The efficiency of pistacia atlantica extract as a natural coagulant aid on arsenic removal from aquatic environments

Currently, there are millions of people around the world who are at serious risk of arsenic poisoning, in that the number of individuals exposed to arsenic in Asia is totally more than 100 million people. In this study, the ability of Pistacia atlantica extract was investigated as a natural coagulant aid for the arsenic removal from aqueous solutions. In this study, the effect of important utilization variables was studied such as ferric chloride coagulant dose (3-35 mg/L), Pistacia atlantica extract dose as the coagulant aid (0.5-5 ml/L), the initial concentration of arsenic (10-1000 μg/L), the initial turbidity (10- 200 NTU) and the initial pH of the solution (2-12). The results showed that the optimum pH for maximum arsenic removal by ferric chloride is 6 and the highest removal rate for the initial concentrations of arsenic 100 μg/l was 94% using 5 mg/L ferric chloride and 0.5 ml/L Pistacia atlantica extract coagulant aid. The results suggest that using 0.5 ml/L coagulant aid will reduce 50% of iron chloride coagulant consumption, which is economically significant, and will also reduce sludge production and its relevant costs. However, based on the results, Pistacia atlantica extract is an effective coagulant aid in combination with ferric chloride for the arsenic removal from aqueous environments.