Activation and regeneration of a soil sorbent for defluoridation of drinking water

Geomaterials can be cost-effective sorbents for use in water treatment. In this study, a heavily-weathered Tertiary soil from Xinzhou, China was used as a sorbent for defluoridation of high-fluoride drinking water. The soil is composed of quartz, feldspar, illite and goethite, with an Fe oxide content of 6.75%. Batch and column experiments were done to characterize the F− removal properties and to develop an optimal activation and regeneration procedure. The soil can be regenerated following a simple base-acid rinsing procedure. This can be performed in situ, i.e., by passing the rinsing solutions directly through the treatment column. The same regeneration procedure can be used to activate the pristine soil. Fluoride sorption is described by a Freundlich isotherm model and the bulk of the uptake occurs within 1.5 h. Iron oxide coatings on soil particles and perhaps ≡FeOH surface groups at particle edges of illite grains are likely responsible for the soilʹs F-sorption property. As collected in the field, the soil has a low permeability and is thus unsuitable for direct use in a flow-through column. Heat-treatment at 400–500°C for 2 h, however, produces a granular and permeable sorbent. Although the soilʹs sorption capacity (150 μg/g ) is about a quarter of the low end range of values reported for commercially-available activated alumina, the sorption for F− is specific. A batch sorption experiment in the presence of Cl−, SO42− and HCO3− shows little or no competition from these other anions.