase lt;br / gt;in particle concentration in medium.