Removal of Arseniteand Arsenateby Indigenous IronOres of Pakistan

This study is focusing on the comparative study ofarsenite and arsenate adsorption from the watervia indigenous iron ores. The Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan are badly affected byArsenic (As) toxicity as the people are consuming arsenic contaminated groundwater. The aim ofthis study is to investigate the effectof anions on adsorption of arseniteAs(III)and arsenateAs(V). Impact of pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and shaking speed on adsorption of arseniteand arsenate is studied with the two selected iron ores from Hoshi and Shikarap from Balochistan.Hoshi and Shikarap ores exhibited higherAs(III) and As (V) adsorption, respectively thus selectedfor further removal studies. Hoshi iron ore without sodium carbonate yields higher adsorption ascompared to the samples with 100 mg/L and 1000 mg/L sodium carbonate in both As(III) andAs(V). Hoshi ore exhibited the highest adsorption of 85% for As (V) without sodium phosphatedibasic and 83% for As(III). Shikarap ore for As(V) adsorbs 75% without sodium phosphatedibasic and 67% adsorption for As(III) without sodium phosphate dibasic. Shikarap ore withsodium silicate at 100 mg/L adsorbs 62% As(III) and at 1000 mg/L adsorb 52% As(III). Shikarapore As(V) adsorption decreases from 75% without sodium silicate to 70% at 100 mg/L and evenlower adsorption of 65% at a higher concentration of 1000 mg/L.