Removal of Heavy Metals and Metalloids from Water Using Drinking Water Treatment Residuals as Adsorbents: A Review

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination is one of the most important environmental issues. Therefore, appropriate steps need to be taken to reduce heavy metals and metalloids in water to acceptable levels. Several treatment methods have been developed recently to adsorb these pollutants. This paper reviews the ability of residuals generated as a by-product from the water treatment plants to adsorb heavy metals and metalloids from water. Water treatment residuals have great sorption capacities due to their large specific surface area and chemical composition. Sorption capacity is also affected by sorption conditions. A survey of the literature shows that water treatment residuals may be a suitable material for developing an efficient adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals and metalloids from water.