Sustainable Water Purification

Sustainable Water Purification
Scrivener Publishing
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Publishers at Scrivener
Martin Scrivener (martin@scrivenerpublishing.com)
Phillip Carmical (pcarmical@scrivenerpublishing.com)
Sustainable Water Purification
M. Safiur Rahman
and
M.R. Islam
This edition first published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
and Scrivener Publishing LLC, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 541J, Beverly, MA 01915, USA
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 9781119650997
Cover image: Water background - Anna1311 | Dreamstime.com, Surf with clouds - Penguinpete |
Dreamstime.com, Mountains with Rain - Jan Baars | Dreamstime.com
Cover design by Kris Hackerott
Set in size of 11pt and Minion Pro by Manila Typesetting Company, Makati, Philippines
Printed in the USA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Prefacexi
1 Introduction
1.1 Opening Remarks 1
1.2 Climate-Water-Food Nexus 5
1.3 Background 8
1.4 Insufficiency in Water Purification Processes 9
1.5 Introduction to Zero Waste Engineering 11
1.6 Scope of the Book 12
1.7 Organization and Introduction of the Chapters 12
2 Water Science
2.1 Introduction 15
2.2 Unique Features of Water 16
2.3 Natural State of Matter 31
2.4 Source of Water and Its Role in Sustaining Life 37
2.4.1 Inorganic Minerals 38
2.4.2 Organic Contaminants 49
2.4.3 Radioactive Minerals 49
2.4.4 Biological 50
3 Sustainability of Current Water Purification Technologies
3.1 Introduction 59
3.2 Sustainability Criteria 68
3.3 Sustainability in the Information Age
and Environmental Insult 69
3.3.1 Agriculture and Development 71
3.3.2 Desertification 72
3.3.3 Ecosystem Change 72
3.3.4 Fisheries 72
3.3.5 Deforestation 73
3.3.6 Marine Litter 74
3.3.7 Water Resources 75
vii
viii Contents
3.4 Biological Processes 77

3.4.1 Sulfate Reducing Bacteria 80
3.5 Chemical Precipitation 82
3.6 Membrane Separation 85
3.6.1 Microfiltration 88
3.6.2 Ultrafiltration 90
3.6.3 Nanofiltration 92
3.6.4 Reverse Osmosis 95
3.7 Ion Exchange 97
3.8 Ozonation 99
3.9 UV Radiation 104
3.10 Adsorption 107
3.10.1 Existing Sorbents 108
3.10.2 Agricultural Waste 109
3.10.3 Industrial By-Products 114
3.10.4 Natural Materials 118
4 Sustainable Drinking Water Purification Techniques
4.1 Introduction 123
4.2 Natural Lifestyle 126
4.2.1 Environmental Awareness 131
4.2.2 Corporatization and Healthcare 134
4.2.3 Death and Lifestyle 135
4.2.4 Role of Water in Bodily Functions 140
4.2.5 A Relevant Anecdote 147
4.3 Natural Minerals 148
4.3.1 Filters 149
4.3.2 Ground Water Recharge 150
4.3.3 Aeration 150
4.3.4 Brick, Clay and Others 150
4.4 Solar UV Treatment 151
4.5 Natural Ozonation 152
5 Sustainable Purification Techniques for Agricultural Waters
5.1 Introduction 155
5.2 Organic vs. Chemical Agricultural Practices 161
5.2.1 Denaturing for a Profit 169
5.2.2 The Consequences 170
5.2.3 The Sugar Culture and Beyond 171
5.3 Removal of Heavy Metals 179
5.3.1 Application of Wood Sawdust for
Removal of Heavy Metals 181
Contents ix
5.3.1.1 Composition, Structure and Morphology

of Wood 182
5.3.1.2 Structure and Morphology of Wood 183
5.3.1.3 Removal of Heavy Metals Using Wood
Saw Dust 191
5.3.1.4 Conclusion 206
5.4 Removal of Heavy Metals Using Fish Scale 208
5.4.1 Fish Scale Collection and Treatment 208
5.4.2 Experimental Setup and Procedure 209
5.4.2.1 Static Method 209
5.4.2.2 Dynamic Method 211
5.4.3 Conclusions 215
5.5 Solar UV Treatment 216
5.5.1 Effects of UV-Radiation 217
5.5.2 Effects of Temperature (Infrared Radiation) 218
5.5.3 Advantages of Solar Water Disinfection (SoDis) 218
5.5.4 Limitations of Solar Water Disinfection 219
5.6 Bioremediation for Sustainable Purification of Water 219
6 Sustainable Purification Techniques for Industrial Wastes
6.1 Removal of Radionuclides 221
6.2 Removal of Heavy Metals Precious Metals 224
6.2.1 Precious Metals and Heavy Metals Recovery 225
6.3 Industry Lifestyle Change 231
6.3.1 Mercury 237
6.3.2 Sal Ammoniac 244
6.3.3 Sulphur 246
6.3.4 Arsenic Sulphide 251
6.3.5 Refining Techniques 256
6.4 The Energy/Water Crisis 258
6.4.1 Are Natural Resources Finite and Human
Needs Infinite? 258
6.4.2 The Finite/Infinite Conundrum 269
6.5 Certain Sustainable Technologies 270
6.5.1 Direct Use of Solar Energy 270
6.5.2 Effective Separation of Solid from Liquid 274
6.5.3 Effective Separation of Liquid from Liquid 275
6.5.4 Agricultural Waste for Water Purification
and Value Addition 276
6.5.4.1 Orange Peel 277
6.5.4.2 Pomelo Peel 277
x Contents
6.5.4.3 Grapefruit Peel 278

6.5.4.4 Lemon Peel 278
6.5.4.5 Banana Peel 279
6.5.4.6 Cassava Peel 280
6.5.4.7 Jackfruit Peel 281
6.5.4.8 Pomegranate Peel 281
6.5.4.9 Garlic Peel 282
6.5.5 A Novel Desalination Technique 283
6.5.6 A Novel Separation Technique 296
7 Summary and Conclusions
7.1 Summary 299
7.2 Conclusions 300
7.2.1 Chapter 1: Introduction 300
7.2.2 Chapter 2: Water Science 300
7.2.3 Chapter 3: Sustainability of Current Water
Purification Techniques 301
7.2.4 Chapter 4: Sustainable Drinking Water Purification
Techniques 301
7.2.5 Chapter 5: Sustainable Purification Techniques
for Agricultural Wastes 302
for Industrial Wastes 302
References and Bibliography 303
Index325
Preface
Every civilization in human history recognized the importance of water

and understood the importance of water and air in their natural state for
the sustenance of life. This all changed during the plastic era. For over a
century, the current civilization has been synonymous with synthetic
chemicals. All such processes undergo deliberate ‘denaturing’, starting
with removing innate water, which is ubiquitous in nature. At present,
between 25,000 to 84,000 synthetic chemicals are used to drive modern
corporate culture, the hallmark of Capitalism. The number of synthetic
chemicals has multiplied 25 times since 1970, with a rise in economic div-
idend from $171 billion to over $4 trillion today. As these chemicals have
created numerous problems in all aspects of civilization, another line of
industry has cropped up – the so-called waste management and cleanup
industry, which ironically has introduced a new line of synthetic chemicals
to ‘purify’ the current contamination.
In this scheme, water is the most important yet most hapless victim.
There are numerous techniques available today to purify water – the most
potent purifier on Earth. Ironically, all techniques use chemicals to replace
the contaminants of the water under treatment. These chemicals are all
toxic to the environment, despite being ‘certified’ by the same establish-
ment that upholds the plastic culture, which is responsible for the current
toxic shock. It should come as no surprise that all techniques used for water
purification today are unsustainable. This dichotomy arises from the fact
that today’s civilization is driven by science that is incapable of identifying
the causes, let alone remedying them of the inherent unsustainability of
purification techniques.
In this book, the source of contaminations is identified as synthetic
chemicals, which should not have entered the ecosystem to begin with.
Any purification technique must use sustainable techniques. Sustainability
lies within the adoption of a zero-waste scheme, rather than struggling to
‘minimize’ waste. In this book, sustainable purification techniques are pre-
sented that are applicable to municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors.
xi
xii Preface
They range from organic contaminants to radioactive wastes. For each

technique, it is shown how value addition and conversion of waste into
value-added products can turn a zero-waste process into an economically
successful endeavor. This book shows that any paradigm shift to turn this
toxic culture into a healthy one starts with water – the first ‘element’ of the
universe.
M. Safiur Rahman
M.R. Islam
1
Introduction
1.1 Opening Remarks

Water is synonymous with life. This has been the case since the pre-historic
time to modern era (Tsiaras et al., 2019). While the indispensability of
water for sustaining life is well known, water being the first creation and
as such the ubiquitous phase on earth as well as the cosmos is little known
in the modern era. This is a typical problem related to New Science, which
disconnected modern knowledge from the previous annals of science. In
the pre-Socratic cosmogony of Thales, considered to be the first ‘element.’*
This was more than a poetic gesture, it was rather an attempt to answer
the question: “What is the common stuff from which everything is com-
posed?” This notion of water being the first creation permeated through
Christianity. In Genesis 1:1-2, it is stated, “And the Spirit of God was hov-
ering over the face of the waters”. Quran (11:7) points to the existence of
water before any other creation, the exact word being: “and His (creator’s)
throne/dominion extends on the water - that He might manifest to you,
which of you is best in action....” (Qur’an 11:7). This throne is similar to
the notion of ‘lotus’ in ancient India (Tresdder, 1997). This, in addition to
indispensability of water for sustainability of humans (67:30; 24:54) as well
as overall origin of every life on earth (24:45). Islam (2014) presented the
scientific justification of water as both the first matter of cosmos as well
as the first material of life. As such, Islam (2014) characterized water as
the ubiquitous phase. It follows that the purity of water is pivotal to global
sustainability. For human health, water is the vehicle for carrying nutrients
to all cells in our body and oxygen to our brain. Water allows the body to
absorb and assimilate minerals, vitamins, amino acids, glucose and other
substances. Water flushes out toxins and waste. Water helps to regulate
body temperature and maintains the overall metabolism for sustaining life.
* This term does not relate to modern scientific term, which emerges from atomic theory.
Rather, it refers to a material in its natural state.
M. Safiur Rahman and M.R. Islam. Sustainable Water Purification, (1–14) © 2020 Scrivener Publishing LLC
1
2 Sustainable Water Purification
As such, humanity, civilization, the environment, and the cosmos are all
connected seamlessly (depicted in Picture 1.1).
Modern investigation in material science has been marred with the
first premise, which is inherent to the Big Bang theory. The fundamental
Picture 1.1 Humanity, civilization, environment and the cosmos are all connected through
ubiquitous water and ‘vital force’ (Photo: Rola Iceton, published with permission).
Introduction 3
premise is: creation is made in two stages, namely 1) fundamental element

is created out of nothing; 2) all other elements evolve from fundamental
element. This theory considers hydrogen atoms as the first material in
existence, thus creating paradoxical depiction of mass and matter. In the
past decade, observations from space and the ground have found water
to be the most abundant molecular species, after hydrogen, in the atmo-
spheres of hot, gaseous extrasolar planets (Tsiaras, 2019). However, as early
as 2011, evidence surfaced that the existence of hydrogen molecules is not
factual and comes from the assumption that hydrogen is the first ‘element’
to come to existence. Khan and Islam (2016) point to the fact that scientists
actually look for water molecules even in outer galaxy to consolidate the
claim that the assumption that hydrogen, which is not the most abundant
molecule in universe.
With the premise that water is the first ‘element’ in existence, the exis-
tence of ‘energy’ and its natural state can be properly retooled. Islam (2014)
introduced the concept of characteristic time to assure sustainability. It
involves identifying natural state of a matter, which is dictated by the time
function. Table 1.1 shows fundamental properties of tangible (e.g. matter)
and intangible (e.g. energy). The tangible-intangible duo can be regarded
as a yin-yang. In ancient Chinese, as well as ancient Indian culture, water
and fire are considered to be the original yin yang. The term ‘fire’ represents
energy (Qi in Chinese, often translated as ‘vital force’, “material energy”,
“life force” or “energy flow” in figurative sense and ‘air’ in literal sense).
Table 1.1 shows the yin yang nature of energy and matter. The yin yang
shows contrast as well as interdependence. For instance, no matter is
Table 1.1 The tangible and intangible nature of yin and yang (From Islam, 2014).
Yin (tangible), water Yang (intangible), ‘energy’ (Qi)
Produces form Produces energy
Grows Generates
Substantial Non-Substantial
Matter Energy
Contraction Expansion
Descending Ascending
Below Above
Water Fire
produced without energy and no energy is produced without matter. Water is

needed for plant, which is then needed for fire. This logic also shows nothing
is natural (hence sustainable) unless it is part of the positive negative cycle.
For instance, fire without water is not real. That would explain why diamond
cannot be set on fire even though it is made out of carbon. Similarly, the
presence of mass would indicate the presence of energy. This would make the
existence of zero energy and infinite mass an absurd concept, even though
new cosmic physicists routinely tout that notion (Krauss, 2012).
Figure 1.1 depicts a water-fire yin yang. It shows how yin and yang
encircle each other alternating as a continuous function of time. As time
progresses, yin becomes yang and vice versa. This progression confirms
the existence of characteristic time function for every object at every scale.
Within the limitations of natural traits that is finite, the following picture
depicts the role of two counteracting entities being held in harmony by the
‘mother’, the one that dictates the universal order (Islam, 2014).
This most important takeaway of this discussion is that water and
energy form the foundational yin yang pattern and sustainability is making
sure they are at their natural state. As we will see in Chapter 2, this gives
a new and scientifically accurate starting point for discussion of sustaina-
bility. With this definition, all other descriptions in physics and chemistry
have to be retooled. For instance, even the term ‘gravity’ bars an implicit
assumption that the force between two objects is uniquely related to their
Figure 1.1 Water-fire yin yang, showing how without one the other is meaningless.
Introduction 5
masses, independent of other factors, such as history, or current state of

motion. Scientifically, if two objects are in natural state, the force between
them would be different from that prevailing if at least one of them is not.
1.2 Climate-Water-Food Nexus

Climate-Water-Food nexus epitomizes current civilization that depends
on energy as the driver. As such it is one of the most popular themes used
in both sustainability and climate change research (Hellegers et al., 2008;
Bazilian et al., 2011). Table 1.2 shows key elements of the water component
of the nexus.
The primary energy source of the Earth is the sun. The sunlight is essen-
tial to photosynthesis that requires CO2 and water as well as the presence of
a plant biomass. As such, CO2 is integral to the Energy-Water-Food nexus
(Figure 1.2). In this process, any pollutant added to the process that pro-
duces CO2 can alter the quality of food, which then can alter the entire
water cycle, thus forming a ‘spiraling down’ mode in the overall ecosystem.
In an agricultural process, any artificial chemical added to the water or soil
system will affect the quality of food. Equally impactful is the overall com-
position of the atmosphere and the temperature, because each of the oxida-
tion reactions is a sensitive function of temperature and composition. Even
Table 1.2 Synergies between water and sustainable growth (modified from UN
Water, 2013).
Characteristics of sustainable
growth Characteristics of water security
Effective use of natural Meet social and economic development
resources need of water
Valuing ecosystem Supply of adequate water for maintaining
ecosystems
Inter-generational economic Sustainable water availability for future
policies generations
Protection of vital assets from Balance the intrinsic value of water with its
climate-related disasters uses for human survival and well being
Reduce waste of resources Harness the productive power of water,
maintain water quality, and avoid
pollution and degradation.
Water
Wa gro
e e ed
rgy
rat ed
ter w fo
to
ne
ne is ne
is n od
wa ed
Fo irtua
ter
ply ed
od l) w
eed
(v
to ater
tra
sup is n
ed
W
ge
nsp ater
y
e rg
ort
En
s
to
Energy is needed
to produce food
Energy Food
(Sunlight) Food can be used CO2
to produce energy
Figure 1.2 The Water-Food-Energy Nexus (Modified from Lal, 2013).
a small amount of toxins can alter the natural pathway irreversibly through
catalytic actions. In connection with environmental resource management,
the term nexus was introduced for the first time during the 1980s, nota-
bly in a project by the UN University (Food-Energy Nexus programme,
as pointed out by Sachs and Silk, 1990). However, the Nexus Approach
only gained prominence in international academia and policy circles in the
lead-up to the Bonn Conference (2011) on the “Water, Energy and Food
Security Nexus”. The well-known definition of ‘nexus’ was reinforced in
this conference to delineate “management and governance across sectors
and scales”, reducing trade-offs, and building synergies, overall promoting
sustainability and a transition to green economy (Hoff, 2011).
When looking at the before mentioned nexus of water, energy, and food
security, the question arises as to which environmental resources have to
be managed in an integrated way to achieve the sought integrated and
sustainable management. Considering the fact that nature is continuous,
meaning there is no barrier to either mass or energy transport, not a sin-
gle particle of mass (thus energy) can be isolated, any point is inflicted
with toxicity will have an impact on the rest of the ecosystem. In this
regard, it is important to recognize the science used to study this process.
Scientists cannot determine the cause of global warming with the science
that assumes all molecules are identical, thereby making it impossible to
distinguish between organic CO2 and industrial CO2. In the mean time, the
environmental resources to be studied are: water, soil, and atmosphere. In
modern society, waste, instead of atmosphere is made into an integral part
of this nexus (Figure 1.2). It is because the modern age is synonymous with
wasting habits. Such wasting habits are systemic and integral part of tech-
nology development. Such a tendency comes from the fact that in today’s
Introduction 7
society everything is denatured and the artificial version is constructed and

promoted as the ideal version. In Chemical Engineering, an entire subject
is dedicated to denaturing materials and then sold in medicine/medical
industry - which itself is 100% artificial and harmful to humans. Such a
process is inherently unsustainable (Khan and Islam, 2007).
Figure 1.3 depicts how any of the waste forms its own cycle and never
assimilates with the ecosystem. As an example, if one considers CO2 that
is generated from industrial activities or exhausts of combustion engines,
any such CO2 would end up being rejected by the ecosystem. In contrast,
any CO2 produced through organic activities (such as breathing of plants
and animals) will be readily absorbed by the plants that will transform
it into carbohydrates. Thus, from the same activity (oxidation or breath-
ing), either waste (CO2 from exhaust) or a beneficial product (CO2 from
breathing) is generated. In this process, waste accumulates within a sys-
tem separate from the ecosystem and grow into a cancer-like entity within
the overall global system. The remedy to this accumulation of waste and
its inherent unsustainability is in making the use of fuel and mass wholly
zero-waste, which can happen only when any product that is the outcome
of an engineering process is entirely usable by some other process, which
in turn would result in products that are suitable as inputs to the process. A
perfect system is 100% recyclable and, therefore, zero waste. Such a process
remains zero waste as long as each component of the overall process also
operates at zero waste.
Soil Water
Waste
Atmosphere
Figure 1.3 The water-soil-atmosphere nexus.

The production of food relies on water, soil, and atmosphere. There is no

waste generated if all nutrients and all pesticides are wholly organic. This
not be the case for last 100 years or so (ever since the plastic culture has
dominated current civilization), significant amount of waste is generated.
This waste thus ends up creating further pollution of soil, water, and atmo-
sphere and propagate through the food chain creating long-term insult to
the environment. Equally important is the role of energy sources.
1.3 Background
Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical
substance, which is the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere, and the
fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all known forms of life, even
though it provides no calorie organic nutrients. Its chemical formula is
H2O, meaning that each of its molecules contains one oxygen and two
hydrogen atoms, connected by covalent bonds. Water is the name of the
liquid state of H2O at standard ambient temperature and pressure. It forms
precipitation in the form of rain and aerosols in the form of fog. Clouds
are formed from suspended droplets of water and ice, its solid state. When
finely divided, crystalline ice may precipitate in the form of snow. The
gaseous state of water is steam or water vapor. Water moves continually
through the water cycle of evaporation, transpiration (evapotranspiration),
condensation, precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. The dis-
tribution of water on the Earth’s surface is extremely uneven. Only 3% of
water on the surface is fresh; the remaining 97% resides in the ocean. Of
freshwater, 69% resides in glaciers, 30% underground, and less than 1% is
located in lakes, rivers, and swamps. Looked at another way, only one per-
cent of the water on the Earth’s surface is usable by humans, and 99% of the
usable quantity is situated underground.
Due to different types of natural and anthropogenic activities surface and
ground water become contaminated. Water pollution by toxic pollutions
(inorganic and organic) has become a subject of interest especially since
the establishment of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 1970.
The problem of water quality degradation of both surface and sub-surface
streams has been evident for a long time. Achieving an acceptable qual-
ity of surface water focuses on reducing emissions of known pollutants to
within safe industrial and drinking standards. In developing nations, many
of today’s industrial projects are environmentally hostile.
The quality of drinking water is an important factor in determining
human welfare. It has been noted that polluted drinking water is the cause
Introduction 9
for waterborne diseases which wiped out the entire populations of cities.
The major sources of water pollution are domestic waste from urban and
rural areas, and industrial wastes which are discharged into natural water
bodies. The rivers and lakes near urban centres emit disgusting odours and
fish are being killed in millions along the sea coasts.
Extensive studies of the subject of water pollution by toxic pollutions
(inorganic and organic) have been developed during the recent years. In
today’s world, the study and research of pollutants should not be confined
to their more removal or relocation. Economic feasibility, one of the key
factors in any engineering project, must be addressed. Many of today’s
engineering works are environmental friendly but that criterion is no lon-
ger sufficient. Time has come to make environmental works appealing
rather than friendly. Islam and Wellington (2001) gave much stress on the
development of environmentally appealing research projects mentioning
introduction of novel methods in the areas of engineering research.
1.4 Insufficiency in Water Purification Processes

Vast majority of water contamination is due to industrial waste, which
contain synthetic (uunatural) chemicals, which emerge from the indus-
trial applications. The contaminated water, which contain synthetic chem-
ical, biological, organic waste and other contaminants, suspended solids,
and gases are treated in order to remove the undesired components in the
water stream. It is routine that water is first disinfected in order to remove
bacteria and organic organisms, algae, etc. Although most water is purified
for human consumption, the purification agents are invariably synthetic
chemicals, which are toxic to the environment and to humans. In addition,
water is subject to chlorination, fluoridisation, and others with the pretext
of maintaining levels of chemicals under certain pre-determined values.
Even for commercial applications, synthetic chemicals are added in order
to make the water usable. For medical and pharmaceutical purposes, the
purity of water is increased by exposing water to rigorous purification pro-
cesses, which invariably use one or more of the following techniques:
–– filtration
–– sedimentation
–– distillation
–– chemical processes
–– electromagnetic and other form of irradiation (such as ultra-
violet light)
Although the above processes reduce the concentration of suspended

particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, and fungi as well as reduce the
concentration of a range of dissolved and particulate matters, the water
stream picks of parts of the chemicals used to purify and as long as the con-
centration is smaller than the regulatory body’s requirement there remains
no way to determine their long-term impact. Jaspal and Malvya (2020)
reviewed major water purification composites. The use of such composites
is considered to be the latest technology in water purification. The use of
different types of composites ranges from nanocomposites, activated char-
coal composites, polymer composites, oxide-based composites, hybrid
composites, and biosorbent composites, etc. Water purification takes place
via adsorption process. These composites have been explored for treat-
ing or elimination of various hazardous substances like heavy metal spe-
cies, different classes of colored contaminants (dyes), several organic and
inorganic pollutants from wastewater. The most significant advantage of
the use of composites is the combination of properties of two materials
into one for specific applications. In the current scenario, composites have
gained popularity in various fields such as constructional, aeronautical,
vehicular, biomedical, industrial etc. (Mahajan and Aher, 2012). The use
of the said materials in wastewater treatment is becoming a research focus
Polluted Water Dyes
Heavy
Metals
Synthetic
Pesticides Chemicals
Phenolic
Compounds
etc.
Water + Toxins
Figure 1.4 Water purification process.

Introduction 11
for many. The properties offered by composites include specific strength,

processability, and design flexibility. While these composites successfully
eliminated Zn2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Hg, etc., each ion is replaced with another
component from the adsorbing chemicals that are used in the process.
Each of these composites would be considered unsustainable if environ-
mental sustainability were considered (Khan and Islam, 2016). Figure 1.4
shows how chemicals are removed from the contaminated water only to be
replaced with toxins, which arise from the purification process.
The above purification process does not include the impact of using
unnatural radiation (e.g. ultraviolet). Although conventional analysis
makes it impossible to identify the impact, let alone quantify it, Islam and
Khan (2019) Islam et al. (2016) have shown that the effluent water would
carry the signature of each unnatural process (energy or mass) used during
the purification cycle.
1.5 Introduction to Zero Waste Engineering

Natural additives have been used for the longest time, dating back to the
regime of the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Hans of China (Gove, 1965).
However, the renaissance in Europe has given rise to industrial revolu-
tion that became the pivotal point for the emergence of numerous artifi-
cial chemicals. Today, thousands of artificial chemicals are being used in
everyday products, ranging from health care products to transportation
vehicles. With renewed awareness of the environmental consequences and
more in-depth knowledge of science, we are discovering that such ubiqui-
tous use of artificial chemicals is not sustainable (Khan and Islam, 2016).
If the pathways of various artificial chemicals are investigated, it becomes
clear that such chemicals cannot be assimilated in nature, making an irrep-
arable footprint that can be the source of many other ecological imbalances
(Chhetri and Islam, 2008). Most persistent and bioaccumulative chemi-
cals eventually find their way into our bodies via the food chain. Chemical
industries mass produce artificial additives and, therefore, gain the advan-
tage due to the economy of scale, in line with modernization since the
industrial revolution.
Federal regulators have determined that about 4,000 chemicals used for
decades in Canada pose enough of a threat to human health or the envi-
ronment that they need to be subjected to safety assessments (The Globe
and Mail, 2006). These artificial additives are either synthetic themselves
or derived through an extraction process that uses synthetic products.
Even when the source is natural, it may have been contaminated through
artificial agents, such as chemical fertilizer, pesticide, etc. These artificial

chemicals have a number of hidden adverse side effects. Furthermore, once
artificial additives are disposed into the environment, they remain in nature
for a very long time. These synthetic products never degrade biologically;
they are either pulverized (hence become invisible) or oxidized to produce
toxins (Khan and Islam, 2016). On the other hand, natural additives are
naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their natural
form. Most of the natural materials are readily biodegradable, so they have
zero waste and they have no long term negative impact. Natural materials
are inherently superior to synthetic materials with regard to efficacy and
safety in matters related to human health. Any attempt to improve current
engineering practices should investigate the possibility of replacing arti-
ficial additives with natural ones that are environment friendly and truly
sustainable (Khan and Islam, 2007).
1.6 Scope of the Book

This book takes a holistic approach for water purification. All existing
technologies are reviewed and evaluated against a sustainability criterion.
Based on the shortcoming of existing technoloigies and overall lifestyle,
new line of technologies are proposed. These technologies are all wholly
sustainable, meaning they simultaneously meet environmental, economi-
cal, and technological challenges. Such technologies are presented for three
categories, namely, drinking water, agricultural use, and industrial waste
management. It is shown that each of the proposed technologies has the
potential to turn waste into asset, thus creating double dividend.
1.7 Organization and Introduction of the Chapters

The introduction chapter (Chapter 1) introduces the readership such
concepts as zero waste engineering, sustainability and others. This is fol-
lowed by Chapter 2, which discusses water science. With a truly scientific
approach, this chapter offers a delinearized history of water science and
delineates the role of water in all aspect of life all through history.
Chapter 3 (Sustainability of Current Water Purification Techniques)
presents a detailed account of all major water purification techniques. Each
technique is tested for its sustainability.
Chapter 4 (Sustainable Drinking Water Purification Techniques) pres-
ents a discussion on what needs to be done in terms of lifestyle adjustment.
Introduction 13
This is following by the presentation of an array of sustainable technolo-

gies, all suitable for drinking water. Recommendations are made for the
best options for drinking water.
Chapter 5 (Sustainable Purification Techniques for Agricultural Wastes)
presents a number of options for purifying agricultural waste. The possibil-
ity of deriving double dividend by adding value to the waste or by extract-
ing minerals from the waste stream is discussed.
Chapter 6 (Sustainable Purification Techniques for Industrial Wastes)
presents a discussion on how to reset the current ‘technological disaster’
to a sustainable mode. It then presents several options for complete sus-
tainability during industrial waste water treatment. A number of emerg-
ing technologies, each having tremendous commercial potentials, are
presented.
Chapter 7 (Summary and Conclusions) lists a summary and key conclu-
sions from each chapters.
Chapter 8 is a comprehensive bibliography and a list of references.
2
Water Science
2.1 Introduction
Scientifically, water represents the most natural state of the entire universe.
It is the epitome of balance between two opposites, namely, hydrogen and
oxygen. In philosophical terms, water represents the balanced yin-yang
state of harmony between oxygen and hydrogen. It also carries all signa-
tures of the history of a person or an entity. This is recognized in Chinese
traditional medicine, which uses the water element to track history, includ-
ing the genetic makeup of a human (Dong, 2013). At the same time, water
represents the ideal state of ‘calm energy’, which is reflected in its resilience,
lucidity, and robustness simultaneously. Figure 2.1 shows such as represen-
tation. The perfect circle containing oxygen and hydrogen elements repre-
sent natural state of water. It is no surprise that today, the most abundant
element in the universe is considered to be hydrogen while the most abun-
dant element on earth crust is oxygen. Meanwhile, 71% of Earth’s surface
is covered with water. Water also exists in the atmosphere, in glaciers, and
the Earth’s core (see Islam, 2020 for details).
Investigating true science behind water with New Science has been a
difficult preposition. It is because New Science is based on theories and
‘laws’ that are inherently spurious. Even then, numerous observations
made by New Science physicists have unearthed trends that support the
truly scientific background of nature, including water. For instance, water
is considered to be the main carrier of oxygen, and as such designated to
be a tracer of the origin and the evolution mechanisms of cosmic enti-
ties. Today, for temperate, terrestrial planets, the presence of water is con-
sidered to be of great importance as an indicator of habitable conditions
(Tsiaras et al., 2019).
On the other hand, describing water properties or attempting to char-
acterize water with New Science has created great chaos. With ‘laws’ gov-
erning any other fluids, water comes across as an anomaly to every rule.
Everything about water is so unique it is perceived as chaotic or ‘weird’
15
Energy
Water
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Figure 2.1 Sustainability implies natural balance between water and energy as well as
unaltered state of water.
by scientists (Jha, 2015). Islam et al. (2010) deconstructed currently used

density and viscosity models and showed that the none of these models
is suitable for describing water properties. Khan and Islam (2016) showed
that quantum theories that have long been trusted to describe all material
properties are inherently flawed and by nom means any improvement over
Newtonian models. The inadequacy of existing models in capturing water
properties goes far beyond semantic. If any of these properties that deviate
starkly from conventional fluids were missing, the entire no life on earth
would survive. Grand design or not, water is uniquely suited for sustenance
of life on earth. Water defines the natural state of matter and as such any
material that doesn’t have water as the starting point is considered to be
artificial and as such become a threat to environmental integrity.
2.2 Unique Features of Water

Both philosophically and scientifically water is the most unique mate-
rial on earth and arguably in the universe. There can be no life with-
out water. Even in bulk form, more than half of every biological cell is
water. Table 2.1 show various unique features of water. One important
distinction of these features is that each of them makes water uniquely
Water Science 17
Table 2.1 H2O is more cohesive than H2S, despite their similar structures,
because water forms hydrogen bonds.
Property H2O H2S
molar mass [g mol–1] 18.015 34.081
boiling pointa [K] 373.12 212.85
melting pointa [K] 273.15 187.45
enthalpy of vaporizationb [kJ mol–1] 40.657 18.622
entropy of vaporizationb [J mol–1 K–1] 108.95 87.9
critical temperature [K] 647.1 373.2
critical pressure [MPa] 22.06 8.94
critical molar volume [cm3 mol–1] 55.9 98.5
critical density [kg m–3] 322 347
critical compressibility 0.229 0.284
specific heat capacityc (CV) [J mol–1 K–1] 74.539 26
specific heat capacityc (Cp) [J mol–1 K–1] 75.3 34.6
a
At 101.3 kPa.
b
At boiling.
c
At 25 °C and 101.3 kPa.
suitable for sustaining life and in fact human lives. Water has extreme
qualities as a solvent, reactant, product, catalyst, chaperone, messenger,
and controller (Brini et al., 2017). With those pivotal roles, each item of
water uniqueness qualities (see Table 2.2) is pivotal to forming the bio-
molecular structure and driving all functions of a living system. They
are dominant forces in the folding of proteins and nucleic acids, the
partitioning of solutes across membranes, and the binding of metab-
olites and drugs to biomolecules. Specific water molecules often play
critical roles in biological mechanisms. Modeling such a convoluted
system has been a daunting task and modern tools have proven to be
largely inadequate, even when the most sophisticated tools are used
(Habershon et al. 2009).
Life depends on the solubility of gases in water. Humanity depends
on sea life for food, and they require conditions under which oxygen
Table 2.2 Unique properties of water.
Property/
functions Other fluids Water Comment
Density- Monotonous Parabolic, with optimum at 4C Essential feature for sustaining aquatic
temperature relationship lives. This also helps water to seep
through cracks under cycles of freeze
and thaw
Solid phase Always higher than Always lower than liquid phase Key to ice floating on water, otherwise life
density liquid phase could not be sustained

Phase behavior Phase behavior Anomalously linked to molecular Any other matter would vaporize entirely.
congruent with their weight, which is very light For instance, Hydrogen sulphide
molecular weight (H2S) is a gas, even though it is twice
the molecular weight of water. Other
similar-sized molecules, such as,
ammonia (NH3) are also gases.
Phase change Cold liquid freezes faster Hot water freezes faster than cold
than hot liquid water
(Continued)
Table 2.2 Unique properties of water. (Continued)
Property/
functions Other fluids Water Comment
Solubility Ubiquitous solvent Ideal carrier
Gas solid crystal Absent Hydrate in abundance Unique combination of fire water yin yang
in solid ‘ice’ form
Surface tension moderate Very high Necessary for capillary action for plants
Reaction Limited reactivity Reacts with every material, Describes natural state and state of purity,
although not all are detectable depending on
with New Science
Thermal All phases unusual, ice Necessary for sustaining life under both
conductivity conductivity order of arid and arctic conditions
magnitude higher than
corresponding polymer, more
so for ice nanotubes
Memory Limited memory effect Longest memory cycle Geologic time, ice age, hot spill, flood
Water Science 19
(O2) has sufficient solubility in water. Marine plants require carbon

dioxide (CO2), which must be dissolved in water, in order for photosyn-
thesis to produce carbohydrates, which releases oxygen. Gas solubility
in water depends on temperature, pressure, and salinity. Here the role
of carbon is essential and complimentary, justifying the water carbon
yin-yang structure (Figure 2.2). Note that this representation cannot be
sustained with atomic representation of elements, because atomic the-
ory imposes artificial boundary around ‘atoms’. In reality, no such struc-
ture exits. As a result, Islam (2014) represented with the galaxy model,
which offers continuity among all ‘particles’ within a matter. As such,
this figure is a scientific representation of two entities with opposite but
complimentary properties.
This goes beyond carbon and spills into the realm of hydrocarbon or
oil, characterized as ‘hydrophobes’. This point has to be elaborated. A
longstanding mixing rule is: “like dissolves like”. In general, when two
species A and B are combined in a mixture, the AA and BB attractions
tend to be stronger than the AB attractions. The fact that oil and water
often do not mix is consistent with this rule. However, here again, the
uniqueness of water comes into play. In systems other than water/oil,
immiscibility is attributed to energies. For oil and water, the thermody-
namic signature of the immiscibility (at room temperature) is entropic.
This is manifested in the different temperature dependences of solvation,
as manifested in Figure 2.3. This figure shows how the entropy, enthalpy,
and free energy depend on temperature when dissolving toluene in water.
Interestingly, even though the entropy and enthalpy of aqueous solvation
of nonpolar solutes change substantially with temperature, the solvation
free energy is relatively independent of temperature. This in itself is a
unique feature of water.
Dissolving oil is entropically favorable in hot water, but entropically
unfavorable in cold water. For toluene in water. The solvation free energy
Carbon
Water
Figure 2.2 Water carbon yin-yang.

Water Science 21
0
∆G
E / kJ mol–1
–15 T∆S
–30
∆H
–45
0 40 80 120
T/ °C
Figure 2.3 Energy at various temperatures.
depends little on temperature. The enthalpy and entropy depend more

strongly on temperature, and they compensate. In cold water, the sol-
ute induces more ordering than in bulk waters, and the cages have good
H-bond and solute interactions. In hot water, insertion of oil breaks poten-
tial water–water hydrogen bonds, leading to both higher entropies and
higher enthalpies. More will be discussed in the next section.
Water structure and explanation of aqueous solvation have caused
intrigue for centuries. Atomic theory views liquid water as an ensem-
ble of cage-like structures, not a single ice-like structure. Cold water has
more population of open-cage states. Introducing a small hydropho-
bic particle shifts the equilibrium further toward these more open and
ordered states, and water has slower dynamics in the first few solvation
shells. Hotter water has less cage-like organization. Therefore, introduc-
ing a solute into hot water acts more like conventional “like-dissolves-
like” situations, for which the solute insertion into water is unfavorable
for energetic reasons.
The solubilities of nonpolar molecules depend on their sizes. Consider
a series of nonpolar solutes in water, having increasing radii. They will
induce first-shell water structuring that differs depending on the solute
size; see Figure 2.4.
Such assumptions are not necessary if one uses the galaxy model, pro-
posed by Islam (2014). This model describes this process as equivalent to
merger of two galaxies in which each of them has numerous components
with respective natural frequencies. However, after the merger occurs
Figure 2.4 A small solute is compatible with water’s natural cages. A large solute does
not fit in a cage. In cold water, small solutes can fit in the available cavities with minimal
perturbation of the water structure. This process is favored by enthalpy and opposed by
entropy. However, in cold water, big solutes do not fit in preexisting cavities. First, shell
solvating water molecules around large nonpolar solutes are more disordered. Dissolving
large solutes in cold water is opposed by enthalpy (breaks hydrogen bonds) and favored by
entropy.
Number of particles
Proton
Higgs Boson
quark
electron
proton
dust specks
boulders
moons
planets
Sun
Galaxy
Particle size
Figure 2.5 Number of particles vs particle size.

Water Science 23
(physical or chemical), the resulting products have a frequency that is dif-

ferent from previous ones. If each particle is tagged, this model can help
track a natural process apart from an artificial process. Figure 2.5 shows
how this model casts the number of particles with their respective num-
bers in a natural system. Here, no distinction is made between light parti-
cle and mass particle as imposing such a distinction is contrary to natural
order and renders the model aphenomenal.
This depiction is equally valid in describing energy balance as well as
mass balance, as the boundary between mass fundamental particle and
energy ‘particles’ is removed. As such Figure 2.5 can also represent any
natural flame will have a smooth spectrum as shown in the spectrum of
the sunlight. Any alteration of light source would create a spectrum that is
not natural, hence harmful. Figure 2.5 also indicates that photon emission
is similar to any other radiation from a body of mass. This emission within
the visible wavelengths is related to the existence of a flame. Even though a
flame is typical of visible light emission, most recent theories indicate the
presence of continuous emission throughout the entire spectrum. Light in
the blue spectrum may also be a little stronger to allow the carotenes and
xanthophylls to absorb more light as well. Figure 2.6 shows the existence of
these wavelengths in visible light.
Of importance in the above graph, Figure 2.7 is the notion that arti-
ficial rays are harmful at all times. As the exposure is increased, the
harm is accentuated. For the short-term, artificial light visible light
is less harmful than artificial non-visible rays (e.g. gamma ray, X-ray,
etc.) on both sides of the spectrum (both long wavelengths and short
ones). The reason for such behavior has been discussed by Khan and
Islam (2016) and will be discussed later in this section. The above
graph follows the same broad form as the wavelength spectrum of vis-
ible sunlight (Figure 2.8).
Figure 2.9 recasts visible colors on intensity of solar radiation for the vis-
ible light section. This figure confirms that green vegetation should be the
Short Wavelengths
100-800 NmUltraViolet
Long Wavelengths
Radio waves
Gamma Rays
Cosmic Rays
Infrared
550 Nm Yellow
500 Nm Green
400 NM Violet
X Rays
450 Nm Blue
700 Nm Red
Visible Light Spectrum 400 Nm to 700 Nm
Figure 2.6 Colors and wave lengths of visible light.

Degree of benefit/necessity
Green
Blue Yellow
violet Orange
Ultraviolet Bright red
X-ray Dark red
Gamma ray Infra red
microwave
radio wave
1/frequency of characteristic wavelength
Green
Blue Yellow
violet Orange
Ultraviolet Bright red
X-ray Dark red
Infra red
Gamma ray
microwave
radio wave
Degree of harm/vulnerability
Figure 2.7 Artificial and natural lights affect natural material differently. (From Islam
et al., 2015).
4500
4000
3500
Intensity (counts)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 2.8 Wavelength spectrum of visible part of sunlight. (From Islam et al., 2015).
Water Science 25
4500
4000
Intensity (counts) 3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 2.9 Visible natural colors as a function of various wavelengths and intensity of
sunlight. (From Islam et al., 2015).
most abundant color on earth for which the sun is the only natural source
of energy. This figure also shows the area under the intensity-wavelength
curve is the greatest for green materials. Red has longer wavelength but
their intensity in sunlight is much smaller than green lights.
If sunlight represents the original and the most beneficial energy source,
any natural process emerging from sunlight will become beneficial. Such
energy system is in harmony with water in its natural state.
New science defines the potential of mean force (PMF) as the free
energy of bringing two particles together in a solvent from a large original
distance apart. Figure 2.10 shows the PMF of two hydrophobic (in this
case oil) spheres in water. This curve manifests oscillatory behavior. The
first minimum represents the free energy of the two particles brought into
direct contact. This configuration is favorable because the direct-contact
state minimizes the total water-accessible surface of the two hydrophobes,
w(r)
Figure 2.10 Water is structured differently around two hydrophobes at different

separations. The PMF is the reversible work spent to bring two hydrophobic particles from
infinite distance to the distance r. (Redrawn from Brini et al., 2017).
relative to all other separations. Under such conditions, this can onset fol-
low up events, with subsequent minima forming ‘cells’ within water’s cag-
ing structure. The unique aspect of water here is its ability to form cage
structures, causing the solvent-separated state to be relatively stable for
some hydrophobes.
The tetrahedral hydrogen bonding organization of water itself is con-
sidered to be a unique feature of water. In classical terms, the collective
interactions between water molecules can be represented by (i) a radial
dispersion attraction with steric repulsion at short-range and (ii) electro-
static interactions between spatially localized groupings of charge. In this
way, hydrogen bonding is a consequence of these localized electrostatic
interactions leading to nearly tetrahedral arrangement of surrounding
water molecules. While this description itself has a number of assumptions
imbedded to it, such description begins to show how water is unique. This
explains the difficulty encountered throughout history to describe water
behaviour with a comprehensive model.
Also important for biology are water’s surface tension and capillary
action. As stated in Table 2.2, surface tension is yet another unique fea-
ture of water. Attributed to the relatively high attraction of water mole-
cules to each other through a web of hydrogen bonds, water has a higher
surface tension (72.8 mN/m at 20 °C) than most other liquids. Surface
tension is an important factor in the phenomenon of capillarity. Because
most solids are water-wet, meaning the contact angle is less than 90o,
leads to high capillary pressure. The heights and branching of trees
depends on water’s capillary action. Due to an interplay of the forces of
adhesion and surface tension, water exhibits capillary action whereby
water rises into a narrow tube against the force of gravity. Adhesion is
another unique feature of water. Water adheres to the inside wall of the
tube and surface tension tends to straighten the surface causing a sur-
face rise and more water is imbibed up through cohesion. The process
continues as the water flows up the tube until there is enough water
such that gravity balances the adhesive force. For example, when water
is carried through xylem up stems in plants, the strong intermolecu-
lar attractions (cohesion) hold the water column together and adhesive
properties maintain the water attachment to the xylem and prevent
tension rupture caused by transpiration pull. This is instrumental for
proper functioning of trees.
In solid form, it is less dense still, which is why standard ice floats
on water. That is one reason why life on Earth has flourished—if ice
were denser than water, lakes and oceans would freeze from the bottom
Water Science 27
up, almost certainly preventing the kind of chemistry that makes life
possible.
Liquid water tends to be a more cohesive than other simple liquids. This
is typically explained by stating that water–water attractions arise from
hydrogen bonding in addition to van der Waals interactions that are typ-
ical in simpler liquids. For example, a higher temperature is required to
melt ice than to melt solids of simple liquids. And, a higher temperature is
required to boil liquid water than to boil other simpler liquids. In addition,
water has a relatively high surface tension, of 72.8 mN m–1 at room tem-
perature, due to its high cohesion, the highest of the common nonionic,
nonmetallic liquids.
Brini et al. (2017) presented an interesting comparison between water
and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Atomic theory tells us that these two have
have similar atomic structures. Both have sp3 hybridized orbitals, with
bond angles (of HOH and HSH) being 104.45° and 92.1°, respectively.
Oxygen and sulfur belong to the same group of the periodic table. However,
because sulfur has twice as many electrons as oxygen, it is larger and less
electronegative. Therefore, the O–H bond is much more polar than the
S–H bond. Even though H2S has almost twice the molar mass of H2O, it is
a gas at room temperature and pressure, while H2O is a liquid, indicating
greater cohesion in water. Water has a higher melting point, boiling point,
and heat of vaporization, as well as a higher heat capacity (which reflects
the higher capability for storing thermal energy through these additional
types of bonds). While these features are attributed to hydrogen bonding,
they speak of unique nature of water.
The unique aspects of water properties cannot be captured with tan-
gible qualities. In order to capture the properties as well as water-energy
nexus, the term ‘water energetics’ has been introduced (Vassiliev
et al., 2012). Brini et al. (2017) presented a useful way to compare the
energetics of water and other materials is with an energy ladder. It is
shown in Figure 2.11. The left figure shows the ladder for other materials
whereas the figure to the right shows that of water. The lowest-energy
state of a conventional material is the solid. Introducing energy (e.g.
by raising temperature) melts the solid, leading to fewer weaker, more
disordered van der Waals interactions in the liquid state. Introducing
even more energy breaks the remaining van der Waals contacts, boil-
ing the liquid. The right figure of Figure 2.11 shows that the melting
temperature of water is higher than that for the liquid on the left. This
in part is explained by the existence of tetrahedral hydrogen bonds. On
the other hand the higher boiling point of water is explained by higher
Energy
Energy Steam
Gas
Hot water
Liquid
Cold water
Solid Ice
Simple Material Water
Figure 2.11 Energy–volume relationship of water, vs simpler materials. (left) Simple

materials (cold) achieve low energies by tight-binding into solids, (warmer) achieve higher
energies by forming looser liquid states, and (hot) achieve the highest energies when
most bonds are broken in the gas phase. The black bars indicate transitions: heating melts
the solid, then boils the liquid. (right) Water (very cold, ice) achieves its lowest energies
through open low-density hydrogen bonded structures, (cold liquid water) achieves
intermediate energies through some breakage of cages, leading to increased density, (hot
liquid water) achieves higher energies by breakage of more bonds, leading to looser liquid,
and (hot) achieves its highest energies, like simpler materials, by breaking most bonds, to
reach the low-density gas phase. (Redrawn from Brini et al., 2017).
cohesion of water. This figure also shows the nature of the two states of
liquid water: that cold water tends to retain a little more cage-like, ice-
like structure and hot water tends to retain less of it.
Water shows further ‘anomalies’ compared to other matter. The so-called
Mpemba effect is the observation that warm water freezes more quickly
than cold water. The effect has been measured on many occasions with
many explanations put forward. One idea is that warm containers make
better thermal contact with a refrigerator and so conduct heat more effi-
ciently. Hence the faster freezing. Another is that warm water evaporates
rapidly and since this is an endothermic process, it cools the water making
it freeze more quickly. Others have attempted to the Mpemba ‘paradox’
with unique properties of the different bonds that hold water together.
However, none of these explanations are entirely convincing.
Lasanta, A. et al. (2017) analyzed a simplified version of the bulk prop-
erty evaluation of the Mpemba effect. In this experiment, the particles in
the liquid are miniscule spheres that lose a tiny bit of energy each time they
collide with one another. The conventional wisdom is that the time it takes
for each beaker of water to freeze depends only on its initial temperature.
Water Science 29
Particles in the hotter water move faster, which means they have more
slowing to do – so the hotter the liquid, the longer it should take. They
discovered that the Mpemba effect is present in granular fluids, both in
uniformly heated and in freely cooling systems. In both cases, the sys-
tem remains homogeneous, and no phase transition is present. Analytical
quantitative predictions are given for how differently the system must be
initially prepared to observe the Mpemba effect. They followed up with
developing models that use both molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo
simulation. The Mpemba effect is demonstrated in Figure 2.12.
The Leidenfrost effect is yet another unique feature of water. This
effect can make beads of liquid float above a hot surface (Shirota et al.,
2016). This phenomenon is known as the Leidenfrost effect, after the
18th-century German doctor who first described it. The bottom layer of
the droplet that touches the hot surface does indeed evaporate, but then
it forms a thin cushion of vapour that temporarily protects the rest of
the droplet from the extreme heat. This keeps the rest from becoming
vapour and lets the droplet move around the hot plate with ease. When
a liquid droplet impacts a hot solid surface, enough vapor may be gener-
ated under it as to prevent its contact with the solid. The minimum solid
temperature for this so-called Leidenfrost effect to occur is termed the
Leidenfrost temperature, or the dynamic Leidenfrost temperature when
the droplet velocity is non-negligible. Shirota et al. (2016) observed the
wetting/drying and the levitation dynamics of the droplet impacting on
an (isothermal) smooth sapphire surface using high speed total internal
reflection imaging, which enabled them to observe the droplet base up to
about 100 nm above the substrate surface. By this method they were able
to reveal the processes responsible for the transitional regime between
the fully wetting and the fully levitated droplet as the solid temperature
increases, thus shedding light on the characteristic time- and length-
scales setting the dynamic Leidenfrost temperature for droplet impact
on an isothermal substrate.
Heat conductivity sets water apart from other matters, in all three phases.
This effect is further accentuated for nanotubes and ice. Guo et al. (2010)
compared the calculated thermal conductivity values of Ice-NTs with the
experimental ones of ices Ih and XI, both of which have the highest thermal
conductivity values among the bulk ices in the simulation temperature region.
As one can see in Figure 2.13, a distinctly larger thermal conductivity of Ice-
NTs than that of the bulk ices was observed. Their results show the unusually
high thermal conductivity of Ice-NTs, which was attributed to their unique 1D
proton-ordered structures and thus the phonon dispersions.
20 *
Gas present No gas
*
*
Time of freezing, min

15
* *
10
*
*
*
5 * *
*
0
290 310 330 350 370
Start temperature, K
Figure 2.12 Paradoxical behavior of water (from Woijciechowski et al.).
21
ice XI, exp28,29
ice lh, exp28,29
18 (6,0) Ice-NT
(5,0) Ice-NT
(4,0) Ice-NT
15
K(W/mk)
12
3
40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Temperature(K)
Figure 2.13 Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of isolated (4, 0), (5, 0),
and (6, 0) Ice-NTs in comparison to experimental results of ices Ih and XI. The thermal
conductivity of the Ice-NTs is sensitive to the temperature and tube diameter, but
insensitive to the polarization. The Ice-NTs have distinctly higher thermal conductivity
than that of the bulk ices.
Figure 2.13 shows the temperature dependence of thermal conduc-

tivity of (4, 0), (5, 0), and (6, 0) Ice-NTs with infinite length (from 50 to
150 K).
Tables 2.3 and 2.4 show various thermal properties of water. Note spe-
cific thermal properties that are unique for water.
Water Science 31
Table 2.3 Thermal properties of ice (Website 1).

Thermal
conductivity
Temperature Density - k - Specific heat
-t- -ρ- (W/mK) - cp -
(oC) (kg/m3) other units (kJ/kgK)
0.01 (Water) 999.8
0 916.2 2.22 2.050
-5 917.5 2.25 2.027
-10 918.9 2.30 2.000
-15 919.4 2.34 1.972
-20 919.4 2.39 1.943
-25 919.6 2.45 1.913
-30 920.0 2.50 1.882
-35 920.4 2.57 1.851
-40 920.8 2.63 1.818
-50 921.6 2.76 1.751
-60 922.4 2.90 1.681
-70 923.3 3.05 1.609
-80 924.1 3.19 1.536
-90 924.9 3.34 1.463
-100 925.7 3.48 1.389
Officially water at 0 °C is ice.
2.3 Natural State of Matter

This series of work outlines fundamental features of nature and shows
there can be only two options: natural (true) or artificial (false). They show
that Aristotle’s logic of anything being ‘either A or not-A’ is useful only
to discern between true (real) and false (artificial). In order to ensure the
end being real, they introduce the recently developed criterion of Khan
Table 2.4 Vapour pressure ice.
Temperature -220 -200 -150 -100 -90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 -5 -0.01
(oC)
Vapour pressure 2.06 10-37 3.31 10-24 9 10-10 0.0014 0.0097 0.055 0.261 1.08 3.94 12.84 38 103.2 259.9 401.7 611.7
(Pa abs)
Water Science 33
(2006) and Khan and Islam (2007a). If something is convergent when time
is extended to infinity, the end is assured to be real. In fact, if this criterion
is used, one can be spared of questioning the ‘intention’ of an action. If
any doubt, one should simply investigate where the activity will end up if
time, t goes to infinity. The inclusion of real (phenomenal) pathway would
ensure the process is sustainable or inherently phenomenal.
Khan and Islam (2007a) described the characteristic features of
Nature. This is listed in modified form in Table 2.5. This table lists the
inherent nature of natural and artificial products. It is important to note
that the left hand side statements are true – not in the tangible sense
of being “verifiable”, but because there is no counter-example of those
statements.
The left hand side of Table 2.5 shows the characteristic features of
Nature. These are true features and are not based on perception. Each is
true insofar as no example of the opposite has been sustained. It is import-
ant to note that the following table describes everything in existence as part
of universal order and applies to everything internal, including time, and
human thought material (HTM). However, the source of HTM, i.e., inten-
tion, forms no part of these features.
At the same time, all the properties stated on the right-hand side, which
assert the first premise of all “engineered products”, are aphenomenal, they
are only true for a time period approaching zero, resulting in being “ver-
ifiable” only when the standard itself is fabricated. In other words, every
statement on the right-hand side only refers to something that does not
exist. For instance, honey molecules are considered to be extremely com-
plex. They are complex because they have components that are not present
in other products, such as sugar, which is identified as made up of “simple”
molecules. Why are sugar molecules simple? Because, by definition, they
are made of the known structures of carbon and hydrogen.
This process is further obscured by yet another post-Renaissance mis-
conception, “whatever cannot be seen, does not exist” (Islam et al., 2012),
which is similar to the principle of “dilution is the solution to pollution”
that has governed both regulatory agencies and other environmental
industries in the post-Renaissance world.
A further review of Table 2.5 now will indicate how every item on the
right-hand side is actually a matter of definition and a false premise. If
one considers the features of artificial products in Table 2.5 with those of
Table 2.6, it becomes clear that any science that would “prove” the features
(based on a false premise) in Table 2.5 is inherently spurious. However,
the science of tangibles does exactly that and discards all natural pro-
cesses as “pseudoscience”, “conspiracy theory”, etc. This also shows that
Table 2.5 Typical features of natural processes as compared to the claims of

artificial processes (from Islam et al., 2015).
Feature of
Feature no. Feature of natural artificial
1 Complex Simple
2 Chaotic Ordered
3 Unpredictable Predictable
4 Unique (every component is different), Normal
i.e., forms may appear similar or even
“self-similar”, but their contents alter
with passage of time
5 Productive Reproductive
6 Non-symmetric, i.e., forms may appear Symmetric
similar or even “self-similar”, but their
contents alter with passage of time
7 Non-uniform, i.e., forms may appear Uniform
similar or even “self-similar”, but their
contents alter with passage of time
8 Heterogeneous, diverse, i.e., forms may Homogeneous
appear similar or even “self-similar”, but
their contents alter with passage of time
9 Internal External
10 Anisotropic Isotropic
11 Bottom-up Top-down
12 Multifunctional Unifunctional
13 Dynamic Static
14 Irreversible Reversible
15 Open system Closed system
16 True Artificial
17 Self healing Self destructive
18 Nonlinear Linear
(Continued)
Water Science 35
Table 2.5 Typical features of natural processes as compared to the claims of

artificial processes (from Islam et al., 2015). (Continued)
Feature of
Feature no. Feature of natural artificial
19 Multi-dimensional Uni-dimentional
20 Zero degree of freedom* Finite degree of
freedom
21 Non-trainable Trainable
22 Continuous function of space, without Discrete
boundary
23 Intangible Tangible
24 Open Closed
25 Flexible Rigid
26 Continuous function of time Discrete function
of time
27 Balanced Inherently
unstable
*With the exception of humans that have freedom of intention (Islam et al., 2014).
Table 2.6 True difference between sustainable and unsustainable processes.

Sustainable (Natural) Unsustainable (Artificial)
Progressive/youth measured by the Conservative/youth measured by
rate of change Non-progressive/ departure from natural state
resists change
Unlimited adaptability and flexibility Zero-adaptability and inflexible
Increasingly self evident with time Increasingly difficult to cover up
aphenomenal source
100% efficient Efficiency approaches zero as
processing is increased
Can never be proven to be Unsustainability unravels itself with
unsustainable time
the current engineering practices that rely on false premises are inherently
unsustainable.
The case in point can be derived from any theories or “laws” advanced by
Bernoulli, Newton (regarding gravity, calculus, motion, viscosity), Dalton,
Boyle, Charles, Lavoisier, Kelvin, Poiseuille, Gibbs, Helmholz, Planck and
others who served as the pioneers of modern science. Each of their theo-
ries and laws had in common the first assumption that would not exist in
nature, either in content (tangible) or in process (intangible).
At this point, it is appropriate to familiarize the readership of Table 2.7
that lists the fundamental features of the external entity. The existence of
Table 2.7 Features of external entity (from Islam, 2014).

Feature no. Feature
1 Absolutely external (to everything else)
2 All encompassing
3 No beginning
4 No end
5 Constant (independent of everything else)
6 Uniform
7 Alive
8 Infinity
9 Absolutely True
10 Continuous
11 All pervasive in space
12 All pervasive in time
13 Infinite degree of freedom
14 Unique
15 Open system
16 Dissimilar to everything else
17 Absolute Time that control time that controls mass
18 Absolute mass (pure light)
Water Science 37
an external entity is necessary condition in order to eliminate the notion

of void that had been inherited from Atomism philosophy and was carried
forward by first Thomas Aquinas and then by subsequent scientists, with-
out exception (Islam, 2014).
This external entity was first recognized as God (from the ancient Greek
philosophers to Avicenna and Averroes of the Islamic golden era), then
conflated as plenum and aether (Islam et al., 2013; 2014). While the exis-
tence of such entities has been denied and sometime ‘proven’ to be non-
existent, the traits of this external entity have been included in all forms of
‘fundamental’ particles, ranging from photon to the Higgs boson. In addi-
tion, such features have also been invoked in galactic models in the form of
various entities, ranging from “dark matter”, “black hole” to “absolute void”.
Newton introduced this as ‘external’ force and defined it as the originator
of differential motion. The original Averroes concept, as supported by the
Qur’an was that such originator of motion is the Creator, whose traits are
all different from the traits of creation.
With the first premise of ‘Nature is perfect’, any technology that conflicts
with natural traits will not be sustainable.
2.4 Source of Water and Its Role in Sustaining Life

Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, mostly in seas and oceans. Small
portions of water occur as groundwater (1.7%), in the glaciers and the ice
caps of Antarctica and Greenland (1.7%), and in the air as vapor, clouds
(formed of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and precipitation
(0.001%) (Gleick, 1993).
Water plays an important role in the world economy. Approximately
70% of the freshwater used by humans goes to agriculture (Baroni et al.,
2007). Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a major source of food for
many parts of the world. Much of long-distance trade of commodities
(such as oil and natural gas) and manufactured products is transported by
boats through seas, rivers, lakes, and canals. Large quantities of water, ice,
and steam are used for cooling and heating, in industry and homes. Water
is an excellent solvent for a wide variety of substances both mineral and
organic; as such it is widely used in industrial processes, and in cooking
and washing. Water is also central to many sports and other forms of enter-
tainment, such as swimming, pleasure boating, boat racing, surfing, sport
fishing, diving, ice skating and skiing.
Water is one of the most of the ingredient for a sustainable life process.
For instance: (1) approximately 65% of our body mass is made up of fluid,
including skin, tissues, cells and the organs, (2) water avoids dehydration
(dehydration is a condition where the body does not have enough water
to guide many functions), (3) water helps to remove some ingredients
from the body like toxins and waste items from the body, via cleansing it,
(4) water generally an important term that proceeds all the nutrients and we
eat and carry the digest nutrients into the cells by circulating with from the
lymphatic systems, (5) water can help to overcome several health problems:
constipation, asthma, allergy, hypertension, migraine and many more.
2.4.1 Inorganic Minerals

This group of contaminants includes the minerals and toxic metals. Some of
these contaminants, like calcium and magnesium are naturally occurring.
Others like copper and lead usually get into the water from pipes. Some
of these contaminants such as lead and arsenic can be quite dangerous.
However, this types of contaminant enter the water system via one certain,
identifiable source, such as a pipe or a ditch. This type of contamination
source includes municipal sewage systems and industrial and construction
sites. Table 2.8 lists various contaminants and their pathways. Following is
a discussion of various contaminants.
Arsenic: Arsenic is notorious as a toxic element. Its toxicity, however,
depends on the chemical (valency) and physical form of the compound,
the route by which it enters the body, the dose and duration of exposure
and several other biological parameters. It is recommended that, when
water is found to contain arsenic at levels of 0.05 ppm, an attempt should
be made to ascertain the valency and chemical forms of the element.
Arsenic is commonly associated as an alloying additive with lead solder,
lead shot, battery grids, cable sheaths and boiler piping. Nowadays, most
arsenic originates from paints or pharmaceuticals and is commonly found
in sewage. The concentration of arsenic in sea water is around 0.002 ppm.
The primary concerns are carcinogenicity and mutagenicity.
Silver: Silver occurs naturally in elemental form and as various ores. It is
also associated with lead, copper and zinc ores. Because some metals such as
lead and zinc are used in distribution systems and also because in some coun-
tries silver oxide is used to disinfect water supplies, silver levels in tap water
may sometimes be elevated. The levels of silver in drinking water should not
exceed 1 ppb. In industry, silver is used in the manufacture of silver nitrate,
silver bromide and other photographic chemicals, water distillation equip-
ment, mirrors, silver plating equipment, special batteries, table cutlery, jewe
lry, dental medical and scientific equipment including amalgams.
Water Science 39
Cadmium: Cadmium is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust, but is

particularly associated with zinc and copper and is produced commer-
cially only as a by-product of zinc smelting. Cadmium shows no signs of
being an essential trace element in biological processes; on the contrary,
it is highly toxic to the human organism. Like mercury, cadmium and its
compounds enter the environment only from geological or human activi-
ties (metal mining, smelting and fossil fuel combustion). Cadmium and its
compounds are black-listed materials, which by international agreement
may not be discharged or dumped into the environment. Cadmium is a
cumulative poison and a maximum level of 0.005 ppm is permitted for
drinking water.
Chromium: Most rocks and soils contain small amounts of chro-
mium. Chromium in its naturally occurring state is in a highly insoluble
form; however, most of the more common soluble forms found in soils
are mainly the result of contamination by industrial emissions. The major
uses of chromium are for chrome alloys, chrome plating, oxidising agents,
corrosion inhibitors, pigments for the textile glass and ceramic industries
as well as in photography. Hexavalent chromium compounds (soluble) are
carcinogenic and the guideline value is 0.05 ppm.
Lead: Lead is not only the most abundant of heavy metals occurring
in nature, it was also one of the first metals used on a large scale by man.
Although it is not a nutritionally essential element, its monitoring is
important because of its toxicity to human health. Lead is a cumulative poi-
son. Most of the lead produced in metallic form, in batteries, cable sheath-
ing, sheets and pipes, etc., is recovered and recycled, but most lead used in
compound form, like paints and petrol additives is lost to the environment,
eventually ending up in the aquatic environment. Lead compounds, sim-
ilar to the ones used in petrol additives are reportedly being used in the
production of mercurial fungicides. The presence of lead in drinking water
is limited to 0.01 ppm.
Mercury: Although a comparatively rare element, mercury is ubiquitous
in the environment, the result of natural geological activity and man-made
pollution. Mercury from natural sources can enter the aquatic environment
via weathering, dissolution and biological processes. Although extremely
useful to man, mercury is also highly toxic to the human organism, espe-
cially in the form of methyl mercury, because it cannot be excreted and
therefore acts as a cumulative poison.
The potential for long-term human health hazards from ingesting mercury-
contaminated fish has led several nations to establish regulations and
guidelines for allowable sea-food mercury levels. Nearly all levels above
1 ppb in water are due to industrial effluents connected with chlorine and
caustic soda production, pharmaceuticals, mirror coatings, mercury lamps
and certain fungicides.
Nickel: Nickel is ubiquitous in the environment. Nickel is almost
certainly essential for animal nutrition, and consequently it is probably
essential to man. Nickel is a relatively non-toxic element; however, cer-
tain nickel compounds have been shown to be carcinogenic in animal
experiments.
Tin: Tin and its compounds are significant and controversial chemicals
in the environment. As is the case with other elements, not all chemical
forms of tin are equally biologically active. In contrast to the low toxicity of
inorganic tin (derived from eating canned foods), some organic tin com-
pounds, also known as organotins, are toxic. Tributyltin and Triphenyltin,
constituents of anti-fouling paints, are highly toxic and their presence in
harbour waters is limited generally to 0.002 and 0.008 ppb respectively. In
many countries, organotin anti-fouling paints are not allowed on vessels
less than 25 metres long, and the start of a fishing season generally sees
an increase of this compound in the water as freshly painted vessels are
launched back into the water.
Copper: The presence of Copper in the water supply, although not con-
stituting a hazard to health, may interfere with the intended domestic uses
of water. Copper enhances corrosion of aluminium and zinc fittings, stains
clothes and plumbing fixtures. Copper is used in alloys, as a catalyst, in
anti-fouling paints and as a wood preservative. Urban sewage contains
substantial amounts of copper. The human taste threshold for copper is
low, 5.0 - 7.0 ppm, and the taste is repulsive. The limit for drinking water
is 1.0 ppm.
Iron: The presence of Iron in drinking water is objectionable for a
number of reasons unrelated to health. Under the pH conditions exist-
ing in drinking water supplies, ferrous salts are unstable and precipitate as
insoluble ferric hydroxide, which settles out as rusty silt. Such water tastes
unpalatable, promotes the growth of “iron bacteria” and the silt gradually
reduces the flow of water in the piping. The recommended guideline level
of iron in water is 0.3 ppm.
Manganese: Anaerobic groundwater often contains elevated levels
of dissolved manganese. The presence of Manganese in drinking water
is objectionable for a number of reasons unrelated to health. At concen-
trations exceeding 0.15 ppm Manganese imparts an undesirable taste
to beverages and stains plumbing fixtures. The recommended value is
0.1 ppm.
Table 2.8 Inorganic contaminants found in groundwater.
Inorganic contaminants found in groundwater
Contaminant Sources to groundwater Potential health and other effects
Aluminum Occurs naturally in some rocks and drainage from Can precipitate out of water after treatment, causing
mines. increased turbidity or discolored water.
Antimony Enters environment from natural weathering, Decreases longevity, alters blood levels of glucose
industrial production, municipal waste disposal, and cholesterol in laboratory animals exposed at
and manufacturing of flame retardants, ceramics, high levels over their lifetime.
glass, batteries, fireworks, and explosives.
Arsenic Enters environment from natural processes, Causes acute and chronic toxicity, liver and kidney
industrial activities, pesticides, and industrial damage; decreases blood hemoglobin. A carcinogen.
waste, smelting of copper, lead, and zinc ore.
Barium Occurs naturally in some limestones, sandstones, Can cause a variety of cardiac, gastrointestinal,
and soils in the eastern United States. and neuromuscular effects. Associated with
hypertension and cardiotoxicity in animals.
(Continued)
Water Science 41
Table 2.8 Inorganic contaminants found in groundwater. (Continued)
Beryllium Occurs naturally in soils, groundwater, and surface Causes acute and chronic toxicity; can cause damage
water. Often used in electrical industry equipment to lungs and bones. Possible carcinogen.
and components, nuclear power and space
industry. Enters the environment from mining
operations, processing plants, and improper waste
disposal. Found in low concentrations in rocks,
coal, and petroleum and enters the ground and
Cadmium Found in low concentrations in rocks, coal, and Replaces zinc biochemically in the body and causes
petroleum and enters the groundwater and high blood pressure, liver and kidney damage, and
surface water when dissolved by acidic waters. anemia. Destroys testicular tissue and red blood
May enter the environment from industrial cells. Toxic to aquatic biota.
discharge, mining waste, metal plating, water
pipes, batteries, paints and pigments, plastic
stabilizers, and landfill leachate.
Chloride May be associated with the presence of sodium Deteriorates plumbing, water heaters, and municipal
in drinking water when present in high water-works equipment at high levels. Above
concentrations. Often from saltwater intrusion, secondary maximum contaminant level, taste
mineral dissolution, industrial and domestic becomes noticeable.
waste.
(Continued)
Chromium Enters environment from old mining operations Chromium III is a nutritionally essential element.
runoff and leaching into groundwater, fossil-fuel Chromium VI is much more toxic than Chromium
combustion, cement-plant emissions, mineral III and causes liver and kidney damage, internal
leaching, and waste incineration. Used in metal hemorrhaging, respiratory damage, dermatitis, and
plating and as a cooling-tower water additive. ulcers on the skin at high concentrations.
Copper Enters environment from metal plating, industrial Can cause stomach and intestinal distress, liver and
and domestic waste, mining, and mineral kidney damage, anemia in high doses. Imparts an
leaching. adverse taste and significant staining to clothes
and fixtures. Essential trace element but toxic to
plants and algae at moderate levels.
Cyanide Often used in electroplating, steel processing, Poisoning is the result of damage to spleen, brain,
plastics, synthetic fabrics, and fertilizer and liver.
production; also from improper waste disposal.
Dissolved solids Occur naturally but also enters environment from May have an influence on the acceptability of water in
man-made sources such as landfill leachate, general. May be indicative of the presence of excess
feedlots, or sewage. A measure of the dissolved concentrations of specific substances not included
“salts” or minerals in the water. May also include in the Safe Water Drinking Act, which would
some dissolved organic compounds. make water objectionable. High concentrations of
dissolved solids shorten the life of hot water heaters.
Water Science 43
(Continued)
Fluoride Occurs naturally or as an additive to municipal Decreases incidence of tooth decay but high levels
water supplies; widely used in industry. can stain or mottle teeth. Causes crippling bone
disorder (calcification of the bones and joints) at
very high levels.
Hardness Result of metallic ions dissolved in the water; Decreases the lather formation of soap and increases
reported as concentration of calcium carbonate. scale formation in hot-water heaters and low-
Calcium carbonate is derived from dissolved pressure boilers at high levels.
limestone or discharges from operating or

abandoned mines.
Iron Occurs naturally as a mineral from sediment and Imparts a bitter astringent taste to water and
rocks or from mining, industrial waste, and a brownish color to laundered clothing and
corroding metal. plumbing fixtures.
Lead Enters environment from industry, mining, Affects red blood cell chemistry; delays normal
plumbing, gasoline, coal, and as a water additive. physical and mental development in babies and
young children. Causes slight deficits in attention
span, hearing, and learning in children. Can cause
slight increase in blood pressure in some adults.
Probable carcinogen.
(Continued)
Manganese Occurs naturally as a mineral from sediment and Causes aesthetic and economic damage, and imparts
rocks or from mining and industrial waste. brownish stains to laundry. Affects taste of
water, and causes dark brown or black stains on
plumbing fixtures. Relatively non-toxic to animals
but toxic to plants at high levels.
Mercury Occurs as an inorganic salt and as organic Causes acute and chronic toxicity. Targets the
mercury compounds. Enters the environment kidneys and can cause nervous system disorders.
from industrial waste, mining, pesticides, coal,
electrical equipment (batteries, lamps, switches),
smelting, and fossil-fuel combustion.
Nickel Occurs naturally in soils, groundwater, and surface Damages the heart and liver of laboratory animals
water. Often used in electroplating, stainless steel exposed to large amounts over their lifetime.
and alloy products, mining, and refining.
Nitrate (as Occurs naturally in mineral deposits, soils, seawater, Toxicity results from the body’s natural breakdown
nitrogen) freshwater systems, the atmosphere, and biota. More of nitrate to nitrite. Causes “bluebaby disease,” or
stable form of combined nitrogen in oxygenated methemoglobinemia, which threatens oxygen-
water. Found in the highest levels in groundwater carrying capacity of the blood.
under extensively developed areas. Enters the
environment from fertilizer, feedlots, and sewage.
Water Science 45
(Continued)
Nitrite Enters environment from fertilizer, sewage, and Toxicity results from the body’s natural breakdown
(combined human or farm-animal waste. of nitrate to nitrite. Causes “bluebaby disease,” or
nitrate/nitrite) methemoglobinemia, which threatens oxygen-
carrying capacity of the blood.
Selenium Enters environment from naturally occurring Causes acute and chronic toxic effects in animals--
geologic sources, sulfur, and coal. ”blind staggers” in cattle. Nutritionally essential
element at low doses but toxic at high doses.
Silver Enters environment from ore mining and Can cause argyria, a blue-gray coloration of the skin,
processing, product fabrication, and disposal. mucous membranes, eyes, and organs in humans
Often used in photography, electric and electronic and animals with chronic exposure.
equipment, sterling and electroplating, alloy, and
solder. Because of great economic value of silver,
recovery practices are typically used to minimize
loss.
Sodium Derived geologically from leaching of surface and Can be a health risk factor for those individuals on a
underground deposits of salt and decomposition low-sodium diet.
of various minerals. Human activities contribute
through de-icing and washing products.
(Continued)
Sulfate Elevated concentrations may result from saltwater Forms hard scales on boilers and heat exchangers;
intrusion, mineral dissolution, and domestic or can change the taste of water, and has a laxative
industrial waste. effect in high doses.
Thallium Enters environment from soils; used in electronics, Damages kidneys, liver, brain, and intestines in
pharmaceuticals manufacturing, glass, and alloys. laboratory animals when given in high doses over
their lifetime.
Zinc Found naturally in water, most frequently in areas Aids in the healing of wounds. Causes no ill health
where it is mined. Enters environment from effects except in very high doses. Imparts an
industrial waste, metal plating, and plumbing, and undesirable taste to water. Toxic to plants at high
is a major component of sludge. levels.

Water Science 47
Table 2.9 Organic contaminants found in groundwater.
Volatile organic Enter environment when used to make plastics, dyes, Can cause cancer and liver damage, anemia,
compounds rubbers, polishes, solvents, crude oil, insecticides, gastrointestinal disorder, skin irritation,
inks, varnishes, paints, disinfectants, gasoline blurred vision, exhaustion, weight loss,
products, pharmaceuticals, preservatives, spot damage to the nervous system, and
removers, paint removers, degreasers, and many respiratory tract irritation.
more.
Pesticides Enter environment as herbicides, insecticides, Cause poisoning, headaches, dizziness,
fungicides, rodenticides, and algicides. gastrointestinal disturbance, numbness,

weakness, and cancer. Destroys nervous
system, thyroid, reproductive system, liver,
and kidneys.
Plasticizers, Used as sealants, linings, solvents, pesticides, Cause cancer. Damages nervous and
chlorinated plasticizers, components of gasoline, disinfectant, reproductive systems, kidney, stomach, and
solvents, benzo[a] and wood preservative. Enters the environment liver.
pyrene, and dioxin from improper waste disposal, leaching runoff,
leaking storage tank, and industrial runoff.
Water Science 49
Zinc: The concentration of zinc in tap water can be considerably higher

than that in surface water owing to the leaching action of zinc from gal-
vanised pipes, brass and other zinc alloys. Zinc imparts to water an unde-
sirable astringent taste and in concentrations in excess of 5 ppm. The water
may appear opalescent and develop a greasy film on boiling. Levels of zinc
should be kept well below this value.
2.4.2 Organic Contaminants

The term organic implies that these contaminants are carbon-based, which
usually means that they are derived from petroleum. As such, the term
should not be conflated with organic as in natural excretion from living
organisms. New Science doesn’t distinguish between the two types and
they must be treated differently as the synthetic form is inherently toxic to
the environment. Because they are carbon-based, they can easily bind with
human tissue, making them extremely toxic even in small fractions. To put
this in perspective, inorganic contaminants are usually measured in parts
per million or parts per billion, but Dioxin and PCBs for example are dan-
gerous in parts per quintillion! Table 2.9 lists the organic chemicals, com-
monly found in groundwater, affected by either agricultural or industrial
waste. Also shown are sources, pathways, and potential health hazards.
2.4.3 Radioactive Minerals

This radioactive elemental group is really a subset of the first group and can
include uranium, plutonium and radium. The dangers of these contami-
nants are obvious. Radioactive minerals occur irregularly in the bedrock,
similar to other minerals such as iron, arsenic and quartz. Radionuclides
dissolve easily in water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
sets drinking water standards and has determined that certain radioactive
minerals as specified above are a health concern. Exposure to radioactivity
increases one’s risk of various cancers. Other sources of radioactivity in
the environment include x rays, radiation from the sun, foods from plants
that concentrate radioactivity as they grow, fluorescent watch dials, and
many other sources. At lower exposures, the risk of cancer is reduced. The
principal health concerns associated with regulated radionuclides in water
include: radon gas increases the risk of lung cancer; uranium increases tox-
icity risk to the kidneys; and radium increases one’s risk of bone cancer.
However, the standards for the permissible amount of radioactivity in drink-
ing water are called maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). EPA finalized new
health standards for radioactivity in drinking water for public water systems in
2000. Additional revisions to these MCLs may be proposed by 2005-2006. The

following is a summary of the current mineral radionuclide MCLs.
Test name Radiation type EPA Standards

Proposed 300/4, 000 pCi/L
Radon Alpha (CGR 11/99)
Compliance Gross Alpha 15 pCi/L **
Alpha*
Uranium Alpha 30 ug/L (approximately 20 pCi/L)***
{Radium 226 Alpha }
{Radium 228 Beta } Total of 226 & 228 = 5 pCi/L
Beta Beta 4 milirems per year
*Compliance gross alpha equals the concentration of analytical gross alpha (in pCi/L)
minus the concentration of uranium (in pCi/L)
**pCi/L (picocuries per liter)
***micrograms per liter (ug/L) can be converted to pCi/L by multiplying the U (ug/L) by 0.67.
CFR = Code of Federal Regulations (proposed rule)
2.4.4 Biological
Bacteria and parasitic microorganisms are what most people think of when
they talk about water contamination. If the right municipal treatment pro-
cess is not in place there can be very dangerous outbreaks.
The most common and widespread danger associated with drinking
water is contamination, either directly or indirectly, by sewage, by other
wastes, or by human or animal excrement. If such contamination is recent,
and if among the contributors there are carriers of communicable enteric
diseases, some of the living causal agents may be present. The drinking
of water so contaminated or its use in the preparation of certain foods
may result in further cases of infection. Natural and treated waters vary
in microbiological quality. Ideally, drinking water should not contain any
microorganisms known to be pathogenic to man. In practice, this means
that it should not be possible to demonstrate the presence of any coliform
organism in any sample of 100 ml.
Pathogenic organisms found in contaminated water may be discharged
by human beings who are infected with disease or who are carriers of a
particular disease. The principal categories of pathogenic organisms are, as
shown in Table 2.10, bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminths.
Water Science 51
Table 2.10 List of infectious agents potentially present in drinking water

contaminated by sewage.
Organism Disease Remarks
Bacteria
Escherichia coli Gastroenteritis Diarrhoea
(enteropathogenic)
Legionella pneumophila Legionellosis Acute respiratory
illness
Leptospira (150 spp.) Leptospirosis Jaundice, fever
Salmonella typhi Typhoid fever High fever, diarrhoea
Salmonella (~1700 spp.) Salmonellosis Food poisoning
Shigella (4 spp.) Shigellosis Bacillary dysentery
Vibrio cholerae Cholera Extremely heavy
diarrhoea,
dehydration
Yersinia enterocolitica Yersinosis Diarrhoea
Viruses
Adenovirus (31 types) Respiratory disease
Enteroviruses (67 types, Gastroenteritis,
e.g., polio, echo, and heart anomalies,
Coxsackie viruses) meningitis
Hepatitis A Infectious hepatitis Jaundice, fever
Norwalk agent Gastroenteritis Vomiting
Reovirus Gastroenteritis
Rotavirus Gastroenteritis
Protozoa
Balantidium coli Balantidiasis Diarrhoea, dysentery
Cryptosporidium Cryptosporidiosis Diarrhoea
Entamoeba histolytica Amoebic dysentery Prolonged diarrhoea
with bleeding
(Continued)
Table 2.10 List of infectious agents potentially present in drinking water

contaminated by sewage. (Continued)
Organism Disease Remarks
Giardia lamblia Giardiasis Mild to severe
diarrhoea, nausea
Helminths
Fasciola hepatica Fasciolasis Sheep liver fluke
Dracunculus medinensis Dracunculosis Guinea worm
Ascaris lumbricoides Ascariasis Roundworm
Enterobius vericularis Enterobiasis Pinworm
Hymenolepis nana Hymenolepiasis Dwarf tapeworm
Taenia saginata Taeniasis Beef tapeworm
Taenia solium Taeniasis Pork tapeworm
Trichuris Trichiura Trichuriasis Whipworm
Bacteria
Faecal pollution of drinking water may introduce a variety of intestinal
pathogens - bacterial, viral, and parasitic - their presence being related to
microbial diseases and carriers present at that moment in the community.
Intestinal bacterial pathogens are widely distributed throughout the world.
Those known to have occurred in contaminated drinking water include
strains of Salmonella, Shigella, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Vibrio chol-
erae, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Campylobacter fetus. These organisms may
cause diseases that vary in severity from mild gastro-enteritis to severe and
sometimes fatal dysentery, cholera, or typhoid.
The modes of transmission of bacterial pathogens include ingestion of
contaminated water and food. The significance of the water route in the
spread of intestinal bacterial infections varies considerably, both with
the disease and with local circumstances. Among the various waterborne
pathogens, there exists a wide range of minimum infectious dose levels
necessary to cause a human infection. With Salmonella typhi, ingestion of
relatively few organisms can cause disease; with Shigella flexneri, several
hundred cells may be needed, whereas many millions of cells of Salmonella
serotypes are usually required to cause gastroenteritis. Similarly, with
Water Science 53
toxigenic organisms such as enteropathogenic E. coli and V. cholerae as

many as 108 organisms may be necessary to cause illness. The size of the
infective dose also varies in different persons with age, nutritional status,
and general health at the time of exposure.
Surveillance of the bacterial quality of water is also important, not only
in the assessment of the degree of pollution, but also in the choice of the
best source and the treatment needed. Bacteriological examination offers
the most sensitive test for the detection of recent and therefore potentially
dangerous faecal pollution, thereby providing a hygienic assessment of
water quality with a sensitivity and specificity that is absent from routine
chemical analysis. It is essential that water is examined regularly and fre-
quently as contamination may be intermittent and may not be detected
by the examination of a single sample. For this reason, it is important that
drinking water is examined frequently by a simple test rather than infre-
quently by a more complicated test or series of tests.
Viruses
Viruses of major concern in relation to waterborne transmission of infectious
disease are essentially those that multiply in the intestine and are excreted
in large numbers in the faeces of infected individuals. Concentrations as
high as 108 viral units per gram of faeces have been reported. Even though
replication does not occur outside living hosts, enteric viruses have consid-
erable ability to survive in the aquatic environment and may remain viable
for days or months. Viruses enter the water environment primarily by way
of sewage discharges. With the methods at present available, wide fluctu-
ations in the number of viruses in sewage have been found. On any given
day, many of the 100 or so known enteric viruses can be isolated from
sewage, the specific types being those prevalent in the community at that
time. Procedures for the isolation of every virus type that may be present
in sewage are not yet available. As sewage comes into contact with drink-
ing water, viruses are carried on and remain viable for varying periods of
time depending upon temperature and a number of other less well-defined
factors. It is generally believed that the primary route of exposure to enteric
viruses is by direct contact with infected persons or by contact with fae-
cally contaminated objects. However, because of the ability of viruses to
survive and because of the low infective dose, exposure and consequent
infections may occur by less obvious means, including ingestion of con-
taminated water. Explosive outbreaks of viral hepatitis and gastroenteri-
tis resulting from sewage contamination of water supplies have been well
documented epidemiologically. In contrast, the transmission of low levels
of virus through drinking water of potable quality, although suspected of

contributing to the maintenance of endemic enteric viral disease within
communities, has not yet been demonstrated. In some developing areas,
water sources may be heavily polluted and the water-treatment processes
may be less sophisticated and reliable.
Because of these factors, as well as the large number of persons at risk,
drinking water must be regarded as having a very significant potential as
a vehicle for the environmental transmission of enteric viruses. As with
other microbial infections, enteric viruses may also be transmitted by con-
taminated food. Enteric viruses are capable of producing a wide variety
of syndromes, including rashes, fever, gastroenteritis, myocarditis, men-
ingitis, respiratory disease, and hepatitis. In general, asymptomatic infec-
tions are common and the more serious manifestations are rare. However,
when drinking water is contaminated with sewage, two diseases may occur
in epidemic proportions - gastro-enteritis and infectious hepatitis. Apart
from these infections, there is little, if any, epidemiological evidence to
show that adequately treated drinking-water is concerned in the transmis-
sion of virus infections. Gastroenteritis of viral origin may be associated
with a variety of agents. Many of these have been identified only recently
occurring as small particles with a diameter of 270-350 microns in stools
of infected individuals with diarrhea.
Viral gastroenteritis, usually of 24-72 hours’ duration with nausea, vom-
iting and diarrhea, occurs in susceptible individuals of all ages. It is most
serious in the very young or very old where dehydration and electrolyte
imbalance can occur rapidly and threaten life if not corrected without
delay. Hepatitis, if mild, may require only rest and restricted activities for a
week or two, but when severe it may cause death from liver failure, or may
result in chronic disease of the liver. Severe hepatitis is tolerated less well
with increasing age and the fatality rate increases sharply beyond middle
age. The mortality rate is higher among those with pre-existing malignancy
and cirrhosis.
Protozoa
Protozoa are single-celled eucaryotic micro-organisms without cell walls.
The majority of protozoa are aerobic. Protozoa feed on bacteria and other
microscopic microorganisms. Of the intestinal protozoa pathogenic for
man, three may be transmitted by drinking water: Entamoeba histolyt-
ica, Giardia spp., and Balantidium coli. These organisms are the etiologi-
cal agents of amoebic dysentery, giardiasis and balantidiasis, respectively,
and have all been associated with drinking water outbreaks. All three have
Table 2.11 Some major threats to groundwater*.
Health and ecosystem effects at Principal regions
Threat Sources high concentrations affected
Pesticides Runoff from farms, backyards, Organochlorines linked to United States, Eastern Europe,
golf courses, landfill leaks reproductive and endocrine China, India
damage in wildlife;
organophosphates and
carbonates linked to nervous
systems
Nitrate Fertilizer runoff; mature from Restricts amount of oxygen Midwestern and mid-Atlantic
livestock operations, septic reaching brain, which can United States, North China
systems cause death in infants, linked to Plain, Western Europe,
digestive tract cancers. Northern India
Petro-chemicals Underground petroleum storage Benzene and other United States, United Kingdom,
tanks. petrochemicals can be cancer parts of former Soviet Union.
causing even at low exposure
Chlorinated Effluents from metals and plastics Linked to reproductive disorders Western United States, Industrial
Solvents degreasing, fabric cleaning, and some cancers zones in East Asia
electronics and aircraft
manufacture
(Continued)
Water Science 55
Table 2.11 Some major threats to groundwater*. (Continued)
Health and ecosystem effects at Principal regions
Threat Sources high concentrations affected
Arsenic Naturally occurring, possibly Nervous systems and liver Bangladesh, Eastern India, Nepal,
exacerbated by over-pumping damage, skin cancers Taiwan
aquifers and by phosphorus
from fertilizers
Other Heavy Mining waste and tailings, Nervous system and kidney United States, Central America
metals landfills, hazardous waste damage; metabolic disruption and northeastern South
dumps America, Eastern Europe
Salts Seawater intrusion, de-icing salt Freshwater unusable for dinking Coastal China and India, Gulf
for roads or irrigation coasts of Mexico and Florida,
Australia, Philippines
*Major sources: European Environmental Agency, USGS, British Geological Survey.
Water Science 57
worldwide distribution. As a group, the intestinal pathogenic protozoa

occur in large numbers in the faeces of infected individuals in man and
a wide variety of domestic and wild animals. Coliform organisms do not
appear to be a good indicator of Giardia or E. histolytica in treated water
because of the increased resistance of these protozoans to inactivation by
disinfection.
Table 2.11 shows major threats to groundwater.
3
Sustainability of Current Water
Purification Technologies
3.1 Introduction
Water is the most valuable resource. It is also the most abundant. Yet,
water conflicts or wars have been the predominant theme (Gleick, 1993).
One out of 10 of world population does not have access to safe drinking
water. Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor
drinking water and sanitation. Globally, 4,500 children die every day from
preventable diseases related to a lack of access to clean water, adequate san-
itation and hygiene. Medical research has reported many cases of lasting
damage to women’s health in consequence to carrying heavy jugs of water,
like chronic fatigue, spinal and pelvic disfigurements, and effects on repro-
ductive health such as spontaneous miscarriages. The west has an entirely
different set of problems. The entire urban system that takes pride in water
purification through a central water management company routinely
‘purifies’ waste water by removing solids, then a series of chemical treat-
ments that turn water into a chemical potion with long-term impacts on
both human health and the environment. This water contains practically
all synthetic chemicals that are consumed as prescription drugs and other
means. While studies are cropping up showing how every disease relates to
the water quality, which is deemed ‘clean’ by all acceptable standards, little
has been done to correct the overall water purification scheme.
It is commonly acknowledged that Education is essential for short and
long-term economic progress. No country has succeeded in rapid and sus-
taining economic growth without at least 40% of literate adults. Not hav-
ing access to clean water and sanitation systems lowers school attendance
rates and increases risk of disease and death, meaning GDP also decreases.
This entire argument is built on the notion that today’s education system
is indeed sustainable. In reality, this is a false premise that has become the
biggest impediment to identifying the real cause behind most spectacular
59
breakdown of today’s technology development mode, aptly denominated

as ‘technological disaster’ by Nobel laureate Chemist, Robert Curl. There
is no shortage of patronizing comments like: “No other single interven-
tion is more likely to have a significant impact on global poverty than the
provision of safe water” (Schuster-Wallace et al., 2008). In a world of real
science, these hollow statements have no place and bear no relevance to the
real problem involving water management.
While it has become fashionable to talk about Africa and about how
more than a quarter of the population spends more than 30 minutes,
sometimes up to 6 hours, walking 3.75 miles just to collect enough water
for the day, the focus should be on what quality of water we drink in the
west. The west, which spends tremendous amount of money on ‘purifying’
water only to drink less than 5% of it, while squandering the rest while
simultaneously relying on bottled water to drink is certainly not in a posi-
tion to set guidelines for water sustainability.
As usual, the water problem is linearized and the solution proposed is
reduced into a dollar figure. The UN estimates it would cost an additional
$30 billion to provide access to safe water to the entire planet. That is a
third of what the world spends in a year on bottled water. Sustainability
in water is also featured prominently in economic development consider-
ation. In order to maintain economic development and minimize future
regional and international conflicts, the United States has set up strategies
for sustainable supplies of high-quality fresh water (NRC, 2014). The prin-
cipal considerations are:
–– demand management,
–– improved water storage capacity,
–– water quality protection, and
–– advancements in supply-enhancing water treatment
technologies.
There is another resource, which is dependent on technologies.

Because less than 3% of world water resource has salinity below potable
value, desalination offers an alternative. There are an estimated between
15,000–20,000 desalination plants that produce more than 20,000 m3/day.
Desalination technologies can create new sources of freshwater from oth-
erwise impaired waters, such as seawater or brackish water. However, like
nearly all new fresh water sources, desalinated water comes at substantially
higher costs than today’s existing water sources, keeping these technolo-
gies out of the reach of many communities.
Sustainability of Current Water Purifcation Technologies 61
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 1984), total dis-

solved solids (TDS) should be less than 1,000 mg/L in drinking water based
on taste considerations, and the EPA has set a secondary standard for TDS
in drinking water of 500 mg/L (EPA, 2002). By comparison, seawater has
an average TDS of about 35,000 mg/L. Table 3.1 shows various sources of
water and their corresponding TDS values.
According to Envisioning the Agenda for Water Resources Research in the
Twenty First Century (NRC, 2001b), both in the United States and world-
wide, “the principal water problem in the early twenty-first century will be
one of inadequate and uncertain supplies….” Finite quantities of developed
water supplies exist, and growing demand has outstripped supply in many
regions of the world, including parts of the United States. This shortage
arises from the fact that none of the existing water purification technolo-
gies is sustainable (Khan and Islam, 2016). Traditional solutions to water
scarcity have focused on developing additional supplies (e.g., drilling wells,
building dams to store water that would otherwise become irretrievable).
However, even when options are available for developing new supplies or
transferring water from other areas where supplies are more plentiful, water
development can be extremely expensive (AMTA, 2001a). Awareness has
also grown over the past few decades about the negative environmental
consequences of expanding water development, such as stream degrada-
tion and aquifer depletion (Gleick, 2003).
Past efforts have focused on safety and short-term reaction to drinking
water. Recently, a report by the World Health Organisation/Unicef Joint
Monitoring Programme collected data on drinking water from the previ-
ous 17 years to give a detailed view of the state of access to drinking water
Table 3.1 Classification of source water, according to quantity of dissolved

solids. Water source total dissolved solids (milligrams per liter) potable water
(NRC, 2014).
Water source Total dissolved solids (milligrams per liter)
Potable water <1,000
Mildly brackish waters 1,000 to 5,000
Moderately brackish waters 5,000 to 15,000
Heavily brackish waters 15,000 to 35,000
Average sea water 35,000
today (WHO/UNICEF, 2017). The report also examined how the current
situation matches up to the vision for universal and equitable access to safe
and affordable drinking water – set out by the sustainable development
goals (SDGs).
The key findings of this reports set the agenda for the future. Table
3.2 lists them. Note how each finding has an implicit assumption, which
defines sustainability. These assumptions are not only false, they also illogi-
cal, as such the general population is deprived of level headedness and can-
not find its way out of the direction being forced by UN governing body.
The general theme is that developing and least developing countries
must comply with the norm set out by the west. By following this super-
ficial standard, it is stated that since 1990, 2.6 billion people have gained
access to an “improved” drinking water source, one that is designed to pro-
tect against contamination. However, in 2015, 663 million people – one in
10 – still drank water from unprotected sources. Huge inequalities persist
between and within countries; almost half of people drinking water from
unprotected sources live in sub-Saharan Africa, eight in 10 live in rural
areas, and there are large gaps between the richest and the poorest. In this
narrative, the real reason behind such a disparity is ignored (see Table 3.1).
Instead, a superficial sustainability map is created (see Figure 3.1). It is con-
cluded that 41 countries, a fifth of people drink water from a source that is
not protected from contamination. The missing information is that chlo-
rine infestation is the only means of measuring ‘protection’ from contam-
ination. The denigration of Sub-Saharan Africa is noteworthy. This is the
land where At least 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa source their
domestic water supply from groundwater. It turns out, that the most sus-
tainable water for drinking purposes. Instead of celebrating this resource
and lifestyle, it is being lamented.
Yet this often abundant resource only accounts for around 20% of total
irrigation. More widespread irrigation could help reduce rural poverty,
improve food security, and counter droughts. At least 400 million people in
Sub-Saharan Africa source their domestic water supply from groundwater.
A UN policy report (IWRA, 2018) states: “Yet this often abundant resource
only accounts for around 20% of total irrigation. More widespread irriga-
tion could help reduce rural poverty, improve food security, and counter
droughts.” This line of conclusions, which are repeatedly cited by all water
experts are entirely inconsistent with true sustainability with water.
The study continues on the premise that the solution to Sub Saharan
water crisis is to use pumps to produce ground water to irrigate agricul-
tural lands. While small motor pumps provide a path for smallholders
to transition to groundwater irrigation, a web of complicating factors
Table 3.2 List of spurious assumptions behind major UN findings.
UN findings Implicit assumption Real sustainability Implication
70 countries had comparable data 1. Soap is the only Clay and other natural The perception: Unless
available on handwashing with cleaner materials western soap culture
soap and water, representing 30% is introduced, we are
of the global population. wrong-headed
Coverage of basic handwashing 2. Civilization and Western civilization is the Setting western implosive,
facilities with soap and water sustainability are a antithesis of sustainability. high footprint model as the
varied from 15 per cent in sub- function of western Zero-waste lifestyle is true standard.
Saharan Africa to 76 per cent lifestyle sustainability and the most Sub-Saharan Africa is
in Western Asia and Northern elusive today painted as far below Least
Africa, but data are currently Developed Country’s
insufficient to produce a global standard
estimate, or estimates for other
SDG regions.
In Least Developed Countries, 27 3. There is a divisions Sustainability is with Countries would sink further
per cent of the population had of facilities in bizarre indigenous, bottom up trying to emulate western
basic handwashing facilities with categories hierarchy failed sustainability
soap and water, while 26 per paradigm
cent had handwashing facilities
lacking soap or water. The
remaining 47 per cent had no
facility.
(Continued)
Table 3.2 List of spurious assumptions behind major UN findings. (Continued)
UN findings Implicit assumption Real sustainability Implication
In sub-Saharan Africa, three 4. Sub-Saharan Sub Saharan Africa has Sub-Saharan Africa will
out of five people with basic Africa is beyond the most enviable water not be allowed to get
handwashing facilities (89 redemption resources, only if they out of the current level
million people) lived in urban were allowed to develop of extreme poverty and
areas. indigenously mismanagement of natural
resources
Many high-income countries 5. Handwashing facility High income should translate Countries with high income
lacked sufficient data to estimate is the measure of into proper utilization of will be pressured to spend
the population with basic sustainability resources more on consultants from
handwashing facilities. 6. Data on Data collection has to the west, who can lecture
handwashing facility conform with local those countries how to
is germane to development plans, not develop water resources.
international norm the one sought by external
entities
overshadows movement in that direction. Under-developed supply chains

complicate the acquisition and use of small motor pumps. Focusing on
Zambia, Colenbrander & van Koppen show how centralized provision of
sales and services requiring farmers to travel long distances, unreliable
availability of spare parts, and limited quality control create unacceptably
high transaction costs for the farmers. Remote rural farmers also find it
difficult to access adequate information regarding the available range of
pump makes, models, prices, and how to operate and maintain the pumps
properly. The problem is reduced into finding pumps and training the
population to select certain brand of pumps.
Other recommendations are equally wrong-headed and self-serving for
the west. For instance, a great deal of discussion is carried out on how
women carry the burden of fetching water and it is identified that only
Mongolia has men and boys engaged more often. The rest of the discus-
sion revolves around women’s rights, gender equity and even female gen-
ital mutilation. Overall, it is a recipe of encouraging the vast majority of
population to emulate western lifestyle, which has been proven to be a total
disaster in terms of environmental injustice and economic extremism.
Water availability, in general, includes issues of both water quantity
and quality. After all, just as drought conditions can reduce the amount
of water available, reductions in water quality can diminish the available
water supply for its intended use. However, the implicit assumption is that
the western sanitation as well as water treatment systems are the norm and
the developing countries must strive to measure their success by the prox-
imity of their lifestyle to the western counterparts.
<1 1-10 11-20 >20 Not sufficient data or

not applicable
Figure 3.1 Percentage of population using unimproved drinking water sources

(The Guardian, 2017).
In the west, as increasingly degraded water is utilized as drinking water

sources, caution is exerted to ensure that the treated water is safe for the gen-
eral public and sensitive subpopulations to drink, considering the large num-
ber of potential contaminants that are not subject to detection by routine water
quality monitoring (NRC, 1998; NRC, 2001a). Although water supply issues
in the United States are primarily local or regional in nature, the wide distri-
bution of anticipated water shortages has elevated concern to a national level.
Water management poses the biggest challenge in the USA. For instance, water
transfers can increase availability on a local level by decreasing availability else-
where where water may presently be more plentiful and of a lower economic
value. Solutions to local water scarcity issues will likely require a combination
of approaches, including demand management (e.g., water trading, conserva-
tion), improved water storage capacity such as aquifer storage and recovery
(NRC, 2001c; NRC, 2002a), water quality protection, etc.
In theory, there are numerous techniques for the removal of heavy metals
and other contaminants from wastewaters. In practice, the choice of one
type of treatment versus another depends on several factors, including the
form and concentration of metals in wastewater, other constituents present,
the extent of removal desired, environmental regulations pertaining to the
discharge of the treated wastewater, associated capital and operating costs
and the number of sludges or residues generated and their disposal costs
(Patterson, 1985; Beszedits et al., 1986; Atkinson et al., 1998). Figure 3.2
shows a typical water treatment plant. Note the usage of chlorination and
chemical coagulants as a matter of routine.
WATER TREATMENT PLANT

SURFACE WATER SUPPLY
Preliminary Treatment
Intake
1
Pipe
Lake 2 3 Pre-
Protective Travelling Chemical Chlorination
Bar Water 4 Low Lift Pump Well Coagulents
Screen Screen 5
Anthracite
Sand
7 Flacculation 6 Coagulation
Gravel
8 Sedimentation Basin
Post- 9 Sand Filtration 14a

Chlorination Elevated Water
11 12 Fluoridation Storage Tower
13 High Lift Pump Well 14b Grounded Level

10 Reservior
Clear
Well
To Distribution System
Figure 3.2 Schematic diagram for surface water treatment process.

Nowadays, chemical precipitation, membrane filtration, ion exchange,

coagulation/flocculation, electrochemical treatment, ozonation, gamma
irradiation, adsorption etc., are widely used methods for heavy metal
removal. Although some of these treatment methods can be successfully
used for treating most wastewaters, others are quite limited in use. Kadiverlu
et al. (2001) reported that most of the methods have several disadvantages,
such as continuous input of chemicals, high cost, toxic sludge generation
or incomplete metal removal. The following paragraph will briefly describe
some of these methods, with some examples. Figure 3.3 shows how these
new line of purification techniques are used in treatment plant.
Minimization of the heavy metals emission into the environment is
necessary to protect natural waters and thus preserve the good quality of
water. There are different methods available to remove these heavy met-
als from the streams, such as, chemical precipitation, electro-deposition,
electro-coagulation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration, solvent
extraction, ion exchange, adsorption and biosorption (Patterson, 1989;
Rahman and Gagnon, 2014; Zevenhuizen et al., 2015). However, many
technologies are extremely expensive (Meunier et al., 2003). Apart from
being expensive, these technologies have several disadvantages, such as:
need for continuous input of chemicals, the production of toxic sludge, or
inefficient in reducing metal ion levels in treated wastewater to the permis-
sible concentrations, which are required by government legislation. The
prime factors to be considered in choosing one of these methods are the
economic considerations, availability of the raw materials, and regulatory
requirements. Khan and Islam (2012) gave much stress on the development
of environmentally appealing research projects. Moreover, they mentioned
Sulfuric Active Slaked Polymer

Bonder-F acid carbon lime
PH Conden
Reaction adjustment -sation Treated
tank tank tank water
discharge
Reciever tank Degrease Sludge Sedimentation Neutralization
for renewal / Fluorine
absorbing wastewater discharge tank
emergency / discharge
tank receiver tank tank
Area for wastewater treatment
Vertical
cyclone
In paint shop seprator
Phosphate Degrease “TORERUZO”
wastewater IN wastewater IN
Figure 3.3 Schematic diagram for waste water treatment process.

the introduction of novel methods in the areas of engineering research.

Any novel method carries tremendous impetus in making green technol-
ogies. This has encouraged our research group into discovering materials
and methods for the removal of heavy metals that are efficient, econom-
ically attractive, and environmentally appealing. However, a number of
technologies are very common to remove heavy metals from wastewater.
For instance, evaporation, electroplating, ion exchange and membrane
processes are common for the removal of heavy metals when the metals
are present in high concentration (Matheichal and Yu, 1999; Rahman and
Islam, 2009a, b). The use of synthetic or petroleum-derived cation exchange
resigns are well adopted by current industries. Though these methods have
some advantages, they have some limitations. For example, conventional
treatment technologies such as precipitation and coagulation become less
effective and more expensive when there are high volumes of wastewater
and low metal concentration (Salinas et al., 2000).
3.2 Sustainability Criteria

Generally, a technology is selected based on criteria such as technical feasibil-
ity, cost effectiveness, regulatory requirements, and environmental impacts.
Recently, Khan and Islam (2007) introduced a new approach in technol-
ogy evaluation based on the novel sustainability criterion. In their study,
they not only considered the environmental, economic, and regulatory
criteria, but investigated the sustainability of a technology. ‘Sustainability’
or ‘sustainable technology’ has been using in many publications, company
brochures, research reports, and government documents which do not nec-
essarily gives a clear direction. Sometimes, these conventional approaches/
definitions mislead to achieve true sustainability. Figure 3.4 shows the
directions of true sustainability in technology devolvement. It shows the
direction of nature-based, inherently sustainable technology, as contrasted
with an unsustainable technology. The path of sustainable technology is its
long-term durability and environmentally wholesome impact, while unsus-
tainable technology is marked by ∆t approaching 0. Presently, the most
commonly used theme in technology development is to select technologies
that are good for 𝑡= ′right now′, or ∆t = 0. In reality, such models are devoid
of any real basis (termed “aphenomenal” by Zatzman and Islam, 2007), and
should not be applied in technology development if we seek sustainability
for economic, social, and environmental purposes.
In addition to technological details of an appropriate drilling technol-
ogy, the sustainability of this technology is evaluated based on the model
Inherently sustainable
Beneficial technologies
∆t ∞
Time
∆t 0
Inherently short-
Harmful term technologies
Figure 3.4 Direction of sustainable and unsustainable technology (Khan and Islam, 2016).
proposed by Khan and Islam. Figure 3.5 shows the detailed steps for its
evaluation. The first step of this method is to evaluate a sustainable tech-
nology based on time criterion (Figure 3.5). If the technology passes this
stage, it would be evaluated based on criteria such as environmental, eco-
nomic, and social variants. According to Khan and Islam’s method, any
technology is considered sustainable if it fulfills the environmental, eco-
nomic, and is considered sustainable if it fulfills the environmental, eco-
nomic, and social conditions (C12 + Ce + Cs)≥ constant for any time, t,
provided that, dCnt/dt ≥ 0, dCct/dt ≥ 0, dCst/dt ≥ 0.
To evaluate the environmental sustainability, a proposed water purifi-
cation technique is compared with the conventional technology. Any new
technology will have to be evaluated based on its impacts on habitat, wild-
life, fisheries, and biodiversity.
3.3 Sustainability in the Information Age

and Environmental Insult
In this era of globalization, technology is changing every day. Due to the
continuous changes and competition between organizations, it is becom-
ing increasingly difficult to sort out true information from disinformation.
In the field of management, a ‘sustainable organization’ can be defined as
an organization where the following features are present: i) political and
security drivers and constraints, ii) social, cultural and stakeholder drivers
New Technology
Is
Yes ∆t ∞? No
Accepted Is there scope

Yes Yes
for EES test to improve?
Yes
d
dt Cnt ≥ 0? No Improve the step... No
Yes
d
dt Cet ≥ 0? No Improve the step... No
Yes
d
dtCst ≥ 0? No Improve the step... No
Yes
Technology
Unsustainable
Technology Sustainable
Figure 3.5 Flowchart of sustainability analysis of a new technology.
and constraints, iii) economic and financial drivers and constraints, and
iv) ecological drivers and constraints.
Thus, the concept of sustainability is the vehicle for the near future
Research & Development (R&D) for technology development. In today’s
society, there is no model for sustainability as none of the current tech-
nology development is fully sustainable. In fact, Khan and Islam (2016)
argued that the sustainability scenario is worsening and notwithstand-
ing the propaganda, every new solution has made the environment more
vulnerable to insult. In this regard, a paradigm shift occurs if nature is
taken as a model. After all, nature is 100% zero-waste (Khan and Islam,
2016); that is, in nature, all functions or techniques are inherently sus-
tainable, efficient and functional for an unlimited time period (this can
be expressed as: Δt→∞). By following the same path as the function
inherent in nature, our research shows how to develop truly sustainable
technology (Islam et al., 2012; Chhetri and Islam, 2008; Khan and Islam,
2016). Khan and Islam (2007) introduced a new approach in technology
evaluation based on the novel sustainability criterion. In their study, they
not only considered the environmental, economic and regulatory cri-
teria but also investigated sustainability of technologies. “Sustainability”
or “sustainable technology” has been used in many publications, com-
pany brochures, research reports and government documents, which do
not give a clear direction (Appleton, 2006; Khan and Islam, 2007; Islam
et al., 2018).
Contrary to the true sustainability model of technological develop-
ment, ‘corporatization’ (discussed by Islam et al., 2018) stands as its fore-
most enemy in the current world. The first target of corporatization has
been humans. Human thought material (HTM) has been disconnected
from conscience and conscientious thought process. After marginalizing
humans, the next target is water - the most ubiquitous matter, which is
also the essence of life and vitality. This water is turned metaphorically into
Coke – an agent that reverses the vitality of water into morbidity. A simi-
lar scheme continues with air, the most ubiquitous gas, to cigarette smoke
and exhaust, and dirt, the most ubiquitous solid to nanomaterial, all to the
benefit of their purse and the detriment of the environment and society
at large. As an alternative to fossil fuel that produces CO2 – the essence
of greenery – into ‘solar electricity’ that guzzles SiO2 toxins in exchange
of CO2. Overall impact of this mode of economic extremism is felt by the
environment. Following are the various sectors affected.
3.3.1 Agriculture and Development

The most affected aspects of the corporatization of technological devel-
opment are the following: biodiversity loss, global warming, and water
availability. The causes of such disastrous results are often overlooked. For
instance, the role of chemical fertilizer and pesticide is rarely linked with
loss in biodiversity. Instead, the corporatization camp resorts to blaming
over cultivation and deforestation (Chhetri and Islam, 2008). Similarly,
global warming is not deemed connected to refining and other processes
that add numerous artificial chemicals to the otherwise sustainable prod-
uct (Islam et al., 2012). Water availability is rarely linked to chlorination,
pollution from factory farms, industrial plants, and activities such as frack-
ing that uses artificial chemicals (Islam, 2014).
3.3.2 Desertification
Desertification is a huge problem. Drought is considered to be one of the
largest causes of famine and starvation all over Africa and South America.
Because of changes in climate, urbanization, deforestation and pollution,
everyday thousands of acres of arable land are disappearing. In the mean
time, less than 20% of many countries “arable” land is being used. While
this topic is well talked about, most evade any tangible solution to the
problem (Islam et al., 2015).
3.3.3 Ecosystem Change

Any interference of unsustainable technology with the ecosystem will ren-
der irreversible change in the ecosystem (Khan and Islam, 2016). The only
true model of sustainability to be found is in Nature. A truly sustainable
process conforms to connected and/or underlying natural phenomena, in
source and pathway. Scientifically, this means that true long-term consid-
erations of humans should include the entire ecosystem.* Some have called
this inclusion ‘the humanization of the environment’ and put this phenom-
enon as a precondition of true sustainability (Zatzman and Islam, 2007).
The inclusion of the entire ecosystem is meaningful when the natural path-
way for every component of the technology is followed. Only such design
can assure both short-term (tangible) and long-term (intangible) benefits.
3.3.4 Fisheries
Environmental degradation due to unsustainable practices in fisheries
serves as a great reminder as to how a seemingly infinite resource can be
turned into a calamity. It is not an understatement to say that, for the first
470 years, the harvesting of these resources posed little or no threat either to
the marine environment nor to the present or future prospects of the coastal
communities most involved in this activity. However, in the last 30 years of
that half-millennium, what remained was literally raped from stem to stern
at unprecedented speed (Zatzman, 2013). The historical exegesis brings out
* Someone would ask, how is that different from David Suzuki’s approach or the universally
acceptable 3R’s approach? It is very different because it advocates for usability for an
infinite amount of time as opposed to waste minimization which only buys time.
in striking manner how far out of touch both the promoters of this fishery
and its critics actually were with regard to the conduct of this fishery in mod-
ern economic conditions of vertically-integrated resource extraction. None
of them manifested the slightest awareness of how this fishery could have
averted the dramatic collapse that eventually destroyed the livelihood of
the families of more than 40,000 commercial fishermen from the Canadian
provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Nova Scotia after
1992. This dialogue of the deaf was manifest not only in the late 1970s — as
the struggle over the northwest Atlantic fisheries’ future heated up to become
one of the sideshows of the global confrontation between the U.S. and Soviet
superpowers over control of the world’s oceanic spaces. The same thinking
that failed to address the problems of that time was being repeated 30 years
later by some of the most vociferous critics of the antics of the trawling fleets,
Canadian and foreign, back in the 1970s. In 1992 the Canadian government
declared a moratorium on the fishing of a variety of fish in the east coast.
3.3.5 Deforestation
The world’s forestry plays a crucial role in maintaining environmental
balance. They provide renewable and sustainable raw materials (includ-
ing medicine) and energy, maintain biological diversity, mitigate climate
change, protect land and water resources, provide recreation facilities,
improve air quality, and help alleviate poverty. Each of these manmade
activities in the post-renaissance period affect the forest in an irreversible
manner. In view of competing interests in the benefits of forest resources
and forest land, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations has carried out global forest resources assessments at five to ten
year intervals since 1946. The most recent and most extensive assessment
was completed in 2005 and aimed at measuring progress towards sustain-
able forest management. The assessment focused on six themes represent-
ing important elements of forest management:
• Extent of forest resources

• Biological diversity
• Forest health and vitality
• Productive functions of forest resources
• Protective functions of forest resources
• Socio-economic functions
Information was collected from 229 countries and territories for three
points in time: 1990, 2000, and 2005. None of these reports yielded any
scientifically sound solution to the problem of deforestation (Khan and

Islam, 2007). Claims have been made that by adopting the concept of sus-
tainable forest management as a reporting framework, it is possible to pro-
vide a holistic perspective on global forest resources, their management,
and their uses. However, in absence of a truly sustainable technology
development scheme, these are but hollow claims. The current scenario is
dismal. Despite their immense value, nearly half of the world’s forests have
been lost. What’s worse is that we are cutting them down at greater rates
each year to plant crops, graze cattle and generate income from timber and
other forest products. This deforestation immediately affects the climate,
which climate change scenarios showing that 11% of unnatural climate
change is evoked by deforestation. This amount is similar to the amount of
CO2 emission from all cars and trucks on Earth combined. Then there is an
estimated 50% of tropical rainforest protected areas that are ‘empty’. These
“empty forests” contain trees but few animals as a result of overexploita-
tion and uncontrolled hunting. As a result, animal species are in danger of
extinction, tree species lose important seed dispersal, and local people lose
an important supply of protein. Overall, this translates into extraordinary
imbalance for the ecosystem.
3.3.6 Marine Litter

Marine littering is synonymous with the plastic culture that is just over 100
years old. Just like how a miniscule amount of Freon discharge in the envi-
ronment can trigger a gaping hole in the ozone layer, the disposal of plastic
can invoke marine disasters. The global production of plastics is increasing
every year ever since the plastic revolution began (Figure 3.6). This plastic
finds its way into the environment and into the oceans. Because plastic
does not degrade or assimilate into the environment, the plastic content
in the ocean increases proportionately. This increase can trigger many
instances of imbalance, including CO2 not being absorbed by the ocean.
About 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that people have put into the
atmosphere has diffused into the ocean through the direct chemical
exchange. In the absence of absorption by plants, dissolving carbon diox-
ide in the ocean creates carbonic acid, which increases the acidity of the
water. Since 1750, the pH of the ocean’s surface has dropped by 0.1, repre-
senting a change of 30 percent in acidity. Such a change is drastic with
numerous consequences.
The widespread occurrence of large plastic fragments in the sea and the
direct impact this can have both on marine fauna and on legitimate uses of
the environment has been well-documented. In recent years the existence
Plastic production in million metric ton

400
335
350 322
311
299
288
300 270
279
World
245 250
250
200
200
150
100
100 60 60
56.1 55 57 58 57 58 59 58
50
50 19.8 27.4
Europe
0.35
0
1950 1976 1989 2002 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Figure 3.6 World plastic production (From Statista, 2018).
of smaller plastic particles referred to as micro-plastics and their potential

impact has received increasing attention. This concerns particles smaller
than 5 mm, and there is increasing evidence that such particles can be
ingested by marine organisms, leading to large-scale harm on the lowest
levels of the marine food chain (Zatzman, 2012).
3.3.7 Water Resources

Throughout history, water has been revered as such. According to Bertrand
Russell, “Western philosophy” begins with Thales. Thales’ most famous
philosophical position was his cosmological thesis, which comes down to
us through a passage from Aristotle’s Metaphysics. In the work, Aristotle
unequivocally reported Thales’ hypothesis about the nature of matter –
that the originating principle of nature was a single material substance:
water. Islam et al. (2014) cited Qur’anic verses (11:7) that confirm water
to be the original creation: “And it is He who created the heavens and the
earth in six days – and His Throne had been upon water - that He might
test you as to which of you is best in deed. But if you say, ‘Indeed, you are
resurrected after death,’ those who disbelieve will surely say, ‘This is not but
obvious magic.’”
Just like universe began with water, life also emerged from life. Water
makes life as we know it possible. Every drop cycles continuously through
air, land, and sea, to be used by someone (or something) else “downstream.”
Water covers 70% of Earth’s surface, but only 3% is fresh, and only a fraction
of one percent supports all life on land. It is considered that one percent of
the planet’s total water resources can be classified as accessible freshwater
resources. As such, water has been the most important target for molestation
of the ecosystem. Climate change and growing populations are increasing
the pressures on that reserve. Figure 3.7 shows the per capita consumption
of water in various countries. Although the discrepancy between the US
and other countries is alarming, the most important point is the fact that a
large amount of water is withdrawn from freshwater sources and is rendered
unsustainable by polluting it with synthetic chemicals (chlorination, fertiliz-
ation, pesticide applications) never to be returned to their natural state. For
instance, in 2010, total irrigation withdrawals were 115,000 Mgal/d, which
accounted for 38 percent of total freshwater withdrawals and 61 percent
United States 1 583
Estonia 1 227
New Zealand 1 191
Canada 1 025
Spain 809
Mexico 690
Turkey 642
Netherlands 640
Japan 639
Australia 629
Belgium 572
Slovenia 554
Hungary 509
France 472
Germany 404
Poland 295
Sweden 287
Switzerland 249
Israel 176
Ireland 167
Figure 3.7 Annual per capita water consumption in metric ton in 2013 (from Statista, 2018a).
Total freshwater withdrawals, 2010

Million gallons per day
Surface water
164,000 65,900
71% 29% Irrigation
115,000 Other
38%
191,000
62% Groundwater
49,500
26,500 65% Irrigation
Irrigation 35%
Other Other
Figure 3.8 Sources of various fresh water withdrawals (from USGS, 2017).
of total freshwater withdrawals for all categories excluding thermoelectric

power. Total irrigation withdrawals were reported to be 9 percent less than
what it was in 2005 (Figure 3.8). Withdrawals from surface-water sources
were 65,900 Mgal/d, which accounted for 57 percent of the total irrigation
withdrawals, and were almost 12 percent less than in 2005. Groundwater
withdrawals for 2010 were 49,500 Mgal/d, or 6 percent less than in 2005.
About 62,400 thousand acres were irrigated in 2010, an increase of about
950 thousand acres (1.5 percent) from 2005. The national average applica-
tion rate for 2010 was 2.07 acre-feet per acre, or 11 percent less than the
2005 average of 2.32 acre-feet per acre. Khan and Islam’s (2008) criterion
can be used to determine that these resources are irreversibly polluted.
Consequently, although water is virtually abundant, as much as two-
thirds of the global population may live in regions with limited access to
freshwater resources by 2050, as the world’s population is predicted to grow
to reach 11.2 billion people by 2100. While population levels are expected
to increase at the fastest rate in emerging regions, water shortages will also
be felt in industrialized countries – including the United States – where
droughts and other weather-related catastrophes are set to become more
frequent over the coming decades.
By 2050, industrial demand for water is expected to put enormous pres-
sure on freshwater accessibility, thus shortening the amount of clean water
available for agricultural and domestic uses. Since water is becoming increas-
ingly scarce, the amount of water that is currently consumed per person in
countries such as the United States can no longer be deemed acceptable.
3.4 Biological Processes

Biological wastewater treatment is a process that seems simple on the
surface since it uses natural processes to help with the decomposition of
organic substances, but in fact, it is a complex, not-completely-understood

process at the intersection of biology and biochemistry. Biological treat-
ment is used worldwide because it is effective and more economical than
many mechanical or chemical processes. This water treatment is often a
secondary treatment process, used to remove any material remaining after
primary treatment (Figure 3.9). In the primary water treatment process,
sediments or substances such as oil are removed from the wastewater.
Biological processes are used to treat sewage, sludge, municipal and indus-
trial wastewater. Biological processes are used to treat wastewater through
anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes of micro-organisms. Both
anaerobic and aerobic digestion processes can sufficiently destroy disease-
causing microorganisms and parasites to allow the resulting digested solids
Wastewater
Primary Settling Tanks Power
Screen Out
Large Solids
Gas
Sludge Tanks
Biological Drying Lagoons

Filters
Secondary Lagoons
Setting
Tanks
Stockpile/Fertiliser
Sea
Irrigation/Woodlots
Figure 3.9 Schematic diagram for biological waste water treatment process.
to be safely applied to land as compost or a fertilizer, provided that levels

of toxic constituents are sufficiently low. The goal of biological wastewater
treatment is to create a system in which the results of decomposition are
easily collected for proper disposal. Scientists have been able to control and
refine both aerobic and anaerobic biological processes to achieve the opti-
mal removal of organic substances from wastewater (Bouwer and Crowe,
1988). On the other hand, it should also be mentioned here that the appli-
cation of biological wastewater treatment process is also limited and par-
ticular categories of radioactive contaminants, including those in which
the radionuclides of interest are incorporated into an organic compound,
e.g. 3H, 14C, or more general radionuclides incorporated into organic salts.
Alternatively, the organic phase may act as a transfer agent, e.g. solvent, to
extract and mobilize particular radionuclides. Thus, these processes may
be radioelement specific and may not apply to all the radionuclide constit-
uents, when mixtures are present (Fellingham, 2012).
However, the available information strongly indicates that immobilized
biological systems are less sensitive to toxicity and have a higher efficiency in
degrading toxic and hazardous materials (Bewtra and Biswas, 1990). Fixed-
film wastewater treatment plants are regarded to be more stable than sus-
pended growth processes because of the higher biomass concentration and
greater mass transfer resistance from bulk solution into the biofilm in the
fixed film. For the microbial growth kinetics, the Monod Equation has been
used successfully to model the substrate degradation and microbial growth.
Monod Equation:
U max S
U= (Eq. 3.1)
S + Ks
Haldane Equation:
U max S
U= (Eq. 3.2)
S + K s + S 2/ K i
where,
u = specific growth rate, d–1
Umax = maximum specific growth rate, d–1
S = substrate concentration, mg/L
Ks = saturation constant, mg/L
Ki = inhibition constant, mg/L (It reflects, toxic substances react
with S, destroying proteins).
However, microbial biomass has been shown to be able to sequester a

variety of metal ions from aquatic solutions. The selective extraction of
metal ions from dilute complex solutions by microbial biomass has been
termed biosorption (Tsezos and McGready, 1991). Gram-positive bacteria,
fungal cells and algal cells display a high affinity for heavy metals (Darnall
et al., 1986; Ross and Townsley, 1986). Langmuir and fieundlich isotherms
conform to the biosorption of metals to activated sludge solids (Mullen
et al., 1989).
Biosorption is caused by different physicochemical mechanisms,
depending on the external environmental factors. Metal sequestration
by different parts of the cell can occur via: complexation, coordination,
chelation of metals, ion-exchange, adsorption, and inorganic-micro pre-
cipitation. Any one or a combination of the above mechanisms may be
functional to various degrees in immobilizing one or more metallic spe-
cies on the biosorbent. Metallic cations are attracted to negatively charged
sites at the surface of the cell, a number of anionic ligands participate in
binding the metal: phosphoryl, carboxyl, sulfhydryl, and hydroxyl groups
of membrane proteins (Volesky, 1989). Fixed-film wastewater treatment
plants are regarded to be more stable than suspended growth processes
because of the higher biomass concentration and greater mass transfer
resistance from bulk solution into the biofilm in the fixed film. For the
microbial growth kinetics, the Monod Equation has been used successfully
to model the substrate degradation and microbial growth in the biological
processes. However, in the presence of the toxic substances, which may
inhabit the biological activity, the Haldane Equation is preferred:
3.4.1 Sulfate Reducing Bacteria

Domestic and industrial wastewaters contain several species of sulfur com-
pounds, but only six species are thermodynamically stable at room tem-
perature (ASCE, 1989):
Sulfate (SO4− 2)
Bisulfate (HSO4−1)
Sulfur (S − 2 )
Hydrogen Sulfide ( H 2 S )
Hydrosulfide (HS −1)
Sulfide (S 0)
Thiosulfate, pofysulfide, and polythionate are unstable and are not found
in significant concentrations. Many of the organic sulfur compounds, such
as organic sulfur compounds, are volatile and possess unpleasant odors.
Sulfate reducing bacteria are responsible for the production of sulfides
under anaerobic conditions. They utilize sulfates as their terminal electron
accepter. The reaction followed by SRB is:
SO−4 2 + 8e −1 → S −2 + 4O−2
Sulfide ion produced would be available to react with any metals present
in the feed to form stable metal precipitates as expressed by the following
reaction:
S −2 + M +2 MS
where M+2s is any divalent metal ion (Brock, 1984).
However, the removal of heavy metals could be achieved in biological

treatments (aerobic and anaerobic) by the adsorption of metal ions on the
biomass and/or the biologically mediated precipitation (Gundry et al.,
1989). Polymers produced by microorganisms have been shown to adsorb
cations; similarly, cell wall proteins contain anionic ligands which can
Figure 3.10 Biological waste water treatment process using sulfate reducing bacteria.
adsorb cations (Figure 3.10). It was observed that lead, zinc, and copper
had a high affinity for the biosorption, while nickel had a low affinity for
the same. Biological reactions included both methane producing bacteria,
MPB, and sulfur reducing bacteria, SRB, as shown below:
MBP : CH 3COO −1 + H 2O → CH 4 + HCO3−1 (Eq. 3.3)
SRB : CH 3COO −1 + SO4−2 → HS −1 + 2HCO3−1 (Eq. 3.4)
3.5 Chemical Precipitation

Chemical precipitation in water and wastewater treatment is change in the
form of materials dissolved in water into solid particles. Chemical precip-
itation is used to remove ionic constituents from water by the addition of
counter-ions to reduce the solubility. It is used primarily for the removal
of metallic cations, but also for removal of anions such as fluoride, cya-
nide, and phosphate, as well as organic molecules such as the precipita-
tion of phenols and aromatic amines by enzymes (Atlow et al., 1984) and
detergents and oily emulsions by barium chloride. Major precipitation
processes include water softening and stabilization, heavy metal removal,
and phosphate removal. Water softening involves the removal of divalent
cationic species, primarily calcium and magnesium ions. Heavy metal
removal is most widely practiced in the metal plating industry, where sol-
uble salts of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, and many
others, need to be removed and possibly recovered. Phosphate removal
from wastewater is used to protect receiving surface waters from eutro-
phication (Figure 3.11). Most metals are precipitated as hydroxides, but
other methods such as sulfide and carbonate precipitation are also used.
In some cases, the chemical species to be oxidized or reduced to a valence
that can then be precipitated directly. Phosphate can be removed by pre-
cipitation as iron or aluminum salts, and fluorine can be removed using
calcium chloride (Weast, 1980).
However, the chemical precipitation involves the addition of reagents,
which react with dissolved metals and form insoluble or sparingly soluble
compounds; the more insoluble the compounds, the less metals remain
in the solution. Conventional precipitation by hydroxide, sulfide, carbon-
ate and co-precipitation is widespread. The addition of dimethyl or diethyl
thio-carbamate, trimecapto-s-triazine or tri-sodium salt enhances precip-
itation. The application of chemical precipitation to dilute solutions (low
concentration) can be difficult unless the addition of flocculating agents

such as lime, aluminum sulfate, ferrous sulfate, ferric chloride or poly-
mer, caustic and sodium carbonate is employed (Thacktson et al., 1980).
Inorganic heavy metals are usually removed from aqueous streams by
chemical precipitation in various forms (carbonates, hydroxides, sulfide) at
different pH values. It is generally observed that the free ions are predom-
inant at low pH. At high pH, the complex compounds such as carbonates,
oxides, and hydroxides are more stable and thus prevail. Their solubilities
are usually much lower at higher pH values, and the increase in the pH
is the usual method to precipitate metals from the solutions as complex
compounds.
The removal of toxic metals by precipitation from diluted effluents is
not economical. Problems associated with the use of precipitation process
are as follows: precipitate formed can resolubilize heavy metal by change
in the pH of the sludge, large quantities of sludge are generated which are
difficult to dewater and their ultimate disposal demands careful atten-
tion. For low metal concentrations (< 100 mg/L) the precipitation process
results in incomplete metal removal, requires high dosage of chemicals and
disposal of the excessive amounts of toxic sludges add to the process cost
(Kapoor, 1998). Based on the data provided by Senes (1994), Kalin (1997)
estimated that Canadian mineral sector produces between 4 and 12 mil-
lion m3 of toxic sludge annually. Safe methods of sludge disposal are still
under investigation.
By far the most widely used industrial process for the removal of heavy
metals from solution is that of chemical precipitation, approximately 75%
Influent
from Flash Mix Secondary
Preliminary Aeration Tank Tank Clarifier
Treatment To
Disinfection
Alumor Iron
Addition
Return Activated Sludge

Waste Activated
Sludge to
Digestion
Figure 3.11 Schematic diagram for chemical precipitation in water and wastewater
treatment plant.
of the electroplating facilities employ precipitation treatment using either

hydroxide, carbonate or sulfide treatment, or some combination to treat
their wastewaters. The most commonly used precipitation technique is the
hydroxide treatment due to its relative simplicity, low cost of precipitant
(lime), and ease of pH control (Peters et al., 1985). The metals are removed
by adding an alkali to adjust the wastewater pH to the point where precipi-
tation occurs. Is are removed metals exhibit minimum solubilities. The solu-
bilities of the various metal hydroxides are minimized for a pH in the range
of 8.0 to 11.0. The metal hydroxides can be removed by flocculation and sed-
imentation (Peters and Ku, 1985). Theoretically, hydroxide precipitation can
result in very low residual metal concentrations for several metals, although
it has several limitations. The optimum pH values for minimum solubility
differ for different metals, which may limit the degree of metals removed
when several different metals are precipitated simultaneously. Other con-
stituents in the wastewater, particularly complexing agents, to some extent
inhibit metal hydroxide precipitation. In addition. Hydroxide precipitation
generates large volumes of relatively low-density sludge, which can present
dewatering and disposal problems (Brantner and Cichon, 1981).
Carbonate and sulphide precipitation have been demonstrated to be
more effective treatment techniques for certain heavy metal solutions than
hydroxide precipitation (Peters and Ku, 1985). The advantages that carbon-
ate precipitation theoretically has over hydroxide precipitation includes a
lower metal carbonate solubility, a lower operating pH and a lower volume
of significantly denser sludge (Brantner and Cichon, 1981). Sulphide pre-
cipitation is also an effective process for the treatment of industrial wastes
containing highly toxic heavy metals. The attractive features of the sul-
phide process are the attainment of a high degree of metal removal over
a broad pH range, a lower detention time required in the reaction tank
because of the high reactivity of sulphides, and the feasibility of selective
metal recovery (Bhattacharyya et al., 1980). Two different processes exist
for sulphide precipitation of heavy metals, these are soluble sulphide pre-
cipitation (SSP) and insoluble sulphide precipitation (ISP), the difference
being on how the sulphide is introduced into the wastewater. In the SSP
process, sulphide is added in the form of a water soluble sulphide reagent
such as sodium sulphide or sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS). In the ISP pro-
cess, a slightly soluble ferrous sulphide (FeS) slurry is added to the waste-
water to supply the needed sulphide ions. Since most of the heavy metals
have sulphides less soluble than ferrous sulphide, they will displace the iron
to form highly insoluble metal sulphides. Advantages of the ISP process
include the absence of any detectable hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas. One
disadvantage of this process is that ferrous ion is released and precipitated
as the hydroxide in basic solutions. Another disadvantage of the process is

the considerably larger than stoichiometric reagent consumption and large
quantities of sludge being generated as a result of the conversion of the fer-
rous ion to ferric hydroxide formation (Peters and Ku, 1987). Economics
may justify partial precipitation with lime to the solubility of the hydroxide
followed by separation of the solid, and then by a secondary treatment with
sulphide for a further reduction of dissolved heavy metal.
3.6 Membrane Separation

Membrane separation is a promising technology from the energy saving point
of the selective separation of heavy metal ions when the metals are present in
high concentrations (Matheichal and Yu, 1999). These processes involve the
application of a pressure difference across a semi-permeable membrane to sep-
arate a solution into a concentrated and a more dilute (effluent) solution. A pilot
study employing crossflow micro-filtration unit to treat industrial wastewater
containing mixed metals discharged by plating waste showed that this process
was more efficient than other processes such as precipitation (Squires, 1992).
The main force of membrane technology is the fact that it works without
the addition of chemicals, with a relatively low energy use and easy and
well-arranged process conductions. Membrane technology is a generic term
for a number of different, very characteristic separation processes. These
processes are of the same kind, because in each of them a membrane is used
(Figures 3.12 and 3.13). Membranes are used more and more often for the
creation of process water from groundwater, surface water or wastewater.
Membranes are now competitive for conventional techniques. The membrane
separation process is based on the presence of semi permeable membranes.
The principle is quite simple: the membrane acts as a very specific filter
that will let water flow through, while it catches suspended solids and other
substances. There are various methods to enable substances to penetrate a
membrane. Examples of these methods are the applications of high pres-
sure, the maintenance of a concentration gradient on both sides of the
membrane and the introduction of an electric potential.
A combination of membrane technology and metal bioaccumula-
tion is also well known. Cross-flow microfiltration was shown to retain
Saccharomyces cerevisiae biomass used for heavy metal bioaccumulation.
The passage of metal-laden influent through a series of sequential bioac-
cumulation systems allowed for further reduction in the levels of Cu(II),
Cd(II), and Cr(III) in the final effluent than afforded by a single bioaccu-
mulation process (Brady et al., 1994).
Microfiltration Nanofiltration
Ultrafiltration Reverse Osmosis
E. coli Viruses Ions

Oil Proteins Small
Macromolecules Compounds
Colloids
Suspended
Particles
Figure 3.12 Membrane separation processes in water treatment plant.
Membrane Separation
Membrane
Feed
Pemeate
Particle or Solvent
Solute Molecule
Figure 3.13 Membrane separation processes in water treatment.
Huang and Koseoglu (1993) reported some advantages of membrane

processes for heavy metal removal, i.e., low energy requirement, small vol-
umes of reactants than needed to be handled and selective removal of pol-
lutants with use of complexion agents. Some disadvantages also reported
by Guha et al. (1994) include fouling of membranes by slightly soluble
components in solution is possible, as well as fouling of membranes of
wastewater high in suspended solids. Kapoor (1998) reported that mem-
brane processes are expensive, membrane fouling, limited lifetime and dis-
solution of membranes under corrosive conditions cause concerns in using
membrane processes for heavy metal removal.
However, membrane separation is a family of filtration processes in
which feed water is forced through a semi-permeable barrier (membrane)
at high pressure to separate specific materials from the solution (Figure

3.14). Membranes allow certain molecules or ions to pass through by diffu-
sion and sometimes by specialised ‘facilitated diffusion’. The rate of passage
depends on the pressure, concentration and temperature of the molecules
Ions Molecules Macro molecules

Microfiltration
Ultrafiltration
Nanofiltration
Reversed osmosis
1 nm 10 nm 100 nm 1 um
Figure 3.14 Membrane filtration classification.
Membrane
Pressure bar Pore size μm
Reverse Osmosis (RO) 30-60 10–4–10–3
Nano Filtration (NF) 20-40 10–3–10–2
Ultra Filtration (UF) 1-10 10–2–10–1
Micro Filtration (MF) <1 10–1–101
Bacteria, Fat
Proteins
Lactose
Minerals (salts)
Water
Figure 3.15 Relationship between pressure bar and membrane pore size (different types
of membranes).
or solutes on either side of the membrane, as well as the permeability of the

membrane to each solute (Figure 3.15). Membrane separation is a critical
treatment stage in a wide range of water treatment applications, including:
• Seawater and brackish water desalination

• Production of process and potable water
• Polishing and demineralisation of boiler feed water and
pharmaceutical water
• Rehabilitation and recycling of wastewater
• As part of an integrated zero liquid discharge process
Membrane configurations include spiralwrap, tubular, flat sheets and

capillary, and are used to separate particles ranging from approximately 10
µm and smaller. These processes, classified according to membrane pore
size, include microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nano-filtration
(NF) and reverse osmosis (RO).
3.6.1 Microfiltration
Microfiltration (MF) provides a physical barrier to a wide range of micro-
organisms, pathogens and suspended particles. Microfiltration usually
serves as a pre-treatment for other separation processes such as ultrafiltra-
tion, and a post-treatment for granular media filtration. The typical par-
ticle size used for microfiltration ranges from about 0.1 to 10 μm (Baker,
2012). In terms of approximate molecular weight these membranes can
separate macromolecules of molecular weights generally less than 100,000
g/mol (Kenna and Zander, 2000). The filters used in the microfiltration
process are specially designed to prevent particles such as, sediment, algae,
protozoa or large bacteria from passing through a specially designed filter.
More microscopic, atomic or ionic materials such as water (H2O), mon-
ovalent species such as Sodium (Na+) or Chloride (Cl−) ions, dissolved or
natural organic matter, and small colloids and viruses will still be able to
pass through the filter (Crittenden et al., 2012). Perhaps the most promi-
nent use of microfiltration membranes pertains to the treatment of potable
water supplies. The membranes are a key step in the primary disinfection
of the uptake water stream. Such a stream might contain pathogens such as
the protozoa Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia which are responsible
for numerous disease outbreaks. Both species show a gradual resistance
to traditional disinfectants (i.e. chlorine) (Baker, 2000; Perry and Green,
2007). The use of MF membranes presents a physical means of separa-
tion (a barrier) as opposed to a chemical alternative. In that sense, both
filtration and disinfection take place in a single step, negating the extra cost
of chemical dosage and the corresponding equipment (needed for han-
dling and storage).
It is a critical step in a wide range of treatment applications, includ-
ing potable water treatment and industrial and municipal wastewater
Figure 3.16 Microfiltration water treatment facility.
Figure 3.17 Inside of Microfiltration water treatment facility.

treatment, where it acts as both filter and disinfectant (Figures 3.16 and 3.17).
Microfiltration typically requires less than 2 bar pressure for the membrane sep-
aration process. Usually, water microfiltration is performed by cross-flow sepa-
ration, which involves a feed stream being introduced into the membrane under
pressure and passed over a membrane surface in a controlled flow path. The
portion of the feed stream that passes through the membrane is called permeate.
In addition to water treatment industries, the micro filtration process
has been using in the following several important industries:
• Sterilization
• Petroleum refining
• Dairy processing
• Clarification of dextrose
• Clarification and purification of cell
• Production of paints and adhesives
3.6.2 Ultrafiltration
Ultrafiltration (UF) is a variety of membrane filtration in which forces like
pressure or concentration gradients lead to a separation through a semi-
permeable membrane. Suspended solids and solutes of high molecular
weight are retained in the so-called retentate, while water and low molec-
ular weight solutes pass through the membrane in the permeate (filtrate).
This separation process is used in industry and research for purifying and
concentrating macromolecular (103 - 106 Da) solutions, especially pro-
tein solutions. Ultrafiltration (UF) is used to remove particulates and mac-
romolecules from water in potable water and wastewater treatment. It is
used either as a replacement for existing secondary and tertiary filtration,
or alongside these processes as an integrated treatment process in water
containing high suspended solids. Ultrafiltration membranes have a pore
size between 100 and 2 nm and require 1 to 10 bar pressure to operate.
Even though ultrafiltration (UF) process uses in different industries such
as chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, food and beverage pro-
cessing, but it has main application in water industries.
Ultrafiltration can be used for the removal of particulates and macro-
molecules from raw water to produce potable water. It has been used to
either replace existing secondary (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation)
and tertiary filtration (sand filtration and chlorination) systems employed
in water treatment plants or as standalone systems in isolated regions
with growing populations (Clever et al., 2000). When treating water with
high suspended solids, UF is often integrated into the process, utilising
primary (screening, flotation, filtration) and some secondary treatments

as pre-treatment stages (Laîné et al., 2000). UF processes are currently pre-
ferred over traditional treatment methods for the following reasons:
• No chemicals required (aside from cleaning)

• Constant product quality regardless of feed quality
• Compact plant size
• Capable of exceeding regulatory standards of water quality,
achieving 90–100% pathogen removal (AWWA, 1996).
Figure 3.18 Drinking water treatment 300 m3/h using ultrafiltration in Grundmühle
waterworks (Germany).
Figure 3.19 Inside of ultra-filtration Water Treatment Facility.

UF processes are currently limited by the high cost incurred due to

membrane fouling and replacement (Edwards et al., 2001). Additional
pretreatment of feed water is required to prevent excessive damage to the
membrane units (Figures 3.18 and 3.19). In many cases UF is used for
pre-filtration in reverse osmosis (RO) plants to protect the RO membranes.
In addition to the water treatment industries, the micro filtration pro-
cess has been using in the following several important industries:
• Protein concentration
• Filtration of effluent from paper pulp mill
• Cheese manufacture, see ultrafiltered milk
• Removal of some bacterias from milk
• Process and waste water treatment
• Enzyme recovery
• Fruit juice concentration and clarification
• Dialysis and other blood treatments
• Desalting and solvent-exchange of proteins (via diafiltration)
• Laboratory grade manufacturing
• Radiocarbon dating of bone collagen
3.6.3 Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration-based method that uses nanometer
sized through-pores that pass through the membrane. These synthetic mem-
branes are meant to have an opening ranging from 1-10 nanometers. This is
the smallest size over reverse osmosis. Membranes used are predominantly
created from polymer thin films (Roy et al., 2017; Raymond, 1999). Materials
that are commonly used include polyethylene terephthalate or metals such as
aluminum (Baker and Martin, 2007). Pore dimensions are controlled by pH,
temperature and time during development with pore densities ranging from 1
to 106 pores per cm2. Membranes made from polyethylene terephthalate and
other similar materials, are referred to as “track-etch” membranes, named after
the way the pores on the membranes are made (Apel et al., 2006). “Tracking”
involves bombarding the polymer thin film with high energy particles. This
results in making tracks that are chemically developed into the membrane, or
“etched” into the membrane, which are the pores. Membranes created from
metal such as alumina membranes, are made by electrochemically growing
a thin layer of aluminum oxide from aluminum metal in an acidic medium.
Nanofiltration (NF) has become popular in the membrane filtration pro-
cess used most often with low total dissolved solids water such as surface
water and fresh groundwater, with the purpose of softening (polyvalent
cation removal) and removal of disinfection by-product precursors such

as natural organic matter and synthetic organic matter (Roy et al., 2017;
Raymond, 1999). Nanofiltration (NF) is used in water treatment applica-
tions with low total dissolved solids (Figures 3.20 and 3.21). It is used for
water softening and the removal of organic by-products that may result
from earlier disinfection treatment. By retaining scale-forming hydrated
divalent ions while passing smaller hydrated monovalent ions, nanofiltra-
tion is an effective water softening solution. Nanofiltration is achieved with
membranes with pore sizes from 2 to 1 nm requiring 3 to 20 bar pressure.
To drinking water taps and

NF system schematic other culinary applications
NF membrane
Membrane system Purified
Raw system pump water Distribution
Permeate
water storage pump
tank
Concentrate Concentrate Distribution

storage pump
tank
To toilets and other

non-culinary application
Figure 3.20 Schematic diagram for nano filtration in water treatment plant.
Figure 3.21 Nano filtration unit in water treatment plant.

One of the main advantages of nanofiltration as a method of softening

water is that during the process of retaining calcium and magnesium ions
while passing smaller hydrated monovalent ions, filtration is performed
without adding extra sodium ions, as used in ion exchangers (Baker and
Martin, 2006). Many separation processes do not operate at room tem-
perature (e.g. distillation), which greatly increases the cost of the process
when continuous heating or cooling is applied. Performing gentle molec-
ular separation is linked with nanofiltration that is often not included with
other forms of separation processes (centrifugation). These are two of the
main benefits that are associated with nanofiltration. Nanofiltration has a
very favorable benefit of being able to process large volumes and contin-
uously produce streams of products. Still, Nanofiltration is the least used
method of membrane filtration in industry as the membrane pores sizes
are limited to only a few nanometers. Anything smaller, reverse osmosis
is used and anything larger is used for ultrafiltration. Ultrafiltration can
also be used in cases where nanofiltration can be used, due to it being
more conventional. A main disadvantage associated with nanotechnology,
as with all membrane filter technology, is the cost and maintenance of the
membranes used (Mohammad et al., 2007). Nanofiltration membranes are
an expensive part of the process. Repairs and replacement of membranes is
dependent on total dissolved solids, flow rate and components of the feed.
With nanofiltration being used across various industries, only an estimation
of replacement frequency can be used. This causes nanofilters to be replaced
a short time before or after their prime usage is complete (Figure 3.22).
Figure 3.22 Inside of nano-filtration Water Treatment Facility.

3.6.4 Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO), which uses membranes with pores of less than 1 nm,
is used in treating potable, ultrapure and process water, and is a key process
in brackish and seawater desalination. Because of the low porosity of these
membranes, RO requires high pressures (typically up to 80 bar) to func-
tion. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a par-
tially permeable membrane to remove ions, unwanted molecules and larger
particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is
used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property that is driven by
chemical potential differences of the solvent, a thermodynamic parameter.
Reverse osmosis can remove many types of dissolved and suspended chem-
ical species as well as biological ones (principally bacteria) from water, and
is used in both industrial processes and the production of potable water.
The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the mem-
brane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side. To be “selec-
tive”, this membrane should not allow large molecules or ions through the
pores (holes), but should allow smaller components of the solution (such as
solvent molecules, i.e., water, H2O) to pass freely (Warsinger et al., 2016).
In the normal osmosis process, the solvent naturally moves from an area
of low solute concentration (high water potential), through a membrane,
to an area of high solute concentration (low water potential). The driving
force for the movement of the solvent is the reduction in the free energy
of the system when the difference in solvent concentration on either side
of a membrane is reduced, generating osmotic pressure due to the solvent
moving into the more concentrated solution. Applying an external pres-
sure to reverse the natural flow of pure solvent, thus, is reverse osmosis.
The process is similar to other membrane technology applications.
Reverse osmosis differs from filtration in that the mechanism of fluid
flow is by osmosis across a membrane. The predominant removal mecha-
nism in membrane filtration is straining, or size exclusion, where the pores
are 0.01 micrometers or larger, so the process can theoretically achieve per-
fect efficiency regardless of parameters such as the solution’s pressure and
concentration. Reverse osmosis instead involves solvent diffusion across a
membrane that is either nonporous or uses nanofiltration with pores 0.001
micrometers in size. The predominant removal mechanism is from dif-
ferences in solubility or diffusivity, and the process is dependent on pres-
sure, solute concentration, and other conditions (Warsinger et al., 2016).
Reverse osmosis is most commonly known for its use in drinking water
purification from seawater, removing the salt and other effluent materials
from the water molecules (Panagopoulos et al., 2019).
Around the world, household drinking water purification systems, includ-

ing a reverse osmosis step, are commonly used for improving water for drink-
ing and cooking (Figure 3.23). Such systems typically include the following
number of steps:
• A sediment filter to trap particles, including rust and cal-

cium carbonate
• Optionally, a second sediment filter with smaller pores
• An activated carbon filter to trap organic chemicals and chlorine,
which will attack and degrade a thin film composite membrane
• A reverse osmosis filter, which is a thin film composite
membrane
• Optionally, a second carbon filter to capture those chemicals
not removed by the reverse osmosis membrane
• Optionally an ultraviolet lamp for sterilizing any microbes
that may escape filtering by the reverse osmosis membrane
The latest developments in the sphere include nano materials and mem-
branes. In addition to the water treatment industries, the micro filtration
process has been using in the following several important industries:
• Food industries
• Maple syrup production
Shut-Off
Valve
Cold Water 5 Purified Water
Supply Line To RO Faucet
1 6 9
2 2 3 4
Pre-Filter Carbon Membrane Post

Filter Filter
Storage
Tank
Flow
Restrictor 8
7
10
Impurites Out
To Drain
Figure 3.23 Schematic diagram for water purification systems using reverse osmosis.
• Hydrogen production
• Aquariums
• Window cleaning
3.7 Ion Exchange

The ion exchange technique is known to be an attractive method for the
removal of small amounts of impurities from dilute wastewater (Figure
3.24). It also permits the recirculation of high quality water for reuse,
thus saving on water consumption. However, the limited capacity of ion
exchange systems means that relatively large installations are necessary
to provide the exchange capability needed between regeneration cycles.
Different types of ion exchangers were used for removal of heavy metals
from their solutions. A number of resins which are highly selective for
heavy metals are commercially available. However, the higher the selec-
tivity, the more strongly the metals are bound to the resin and the more
difficult it usually is to desorb them. This increases the consumption of a
regenerant (s) and hence the operating cost.
HARD WATER
Softener
Resin Tank
Depleted
Resin Beads
Partially Depleted
Resin Beads
Charged
Resin Beads
Ion Exchange
Resin
Magnesium ions
Calcium ions
Sodium ions
SOFT WATER
Figure 3.24 Ion exchange resin used in water treatment processes.

Ion exchange is a reversible chemical reaction wherein an ion (an atom

or molecule that has lost or gained an electron and thus acquired an electri-
cal charge) from solution is exchanged for a similarly charged ion attached
to an immobile solid particle. These solid ion exchange particles are either
naturally occurring inorganic zeolites or synthetically produced organic
resins. The synthetic organic resins are the predominant type used today
because their characteristics can be tailored to specific applications. An
organic ion exchange resin is composed of highmolecular-weight polye-
lectrolytes that can exchange their mobile ions for ions of similar charge
from the surrounding medium. Each resin has a distinct number of mobile
ion sites that set the maximum quantity of exchanges per unit of resin. The
industry application most familiar with ion exchange technology is metal
plating. Most plating process water is used to cleanse the surface of the
parts after each process bath. To maintain quality standards, the level of
dissolved solids in the rinse water must be regulated. Fresh water added to
the rinse tank accomplishes this purpose, and the overflow water is treated
to remove pollutants and then discharged. As the metal salts, acids, and
bases used in metal finishing are primarily inorganic compounds, they are
ionized in water and could be removed by contact with ion exchange res-
ins. In a water deionization process, the resins exchange hydrogen ions
(H+) for the positively charged ions (such as nickel, copper, and sodium),
and hydroxyl ions (OH-) for negatively charged sulfates, chromates and
chlorides. Because the quantity of HH- and OH ions is balanced, the
result of the ion exchange treatment is relatively pure, neutral water. Ion
exchange technology is applied in many other industry sectors, includ-
ing the petroleum and chemical industries, as well as general wastewater
treatment applications. The technology is most often compared to reverse
osmosis, since both technologies are often aimed at similar objectives. In
this regard, in addition to discussing ion exchange as a technology, we
will also review some of the operational tradeoffs and economics of the
two processes in this chapter. Ion exchange is a well-known method for
softening or for demineralizing water. Although softening could be useful
in some instances, the most likely application for ion exchange in waste-
water treatment is for demineralization. Many ion-exchange materials are
subject to fouling by organic matter. It is possible that treatment of sec-
ondary effluent for suspended-solids removal and possibly soluble organic
removal will be required before carrying out ion exchange. Many natu-
ral materials and, more importantly, certain synthetic materials have the
ability to exchange ions from an aqueous solution for ions in the material
itself. Cation-exchange resins can, for example, replace cations in solution
with hydrogen ions. Similarly, anion-exchange resins can either replace
anions in solution with hydroxyl ions or absorb the acids produced from
the cation-exchange treatment. A combination of these cation-exchange
and anion-exchange treatments results in a high degree of demineraliza-
tion. Since the exchange capacity of ion-exchange materials is limited, they
eventually become exhausted and must be regenerated. The cation resin
is regenerated with an acid; the anion resin is regenerated with a base.
Important considerations in the economics of ion exchange are the type
and amounts of chemicals needed for regeneration. Often, water to be
demineralized is first passed through a cation-exchange material requiring
a strong acid, usually sulfuric, for regeneration. The exchange material is
referred to as strong acid resin. The amount of acid regenerant is somewhat
more than the stoichiometric amount, possibly 100 percent excess or more.
If sulfuric acid is the regenerating acid, a waste brine is produced consist-
ing of sulfates of the various actions in the water being treated. Because
the partially treated water contains mineral acids, it is common to pass it
next through an acid-absorbing resin or weak base resin. This resin can be
regenerated with either a weak or strong base. The efficiency of regener-
ant use is quite high with these resins. consisting of sulfates of the various
actions in the water being treated. Because the partially treated water con-
tains mineral acids, it is common to pass it next through an acid-absorbing
resin or weak base resin. This resin can be regenerated with either a weak
or strong base. The efficiency of regenerant use is quite high with these
resins. Water problems in cooling, heating, steam generation, and manu-
facturing are caused in large measure from the kinds and concentrations
of dissolved solids, dissolved gases, and suspended matter in the makeup
water supplied. Table 3.3 lists the major objectionable ionic constituents
present in many water supplies that can be removed by demineralization.
Prevention of scale and other deposits in cooling and boiling waters is best
accomplished by removal of dissolved solids. Whereas in municipal water
purification such removal is limited to the partial reduction of hardness
and the removal of iron and manganese, in industrial water treatment it is
often carried much further and may include the complete removal of hard-
ness, the reduction or removal of alkalinity, the removal of silica, or even
the complete removal of all dissolved solids.
3.8 Ozonation
Ozone (O3) was first identified by its odor. The name “ozone” is derived
from the Greek word ozein, meaning, “to smell”. It was not until 1840 that
Schönbein reported the pungent odor as a new substance he called ozone.
Table 3.3 Common ionic constituents contained in water (Nicholas P.C., 2002).
Constituent of
No. concern Chemical designation Resultant problems
01. Hardness Calcium and magnesium salts in This is the primary source of scaling in heat exchange equipment,
the forms of CaCO2, Ca, Mg. boilers, pipelines/transfer lines, etc. Tends to form curds with
soap and interferes with dyeing applications as well.
02. Alkalinity Bicarbonate (HCO3), Carbonate Causes foaming and carryover of solids with steam. Can cause
(CO3), and hydrate (OH), embrittlement of boiler steel. Biocarbonate and carbonate
expressed as CaCO3. generate CO2 in steam, a source of corrosion.
03. Free mineral H2SO4, HCl, and other acids, Causes rapid corrosion and deterioration of surfaces.
acidity expressed as CaCO3.
04. Chloride Ci- Interferes with silvering processes and increase TDS.
05. Sulfates (SO4)= Results in the formation of calcium sulfate scale.
06. Iron and Fe+2 (ferrous) Fe+3 (ferric) Discolors water, and results in the formation of deposits in water
manganese Mn+2 lines, boilers and other heat exchangers. Can interfere with
dying, tanning, paper manufacture and various process works.
07. Carbon dioxide CO2 Results in the corrosion of water lines, especially steam and
condensate lines.
08. Silica SiO2 Results in the formation of scale in boilers and cooling water
systems, can produce insoluble scale on turbine blades due to
silica vaporization in high pressure boilers (usually over 600 psi).
The formula for ozone was not determined until 1865 by Jacques - Louis
Soret and confirmed by Schönbein in 1867. In 1886, the first experimental
use of ozone in water for disinfection was in de Meritence, France. As early
as 1892, several experimental plants were in operation in European towns.
In 1906, the first full - scale plant to disinfect water was the Bon Voyage
Plant in France on the Vesubie River. In the United States, ozone was first
used in 1908. Ozone has been utilized for more than a century for water
treatment. Currently, several thousand municipal water treatment plants
(WTPs) use ozone as part of their chemical treatment. In the United States,
more than 300 large - scale facilities with a combined treatment capacity of
more than 14 billion gal/day are using ozone to treat water and wastewater.
Ozone is one of the strongest oxidants and disinfectants used in treat-
ing water and wastewater. It is used internationally for the treatment of
synthetic organic compounds (SOCs), oxidation of reduced metals, and
removal of taste – and odor - causing compounds, color, turbidity, total
organic carbon (TOC), and chlorine disinfection by - product (DBP) pre-
cursors. In addition, ozone is a powerful disinfectant that can be used to
inactivate viruses, bacteria such as coliforms, Escherichia coli, Giardia lam-
blia, and even Cryptosporidium oocysts, under certain circumstances.
Ozone absorbs light in the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet (UV) wave-
lengths. It has an absorption maximum at 253.7 nm, which leads to its
photodecomposition to atomic oxygen and molecular oxygen. It is this
property that allows ozone, in the upper atmosphere, to shield the earth
from damaging UV rays. In addition, ozone can be produced from molec-
ular oxygen in the presence of UV light at 185 nm. Ozone is extremely
corrosive. Therefore, materials of construction must be carefully chosen.
It attacks most metals except type 316 stainless steel, gold, and platinum.
Porcelain and glass do not react with ozone. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and
other plastics are generally not compatible with ozone gas, although flu-
oropolymers such as Goretex, Hypalon, Kalrez, Kynar, Teflon, or Viton
are resistant to oxidation by ozone. Restructured polytetrafl uoroethylene
(PTFE), specifically Garlock Style 3500, is used often as gasket material in
high concentration ozone applications. Select physical properties of ozone
are listed in Table 3.4.
Ozone is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms (O3), which is one of
the most powerful oxidants. Ozonation is a type of advanced oxidation
process, involving the production of very reactive oxygen species able to
attack a wide range of organic compounds and all microorganisms. The
treatment of water with ozone has a wide range of applications, as it is effi-
cient for disinfection as well as for the degradation of organic and inorganic
pollutants. Ozone is produced with the use of energy by subjecting oxygen
Table 3.4 Select physical properties of ozone are listed.

U.S Units SI Units
Molecular weight 48.00 48.00
Specific gravity of gas (air 1.0) 1.66 1.66
Boiling point at 1 atm –169.4 ºF –111.9 ºC
Latent heat of gas at boiling point 127 Btu/lb 279 kJ/kg
and 1 atm
Specific heat of gas at 32 ºF (0 ºC) 0.183 Btu/ (lb ºF) 0.767 kJ/ (kg ºC)
and 1 atm
Solubility in water, vol/vol at 32 ºF (0 ºC) 0.64 0.64
Weight of liquid at boiling point 84.4lb/ft3 1352 kg/m3
Weight of gas at normal temperature 0.1337 lb/ft3 2.142 g/l
and pressure (0 ºC and 1atm)
Weight od gas at standard temperature 0.1246 lb/ft3 1.996g/l
and pressure (20 ºC and 1 atm)
(O2) to high electric voltage or to UV radiation. The required amounts of

ozone can be produced at the point of use but the production requires a
lot of energy and is therefore costly. Ozone has several advantages in the
water treatment process including: (i) rapidly reacts with bacteria, viruses
and protozoa over a wide pH range, (ii) stronger germicidal properties
than chlorination, (iii) no chemicals are added to water (iv) efficient for
organics degradation and inorganics removal and (v) removes colour, taste
and odour. Reversely, ozone has several disadvantages as well including:
(i) relatively high equipment costs, (ii) requires large amounts of energy,
(iii) qualified professionals required for design and system maintenance,
(iv) formation of potentially harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs) in
the case of brome existence in water.
However, ozone, a powerful oxidant, along with chlorine and hydrogen
peroxide, are used commercially as oxidants in potable water and waste-
water treatment plants. Ozone has the ability to oxidize a great number of
organic and inorganic materials, especially those deemed to be hazardous.
Some organic materials may be oxidized by ozone to produce CO2 and
water, or in the case of inorganic compounds, stable, insoluble metal oxide
products. Oxidized products are less harmful than those produced by
chlorination. Therefore, ozonation is attracting much attention for water
treatment (Figure 3.25).
Automatic
filtration
Storage tank/
system
contact column
Ozone
Injector
Pump/
pressure
tank
Ozone
Generator
From Cleaned
Recirculating
Well filtered water
filtered water line
Figure 3.25 Ozonation process using in water treatment plant.
Ozonation can achieve high purity levels of waters for even refractory
pollutants has a thermodynamic oxidation potential that is the highest of
the common oxidants, 2.07 V. In principle, ozone should be able to oxidize
inorganic substances to their highest stable oxidation States and organic
compounds to carbon dioxide and water (Glaze et al., 1987). To be really
effective however, the ozonation processes require the adoption of proper
operating conditions chosen on the basis of the specific chemical proper-
ties and kinetic features of the systems under examination Ozone can react
with organic substrates according to different chemical mechanisms rang-
ing from ionic to radical pathways (Andreozzi et al., 1991).
Ozone is made by rupturing the stable oxygen molecule forming two
oxygen fragments, which can combine with oxygen molecules to form
ozone. Nature generates ozone continuously by means of sunlight acting
upon oxygen in the atmosphere, or intermittently by lightning passing
through the air. This latter, natural process is simulated in the production
of commercial ozone by passing high voltage electrical discharges through
air or oxygen (Rice and Browning, 1980).
O2 ↔ 2 O 

The stability of dissolved ozone (or its half-life) is readily affected by pH,
ultraviolet (UV) light, ozone concentration, and the concentration of rad-
icals OHn formed during ozone generation. Ozone decomposition is first
order with respect to both ozone and hydroxide ions producing oxygen as
the final product (Langlais et al., 1991). The overall rate equation is:
d O3 
−   = k O3  OH − 
dt
Where,
k
k=
OH − 
 
k’ is the pseudo first-order rate constant for a given pH value.
The reaction with inorganic compounds found in water generally follows a
first order kinetic law with respect to both ozone and the oxidizable compound.
The ozone disappearance rate can be expressed by equations of the following
form where [M] represents the concentration of the inorganic pollutant:
d O3 
−   = kO3 O3   M 
dt
Metals which can exist in solution in more than one valence state gen-
erally can be oxidized to their higher (or highest) state by means of ozone.
For example, iron (II) is quantitatively oxidized to iron (III), which then
hydrotyzes to produce the easily flocculated Fe(OH)3, and which can then
be readily separated from solution (Rice, 1980)
O3 − + Fe 2+ + H 2O → O2 + Fe 3+ + 2OH −
If these oxidized metal ions or their hydrolysis products are insoluble in

water, ozonation will allow their direct conversion to filterable compounds.
Hydroxides of many of these metals are insoluble, thus conducting ozona-
tion in a basic pH range should allow their removal from solution.
3.9 UV Radiation
Ultraviolet (UV) systems have been designed to disinfect drinking water,
wastewater effluent, wastewater effluent for water reuse, stormwater, and
combined sewer overflows. During its history, the implementation of UV

disinfection systems has been impacted by numerous advancements in the
technology as well as changes in regulations, the public desire for greener
technology, and upgrading treatment processes and methods used for
design and operation of UV facilities. These changes have made it possible
to apply UV disinfection over a wide range of conditions and resulted in
rapid growth in the use of UV systems in the United States and throughout
the world.
In 1878, the germicidal effects of radiant energy from the sun were first
documented by Downs and Blunt. Although the mercury vapor lamp was
first invented by Wheatstone in 1835, it was prone to stability and deteri-
oration issues. The practical application of UV light for disinfection did
not occur until the first commercially viable mercury vapor lamp was pro-
duced by Cooper - Hewitt in 1901 and the discovery of quartz as the ideal
material for the lamp envelope in 1905. The first UV disinfection system
was installed in Marseilles, France, in 1910 but was unreliable and compli-
cated to operate.
The earliest documented UV installation for drinking water disinfection
in the United States was in 1916 in Henderson, Kentucky, with four known
UV installations in operation by 1928. Due to advances in the production and
application of chlorine gas coupled with reliability issues of these early UV
systems, all of these installations were no longer operational by the late 1930s,
and the development of UV disinfection was hampered for several decades.
UV plants consist of UV lamps installed in stainless steel housing in a
defined arrangement. The water to be treated passes evenly through the
housing. Basic requirement for an effective destruction or deactivation of
microorganism is an evenly strong UV radiation through the water within
the UV plant. This requires a largely particle free, clear filtered water.
Furthermore, iron and manganese need to be removed beforehand to avoid
creation of any coating on the UV lamp protection tubes. UV plants are
operated inline without the need for a break tank and pump station down-
stream to assure the required reaction time as it is necessary for chlorine or
chlorine dioxide. On the other hand UV treatment of the water has no last-
ing effect. The water is straight after UV treatment prone to reinfection. UV
protects the brew water when being stored after treatment. During brew
water consumption disinfected water is permanently fed into the storage
tank. At times with no consumption the content of the storage tank is cir-
culated through the UV plant and thus kept microbiological clean.
Ultraviolet water purification is the most effective method for disinfect-
ing bacteria from the water. Ultraviolet (UV) rays penetrate harmful patho-
gens in your home’s water and destroy illness-causing microorganisms by
attacking their genetic core (DNA). This is extremely efficient in eliminat-

ing their ability to reproduce. Disinfecting your water with Ultraviolet light
is exceptionably simple, effective and environmentally safe. UV systems
destroy 99.99% of harmful microorganisms without adding chemicals or
changing your water’s taste or odor. UV water purification is usually used
with other forms of filtration such as reverse osmosis systems or carbon
block filters (Figures 3.26 and 3.27).
UV systems are an effective means of water disinfection for residential
point of entry use to help disinfect the entire home. UV systems are highly
recommended to homeowners who may suspect any E. coli, cryptosporid-
ium, giardia or any other types of bacteria and viruses in the water. It is not
advised to use chlorine or other chemicals to disinfect water like private
well owners, because of the toxic byproducts they create. It is important to
avoid drinking any water that is potentially contaminated from bacteria to
protect yourself from any water-borne bacterial diseases.
Ultraviolet Purification for water purification has reportedly the follow-
ing several advantages and disadvantages including:
Advantages:
• Chemical Free: UV purification does not use any chemicals

like chlorine or leave any harmful by products. This conclu-
sion is derived from the fact that UV generated from arti-
ficial sources is considered to be ‘chemical free’. Islam et al.
(2016) have demonstrated that this assumption is not valid.
More discussion on this topic will be done in Chapter 6.
Figure 3.26 UV systems for water treatment.

Figure 3.27 UV Disinfectant systems in water treatment plant.
• Taste & Odor Free: UV does not add any chemical taste or
odor to the water.
• Extremely Effective: One of the most effective ways to kill
disease-causing microbes by destroying 99.99%.
• Requires very little energy: Uses about the same energy as it
would to run a 60 watt light bulb.
• Low Maintenance: Set and forget type of system, just change
UV bulb annually. Ultraviolet Purification Advantages
Disadvantages:
Ultraviolet purification itself is not enough to purify water down to drink-
ing water purposes. This is because the UV radiation is only effective for
treating bacteria and viruses. UV light does not work to eliminate con-
taminants such as chlorine, heavy metals and VOC’s (Volatile Organic
Compounds). UV systems are often paired with Reverse Osmosis Systems
to provide a complete purification process for the safest drinking water.
3.10 Adsorption
Adsorption is a mass transfer process by which a substance is transferred
from the liquid phase to the surface of a solid, and becomes bound by phys-
ical and/or chemical interactions (Kurniawan and Babel, 2003). Sorption
depends heavily on individual experimental conditions such as pH, metal

concentration, temperature, contact time, competing ions and particle size
(Chuah, 2005). Adsorption of metal ions onto activated carbon, sandstone,
fly ash, natural minerals (e.g. clay) and other surface reactive adsorbents
has been widely used in waste water treatment and significant progress has
been made in the past two decades. This method is capable of removing
most toxic species, including Cu(II), Cr(VI), Pb(II), and Zn(II) (Liu, 1996).
The adsorption is characterized by its high porosity, where the pores are
generally very small, internal surface area is much greater than the external
surface area. Differences in molecular weight of polarity cause some mole-
cules to be held more strongly on the surface than others (McCabe, 1985).
Most adsorption processes have only been tested at the pilot plant level
and the applicability to full scale treatment is effective only in the recovery
of gold cyanide from its pregnant leaching solution (Marsden and House,
1992). Since most adsorption processes are performed in a column packed
with adsorbents, a pre-filtration step is needed for most industrial applica-
tions in order to remove finely-divided solids which may, otherwise, clog
the channels available for transporting liquid.
3.10.1 Existing Sorbents

An adsorption process is an attractive option for the removal of heavy met-
als from wastewater (Figure 3.28). Different varieties of sorbents are used
for the removal of inorganic and organic compounds present in water and
wastewater treatment. Activated carbon is a commonly used adsorbent
but its cost renders it economically not competitive. Cost is an important
Wastewater Mixing and Adsorption Low Field Separation

Heavy
Metal Ions
Captured Fe3O4
Control the
Flow Rate
N S
Fe3O4 Low Field

~0.07 T Pump
Magnetic Filter
Purified Water
Figure 3.28 Schematic illustration of heavy metals removal from waste water combined
with adsorption.
parameter for comparing the sorbent materials. In recent years, the search
for low-cost adsorbents that have metal-binding capacities has intensi-
fied. Materials locally available in large quantities such as natural materi-
als, agricultural waste or industrial byproducts can be utilized as low-cost
adsorbents. Some of these materials can be used as adsorbents with little
processing (Kurniawan et al., 2005). Conversion of these materials into
activated carbon, which can be used as an adsorbent for water purifica-
tion, would improve economic value, helping industries reduce the cost of
waste disposal and providing a potential alternative to activated carbon.
To achieve an economically effective treatment of metal-contaminated
wastewater, various low-cost materials have been investigated worldwide.
In general, a sorbent can be assumed as “low cost” if it requires little pro-
cessing, is abundant in nature, or is a by-product or waste material from
another industry. The following paragraph will briefly describe some of
these adsorbents derived from agricultural waste, industrial byproducts,
natural materials and miscellaneous.
3.10.2 Agricultural Waste

Rice bran/rice hulls/rice husk: Rice bran is naturally available as an agri-
cultural waste in everywhere (Figure 3.29). It contains about 20% silica,
and has been reported as a good sorbent of many metals and basic dyes
Figure 3.29 Rice husk/rice hulls.

(Suemitsu et al., 1986; Marshall et al., 1993; Low et al., 1995). Without
significant processing, Montanher et al. (2005) employed rice bran for the
removal of cadmium (II), cupper (II), lead (II) and zinc (II) from waste-
water. It was reported that the rice has higher adsorption capacity of lead
and then cadmium, zinc, and copper. Rice bran has its granular struc-
ture, insolubility in water, chemical stability and local availability which
gives it advantages as an adsorbent. Rice bran IR-spectrum showed four
intense bands, around 3400, 2930, 1700 and 1030 cm-1. These bands were
assigned to methylene groups, carboxylate groups, amino groups, ketonic
and aldehydic respectively on the surface of wood sawdust. The rice bran
IR-spectrums indicated the presence of ionisable functional groups able
to bind with heavy metal ions, and showed the influence of pH on the
deprotonation of functional groups. Montanher et al. (2005) also reported
that the maximum removal of heavy metals was achieved at a pH value
around 5-6 for all the metal ions investigated. The equilibrium capacity for
metal ions sorption onto rice bran increased on increasing the initial metal
ion concentration up to certain concentration, and then did not change
with additional increase of initial metal concentration (Chuah et al., 2005).
Singh et al. (2005) reported that rice polish was a novel biosorbent, which
could be successfully utilized for the removal of cadmium(II) from waste-
water. The maximum removal of cadmium (II) was found to be 9.72 mg/g
at pH 8.6, when the initial concentration of Cd(II) was125 mg/l and tem-
perature of 20ºC.
The applicability of Langmuir isotherm showed monolayer coverage
of the adsorbate on the surface of adsorbents. Tarley et al. (2004) also
reported that modified rice husks have a higher sorption capacity on Pb(II)
and Cr(II) compared with the unmodified rice husks. Rice hulls have been
used by Roy et al. (1993) to study the uptake of different heavy metals from
aqueous solutions. Their study with dried Chlarella minutssma cells and
ground rice hulls removed more than 90% of Sr, Pb, Cd, Ni, Zn, Co, Cr
and As. Kim and Choi (1998) characterized adsorption on rice hulls by the
explanation of inner diffusion in micro pores, surface area and different
size of heavy metals. Roy et al. (1993) compared the adsorption capacity
of single metal test and mixture metal test in presence of the green algae.
In this regard, they noted that the ratio of the initial metal concentration
in the two tests could be very important. They compared the product of
observed adsorption capacity in single test and the ratio with the observed
adsorption capacity of the mixture test and found that the predicted and
observed values were very close. The close agreement between the pre-
dicted and observed adsorption capacity suggested that the adsorption
process was non-competitive. Heavy metals such as Cd, Pb and Zn showed
less than 1% difference between the predicted and observed adsorption

capacity values. These rice husks, as the commodity waste, can be made
into activated carbons which are also used as adsorbents in water purifi-
cation or the treatment of industrial wastewater (Chuah et al., 2005). Rice
husk activated carbon was studied by Bishnoi et al. (2003) for the removal
of chromium (VI) form aqueous solution. At pH 2.0, the maximum metal
was removed by rice husk and multilayer adsorption might occur on the
surface of adsorbent, as indicated by the applicability of the Freundlich
isotherm for the equilibrium data. However, Ajmal et al. (2003) reported
that the Langmuir isotherm was representative for the metal equilibrium
data of rice husk. These differences could be due to the extent of surface
modification on the individual adsorbent. Bishnoi et al. (2003) employed
formaldehyde for pretreatment of rice husk, while K2HPO4 was used by
Ajmal et al. (2003). The two chemicals have different effects on the extent
of surface modification that affects their reactivity in adsorbing heavy met-
als from solution.
Orange peel: Several researchers have studied orange peel as an adsor-
bent to removal of heavy metal. The adsorption capacity of orange peel
was shown in the order of Ni(II) > Cu(II) > Pb(II) > Zn(II) > Cr(II) (Ajmal
et al., 2000). The extent of removal of Ni(II) was found to be dependent on
sorbent dose, initial concentration, pH and temperature. The adsorption
follows first-order kinetics. The process is endothermic showing mono-
layer adsorption of Ni(II), with a maximum adsorption of 96% at 50°C for
an initial concentration of 50 mg/l at pH 6. As similar study was under-
taken by Annadurai et al. (2002) but Tonni et al. (2005) reported that the
result obtained by Ajmal et al. (2000) when the initial concentration of
Ni(II) was 1000 ppm, was significantly higher than that of a similar study
undertaken by Annadurai et al. (2002) when the initial concentration of
Ni(II) was 25ppm. Tonni et al. (2005) suggested that the adsorption capac-
ity of an adsorbent depends on the initial concentration of adsorbate.
Coconut shell: Coconut shell is an agricultural waste from coconut
industry. Babel and Kurniawan (2004b) studied the of coconut shell char-
coal (CSC) modified with oxidizing agents and/or chitosan for Cr(VI)
removal from wastewater (Figure 3.30). To make Cr removal by CSC more
economical, Kurniawan (2002) studied the regeneration of the spent adsor-
bent and reported that desorption and regeneration of CSC with NaOH
and HNO3 still enabled the same column for multiple uses in subsequent
cycle with a regeneration efficiency of more than 95% (Kurniawan, 2002).
Babel and Kurniawan (2004b) found that CSC oxidized with nitric acid
had higher Cr adsorption capacities (10.88 mg/g) than that oxidized with
sulfuric acid (4.05 mg/g) or coated with chitosan (3.65 mg/g). The results
Figure 3.30 Coconut based best activated carbon.
suggest that surface modification of CSC with a strong oxidizing agent

generated more adsorption sites on its solid surface for metal adsorption.
Hazelnut shell: Cimino et al. (2000) investigated the removal of cad-
mium, zinc and chromium ions from aqueous solutions using hazelnut shell
as biosorbent substrate (Figure 3.31). Batch equilibrium tests showed that
Figure 3.31 Hazelnut shell.

the maximum removal of Cd2+, Cr3+ and Zn2+ ions was observed only into
a specific pH range from 4 to 6. Cimino et al. (2000) reported that that the
metal ion sorption obeyed both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and
more Cr3+ ions were removed than both Cd2+ and Zn2+ ions. Ni(II) removal
from simulated solution using hazelnut shell activated carbon was studied
by Demirbas et al. (2002). They found that metal adsorption improved with
an increasing temperature, suggesting that the adsorption was endothermic.
The optimum Ni(II) removal took place at pH 3.0 with metal adsorption
capacity of 10.11 mg/g, when the initial metal concentration was 15 mg/L.
(Kobya et al., 2004) investigated the Cr(VI) adsorption capacity using hazel-
nut shell with an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 1000 mg/L. About 70 mg/g of
Cr(VI) capacity occurred at pH 1.0. The results indicate that the adsorption
capacity of individual adsorbent depends on the initial metal concentration.
Peanut Husk: Peanut husk carbon prepared from peanut husks (PHC,
Figure 3.32) has been used for the adsorption of Pb2+, Zn2+, Ni2+ and Cd2+,
over a range of initial metal ion concentration (0.15 mM). The results show
that Pb2+ has best affinity to PHC than Cd2+, Ni2+, Zn2+ (Ricordel et al.,
2001). From the FTIR study it was reported that PHC contained polar
functional groups such as aldehydes, ketones, acids and phenols and these
groups could be involved in chemical bonding and would be responsible
for the adsorption capacity of the PHC (Ricordel et al., 2001). Functional
identification on the basis of IR spectrum were referred to the IR spec-
tra of carbons of other works (Bautista-Toledo et al., 1994; Fanning and
Vannice, 1993). Periasamy and Namasivayam (1995) studied the peanut
hulls as an adsorbent for Ni(II) removal from synthetic solution and it
was observed that the maximum Ni(II) removal from synthetic solution
Figure 3.32 Peanut husk.

using peanut hull was observed at pH ranging from 4–5 in batch test. But
in column studies the maximum Cu(II) removal (65.57 mg/g) occurred
at pH ranging from 6–10. This result is significantly higher than that of
Brown et al. (2000), who also employed peanut hulls in batch studies for
Cu(II) removal with an adsorption capacity of 10.17 mg/g. This phenom-
enon could be due to the inherent difference in the nature of both studies.
In batch experiments, the concentration gradient decreased with increas-
ing contact time; while in column operation, the adsorbent continuously
had physicochemical contact with fresh feeding solution at the interface of
the adsorption zone, as the adsorbate solution passed through the column.
Consequently, Rao et al. (2002) studied the metal removal by peanut hull
in column studies and it was reported that the removal capacity was more
in column studies rather than that in batch studies.
3.10.3 Industrial By-Products

A wide variety of industrial by-products such as chitin, fly ash, waste iron
metallic iron, hydrous titanium oxide, red mud, etc were investigated as
adsorbents for heavy metals removal. Several studies have been conducted
on the potentiality of industrial by-products for metal removal and it has
been reported that industrial byproducts might be used as cost-effective
adsorbents. Maximum industrial by-products are inexpensive and abun-
dantly available that can be obtained from industrial processing only. They
can be chemically modified to improve their removal performance. The
remainder of the section will briefly describe some of these industrial
by-products that might be used as adsorbents.
Chitin and Chitosan: Chitosan can be produced chemically from chi-
tin and the chemical production of chitosan is not very costly. It is also
found naturally in some fungal cell walls. Both chitin and chitosan are
inexpensive and abundant. Both have highly adsorbent capacity to remove
heavy metal from aqueous solution (Rahman et al., 2004). Berkeley (1979)
and Rorrer et al. (1993) reported that chitin is second only to cellulose in
terms of abundance in nature and is found in the exoskeletons of crabs
and other arthropods and in the cell walls of some fungi. Chitin is also
a waste product of the crab meat canning industry. Metal adsorption
capacity of chitosan is five to six times greater than of chitin due to the
free amino groups exposed during deacetylation (Yang and Zall, 1984).
Bailey et al. (1999) mentioned some factors such as crystallinity, percent
deacetylation, and amino group content that affect adsorption. Bailey
et al. (1999) also appreciated the necessity of loose cross-linking with glu-
taraldehyde as suggested by Kurita et al. (1986) to ensure most effective
adsorption and stability, but they also did mention some of the limitations
of chitosan. It is soluble in acidic solution and it is nonporous and that
again necessitates the technique of acylation to increase porosity (Hsien,
1995). Moreover, improvement in sorption is obtained by grafting func-
tional groups such as amino acid esters, pyridil etc. Bailey et al. (1999) is
associated with great complexity that may limit the use of chitosan. The
adsorption capacity of chitosan could be improved by the substitution of
various functional groups, such as organic acids, onto the chitosan back-
bone. Some functional groups grafted to chitosan to improve adsorption
capacity are pyridyl (Baba and Hirakawa, 1992), amino acid esters (Ishii
et al., 1995; Rahman et al., 2003), oxo-2-glutaric acid (Guibal et al., 1994),
and polyethyle-nimine (Kawamura et al., 1993) substituted pyridine rings
(Tong et al., 1991).
Fly ash: Bailey et al. (1999) reported that fly ash consists of carbon and
oxides of silica, alumina and iron (Figure 3.33). Grover and Narayanaswamy
(1982) observed that fly ash, a waste product from thermal power plants,
has some adsorption capabilities for Cr (VI). At pH 2.0 the Cr (VI) adsorp-
tion capacity was observed 4.250 mg/g. Bayat (2002) studied the fly ash
of thermal power plans and found that the adsorption capacity of the
Seyitomer and Afsin–Elbistain fly ash for Ni(II) and Cu(II) was 0.93 mg/g
and 1.35 mg/g respectively when the initial concentration was 25 mg/L for
both metals. As indicated by the applicability of the Langmuir isotherm for
the equilibrium data of both metals, monolayer adsorption might occur on
the surface of the adsorbent. Kapoor and Viraraghavan (1996) noted that
the properties of fly ash are extremely variable and the adsorption capacity
varies with the lime content. Banerjee et al. (1997) presents information
Figure 3.33 Fly ash.

on the adsorption kinetics of organic compounds and reports increas-

ing capacity with increasing carbon content. The surface area of fly ash is
reported as 1-6 m2/g. A potential advantage of fly ash is that it could easily
be solidified after the metals are adsorbed because it contains pozzolanic
particles that react with lime in the presence of water, forming cementi-
tious calcium-silicate hydrates. Raoa et al. (2002) explored the adsorption
capacity of bagasse and fly ash and reported that efficiencies of adsorbent
materials for the removal of Cr(VI) and Ni(II) were found to be between
56.2 to 96.2% and 83.6 to 100%, respectively. These results were obtained
at the optimized conditions of pH, contact time, sorbent dose, sorbate con-
centration of 100 mg/l and with the variation of adsorbent particles size
between 0.075 and 4.75 mm. The order of selectivity is powdered activated
carbon >bagasse > fly ash for Cr(VI) removal and powdered activated
carbon >fly ash > bagasse for Ni(II) removal. Gupta et al. (2003) studied
bagasse fly ash for Cd(II) and Ni(II) removal from synthetic solution and
reported that about 90% of 14 mg/L of Cd(II) and 12 mg/L of Ni(II) were
removed at pH ranging from 6.0 to 6.5. The metal removal improved with
an increasing temperature, suggesting an endothermic reaction. Raoa et al.
(2002) reported that the sorption data has been correlated with Langmuir
and Freundlich adsorption models.
Coffee residue: Coffee residues (Figure 3.34) are solid wastes discarded
from the extraction process of instant coffee manufacturing and a huge
amount of these wastes are currently disposed of by burning as fuel or
mixed with fertilizer. Boonamnuayvitaya et al. (2004) investigated the uti-
lization of coffee residues binding with clay as adsorbent (hereafter called
CC-adsorbent) for the removal of heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions.
The adsorption capacities of the CC-adsorbent for Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+
and Ni2+ were determined by the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorp-
tion increased in the order of Cd2+ >Cu2+ >Pb2+ >Zn2+ >Ni2+. Since coffee
residues hold several functional groups, they have high potential for heavy
metal adsorption. Boonamnuayvitaya et al. (2004) also studied the func-
tional group in coffee residue using FTIR indicated that the O–H, C=O
and C–N groups were found in all samples where O–H was maximum.
This group should play a major role in heavy metal adsorption as men-
tioned in lead adsorption by active cokes from lignite using mild oxida-
tion (Finqueneisel et al., 1998). Kapoor and Viraraghavan (1995) reported
these functional groups in the study of biosorption mechanism of fungi.
Boonamnuayvitaya et al. (2004) studied the electrical potential and zeta
potential measurement indicated that a negatively charge ions present in
CC adsorbent resulting in the electrostatic interaction between active sites
and metal ions.
Figure 3.34 Coffee beans and residue (simulated).
Bark: Bark is a solid waste product of the timber industry from mechan-
ical wood processing and is effective because of its high tannin content
(Figure 3.35). The polyhydroxy polyphenol groups of tannin are thought
to be the active species in the adsorption process (Bailey et al., 1999). As
metal cations displace adjacent phenolic hydroxyl groups, ion exchange
takes place and forms a chelate (Randall et al., 1974; Vazquez et al., 1994).
Figure 3.35 Pine bark chips.

Figure 3.36 Lignin.
The major problem with tannin containing materials is the discoloration

of water from soluble phenols. Alves et al. (1993) and Vazquez et al. (1994)
pointed out that the application of pre-treatments such as acidified formal-
dehyde eliminates the bleeding of colored compounds without appreciable
reduction in capacity. The pre-treatment, again, increase costs. Randall et al.
(1974) compared bark adsorption to that of peanut skins, walnut expeller
meal and coconut husks. A study with peanut skins was found effective to
remove lead, mercury, copper and cadmium (Randall et al., 1978). Though
this was successful in withstanding disintegration in contact with water and
discoloration, the cost of adsorbent polymerization with formaldehyde is
noticeable.
Lignin: Lignin, an extract from the waste product (black liquor) of the paper
industry, showed very good adsorptive capacity for lead (Figure 3.36). Srivastava
et al. (1994) reported that this capacity might reach up to 1865 mg/gm. Moreover,
the authors also reported removal of zinc; capacity being 95 mg/gm. Polyhydric
phenols and several functional groups on the surface are thought to be respon-
sible for high adsorption on lignin. The functional groups include ketones, alde-
hydes, acids, alcohols etc. and they take part in exchanging cations.
3.10.4 Natural Materials

Like as agricultural wastes and industrial by product, natural materials
can be used as low-cost adsorbents for heavy metal removal from aqueous
streams. It was reported in literature by several authors (Trgo et al., 2003;

Peric et al., 2004; Kurniawan et al., 2005) reported that many natural mate-
rials available in certain regions were used for the removal of heavy metal
from contaminated water due to its metal binding capacity. Bailey et al.
(1999); Babel and Kurniawan (2003b) reported that after additional pro-
cessing may improve the adsorption capacity of natural materials for the
removal of heavy metal from an aqueous solution.
Zeolites: Zeolites are alumina silicates and because of their crystalline
structure, their net surface charge is negative which helps to adsorb the
positive charged metal ions. Kurniawan et al. (2005) reported that zeolite
appears as one of the most promising for metal purification among minerals
that possess sorbent properties. In many countries, zeolites have been used
as a low-cost adsorbent for the treatment of metalcontaminated wastewater.
The adsorption behavior of natural (clinoptilolite) zeolites (Figure 3.37) in
order to consider its application to purity metal finishing wastewaters.
The batch method was employed, using metal concentrations in solu-
tion ranging from 100 to 400 mg/l of Co2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Mn2+. The sorp-
tion isotherms of binary solute systems could be fitted by the competitive
Langmuir model and the result showed that natural zeolite can be used
effectively for the removal of metal cations from wastewater. Peric et al.
(2004) studied the uptake of zinc (II), copper (II), and lead (II) from aque-
ous solutions by ion exchange on natural zeolitic and it was reported that
the efficiency of removal was higher for Pb(II) and Cu(II) than for Zn(II)
Figure 3.37 Zeolite.

ions. The metal removal by zeolites was a complex process, involving ion
exchange and adsorption.
Zeolites belong to the class of minerals known as “tectosilicates.” Most
common natural zeolites are formed by alteration of glass-rich volcanic
rocks (tuff) with fresh water in lakes or by seawater. Zeolites are natu-
rally occurring hydrated aluminosilicate minerals (Badillo-Almaraz et al.,
2003). The presence of more than 40 zeolite species in nature has often
inspired several researchers to use it as an adsorbent. Leppert (1990)
reported that the adsorption of lead on zeolite is significant (155.4 mg/
gm). The study also demonstrated a moderate removal of chromium (II),
26 mg/gm. Although the amount of lead removal is significant, chromium
removal is not. Leppert (1990) also mentioned that the capacity might
vary for different species. Desborough (1995) illustrated that the clinopti-
lolite-rich rocks (CRRs) could be used for lead removal from wastewater.
Moreover, the alteration of zeolites is sometimes necessary for the removal
of metals such as chromium (VI) to increase sorption. Santiago et al.
(1992). They recommended the use of complex organic cations, which are
high in cost. Babel and Kurniawan (2003b) studied Cr(VI) uptake from
simulated wastewater using natural zeolite and treated by sodium chloride.
NaCl treated zeolite had better removal capabilities (3.23 mg/ g) for Cr(VI)
ions than as-received zeolite (1.79 mg/g) at an initial Cr concentration of
20 mg/L. NaCl was suitable to reuse zeolite with regeneration efficiency
of more than 90% (Kurniawan, 2002). These results suggest that the Cr
adsorption capacities of zeolite varied, depending on the extent of chemi-
cal treatment (Wingenfelder et al., 2005) and due to ion exchange between
Na(I) of zeolite and Cr(III) ions in the solution (Kurniawan, 2002).
Clay: Clay has high adsorption capacity like as zeolite to remove heavy
metal from contaminated water (Figure 3.38). There are three types of clay,
i.e., montmorillonite, bentonite and kaolinite. Montmorillonite has the
highest adsorption capacity out of the three and it is twenty-times cheaper
than that of activated carbon (Virta, 2002). Two properties of clay assist in
the sorption of heavy metals. Firstly, the negative charge on the surface and
secondly, the large surface area (up to 800 m2/g). Several researchers studied
different types of clay as adsorbents. Sharma et al. (1990) used wollastonite
and Viraraghavan and Kapoor (1995) employed bentonite to remove heavy
metals from wastewater. In fact, presence of montmorillonite, a major com-
ponent in bentonite attracts heavy metals because of its largest surface area
and highest cation exchange capacity. Ulmanu et al. (2002), studied Cu(II)
and Cd(II) removal from synthetic solution using bentonite and higher
adsorption capacities was found for both ions (Cu(II): 18.16 mg/g; Cd(II):
9.34 mg/g).
Figure 3.38 Clay.
Chromium (III) removal from simulated solution was examined by

bentonite and an expanded perlite. Kinetics studies showed that the Cr(III)
uptake by bentonite was faster than that by perlite and Cr(III) removal by
bentonite (96%) was remarkably higher than that by perlite (40%) at the
same Cr concentration of 20 mg/L (Chakir et al., 2002). Kaya and Oren
(2005) have reported that bentonite consists of clay, silt and sand; and this
material is valuable for its tendency to absorb water in the interlayer site.
One of the materials from clay minerals is kaolinite which has a tetrahe-
dral (Si center) and octahedral (Al center) structure. It was reported that
kaolinite had the highest adsorption capacities of Cu(II) compared to other
metals i.e Ni(II), Mn(II) and Co(II) due to their small ionic radius and the
metal sorption on kaolinite followed the Langmuir isotherm (Arias et al.,
2002; Yavuz et al., 2003).
To increase the sorption capacity of clay, Cadena et al. (1990) suggested
tailoring or modifying the natural exchangeable cation of clay with an
organophilic cation; tetramethyl ammonium ion (TMA+). This complex
modification demonstrated a lead uptake of 58 mg/gm. China clay has been
reported to adsorb only 0.29 mg/gm of lead (Yadava et al., 1991). Abollino
et al. (2003) studied the adsorption of Cd(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), Ni(II) and
Zn(II) ions on Na-montmorillonite using column operations and it was
reported that Cu(II) was the least adsorbed of the cations, while Cd(II)
ion was the most adsorbed due to its high charge density. Lin and Juang
(2002) reported that the modified montmorrilonite using sodium dodecyl
sulfate (SDS) significantly improve its removal for Cu(II) and Zn(II). The
pretreatment of clay with hydorchloric (HCl) acid significantly improved
the removal of Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) from simulated wastewater and
the maximum adsorption capacities for the cations in the solution were
in the order: Cu(II) > Ni(II) > Zn(II) (Vengris et al., 2001). Vengris et al.
(2001) reported that acid treatment changed the chemical composition
and mineralogical structure of clay that enhancing its uptake capacity.
4
Sustainable Drinking Water
Purification Techniques
4.1 Introduction
The water quality has severely deteriorated globally in last few decades,
mainly due to the anthropogenic activities, urbanization, industrialization
and the western lifestyle’s utilization of natural water resources. The main
source of water pollution is synthetic chemicals arising from domestic
waste, agricultural waste, toxic industrial wastes. In recent years, various
toxic chemicals (e.g., micropollutants, personal care products, endocrine
disrupting compounds, pesticides, inorganic anions, and countless others)
have been detected at dangerous levels in drinking waters in many parts
of the world and a variety of health risks to human beings due to water
pollution have been reported in literature. While the world focuses on the
detectable level and ‘safety’, any sustainable development must focus on
the source of the real toxicity. The urgency should be in developing robust,
economically appealing and environmentally friendly processes, which
may be readily implemented indigenously.
Numerous treatment technologies are available with varying degree
of success to control/minimize water contamination, all claiming some
sort of sustainability. However, as we have seen in Chapter 3, none of the
current commercial systems fall under the category of true sustainability.
Nevertheless, the formal shortcomings are listed as:
–– high operational and maintenance costs

–– generation of toxic sludge
–– complicated procedures involved in the treatment.
In general, adsorption processes have gained more popularity in water

treatment due to convenience, ease of operation and simplicity of design
(Faust and Aly, 1987). For drinking water purification, activated carbon
is considered a universal adsorbent. However, we seen in Chapter 3 that
123
activated carbon, as prepared today, is not sustainable, and it being costly

makes it even less appealing.
However, its widespread use in wastewater treatment is sometimes
restricted due to its higher cost. A large variety of low-cost adsorbents
(LCA) have been examined for their ability to remove various types of
pollutants from water and wastewater and have been reviewed exten-
sively. Natural materials or the wastes/by-products of industries are more
appealing than synthetic ones from just economic perspective. However,
from sustainability considerations, natural materials are most attractive. A
protocol based on the numerous studies for the development, utilization
and application of low-cost adsorbents generally adopted by researchers
was suggested by Gupta et al. (2009). The LCAs as reported in literature
are usually called substitutes for activated carbons because of their similar
wide use; however, in a broad and clearer way they are essentially substi-
tutes for all expensive adsorbents. Figure 4.1 shows Gupta et al.’s protocol.
They presented a protocol for the development, utilization, and applica-
tion of LCA. It is worthwhile noting here that these materials are usually
called substitutes for activated carbons because of their wide use and espe-
cially for their application in treating wastewater. The general notion is to
replace with another material, which is less costly. These low-cost alterna-
tive adsorbents are classified in two ways (Gupta et al., 2009):
–– on basis of their availability (i.e., natural materials such as

wood, peat, coal, lignite, etc.;
–– industrial/agricultural/domestic wastes or byproducts such
as slag, sludge, fly ash, bagasse fly ash, red mud, etc.; and
synthesized products) or depending on their nature (i.e.,
inorganic and organic).
In view of what we have seen in Chapter 3, this classification does not

conform to the sustainability requirement. For a purification technique to
be sustainable, all levels of intervention have to be natural.
Before discussing purification of drinking water, it is important to note
that the standard of drinking water is groundwater. Ground water from the
oldest rock is the most balanced and most nourishing. The lowest quality
is the one from shallow reservoirs, which are vulnerable to contamination
with synthetic chemicals, arising from waste water, both from domestic
sources as well as industrial or agricultural sources. Some of this research
has become a sensitive issue. For instance, when Lina Nikoleris discovered
in her doctoral work (Lund University in Sweden) that showed that hor-
mones found in birth control pills alter the genes in fish, which can cause
Sustainable Drinking Water Purification Techniques 125
Industrial, agricultural,
and domestic activities
Organic precursors Inorganic precursors
Physical activation Chemical activation
Carbonization Mixing precursor with

chemical Chemical treatment
Activation
Activation
Washing and drying Washing and drying Washing and drying
Sieving and storage Sieving and storage Sieving and storage
Characterization of
adsorbent
adsorption and testing of

adsorbent batch process
Removal of pollutants by
small scale column
Removal of pollutants by
large scale column
Figure 4.1 Protocol for development of low-cost adsorbents and their utilization for
wastewater treatment.
changes in their behavior, other agencies quickly moved to marginalize the

effect. The work showed that the hormone ethinyl-estradiol (EE2) is an
active substance in many birth control pills which affects aquatic organ-
isms when released as waste into the water. In her thesis, Nikoleris studied
how fish are affected by EE2 (Nikoleris and Hansson, 2015). The thesis
studied three different fish species: salmon, trout and roach, which are
economically important fish that live in both sea and freshwater. Even at
low concentrations of EE2, fish were found to be affected. In particular,
a change in the genetic balance in fish as well as difficulty in catching food

were noticed. Previous studies have shown that the fish also develop prob-
lems with procreation (Kim et al., 2010).
This chapter focuses on restoring real science to offer a guideline for
sustainable drinking water purification.
4.2 Natural Lifestyle

Our civilization is defined by the way our human needs are planned. If we start
off with the premise that ‘nature is good’, we can measure the worth of any
civilization by its proximity to natural thinking and usage of natural resources,
water being the most valuable resource. In today’s world, led by profiteers,
water has become the most important target for denaturing. To the extent
that considerations of profitability overrule every other consideration in the
Information age, “profit” has become an obscenity. In an era of maximizing
profit and minimizing value, Big Pharma is widely alleged to push its wares by
deceiving the public—even offering to pay doctors for prescribing their prod-
ucts—as well as bribing politicians. All this creates a vicious cycle of the health
industry and government getting richer, feeding the oldest scheme of Trinity
formed through Government, Church, and Corporations. The scheme extends
even onto the black market, where drugs are sold illegally, people become
addicted and need to spend money for their fix. In countries where health care
is free of charge, this frequently implicates the judicial order by dragging the
prison system drags the government, along with other government-sponsored
corporations (e.g. prison system) in the most sinister form.
We continuously hear about the threats to human existence that loom
on us because of the process that we have followed as a human race. In
this process, modern society has become an expression of contradictions,
as depicted in Figure 4.2. We claim to have progressed as a human race,
yet we have increased our per capita energy consumption, personal stress,
and per capital waste while intangibles, such as state of the environment,
quality of natural resources, quality of personal and social life, have dimin-
ished. Meanwhile profit of big corporations has skyrocketed, along with
disparity between the rich and the poor.
Oxfam’s 2019 report acknowledged, the richest 147 billionaires in the
world control about 1 percent of global wealth (Matthews, 2019). Figure
4.3 shows clearly how a small (in global perspective) number of million-
aires control a shocking share of the world’s wealth.
As the figure shows, 42 million people, or 0.8 percent of the world’s pop-
ulation, have net worth in excess of $1 million. That group—roughly the
Population
Per capita energy consumption
Environment pollution
Stress, waste
State of environment
Natural resources
Quality of life
Social integration
Before industrial age Industrial age
Figure 4.2 Modern civilization is full of contradictions and paradoxes.
42 m (0.8%)
> USD 1 million USD 142.0 trn (44.8%)
USD 100,000 436 m USD 124.7 trn (39.3%)

to 1 million (8.7%)
USD 10,000 1,335 m USD 44.2 trn (13.9%)

to 100,000 (26.6%)
< USD 10,000 USD 6.2 trn (1.9%)

3,211 m
Wealth range (63.9%) Total wealth
(%of world)
Number of adults (percent of world adults)
Figure 4.3 The global wealth pyramid.
global 1 percent—controls 44.8 percent of the world’s wealth. The more

shocking part of the 2019 Oxfam report is that the bottom half ’s wealth
fell by 11 percent, whereas a few thousand billionaires saw their wealth
increase by 12 percent.
In order to appease the Establishment, economists have often resorting
to distort data to portray a positive image of the global economic extremis.
As shown in Figure 4.4, they plot extreme poverty for various geographic
locations. Extreme poverty is defined as living with per capita household
consumption below 1.90 international dollars per day. These data are based
on household surveys, which take years to collect. Nevertheless, economic
growth in India, China, and even sub-Saharan African is taken as a sign
60%
50%
40% Sub-Saharan Africa
30%
20%
South Asia
Wold
10% Latin America and the Caribbean
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Middle East and North Africa
0%
1987 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2013
Share of the population living in extreme poverty, by world region

Extreme poverty is defined as living with per capita household consumption below 1.90 international dollars per day
(in 2011 PPP prices). International dollars are adjusted for inflation and for price differences across coutries.
Figure 4.4 Share of the population living in extreme poverty, by world region.
that the progress continued through to the present day. The fact that is
being hidden is that countries that used to have natural lifestyle are the
hardest hit. For instance, sub-Saharan Africa shows more than twice the
extreme poverty rate than the next region (South Asia). The fact that there
are 16 billionaires in sub-Saharan Africa living alongside the 358 million
people living in extreme poverty is rarely mentioned (Oxfam, 2020). This
aspect is further covered in Chapter 5.
250%
Bottom 50% Top 1
captured 12% captured 27%
of total growth of total growth
200%
Real income growth per adult (%)
Prosperity of
the global 1%
150%
100%
Rise of emerging Squeezed bottom 90%
countries in the US & Westerm Europe
50%
0%
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 99 99.9 99.99 99.999
Income group (percentile)
The clearest evidence of the real inequality comes from the so-called
“Loch Ness” graph produced early 2018 by a team of economists—led by
Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, and the famous inequality research trio
Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman (Matthews, 2019).
The chart shows how each percentile of the global income distribution saw
its incomes increase from 1980 to 2016. There’s a bulge at the left, with peo-
ple in poor emerging market economies seeing their incomes rise by 100
to 125 percent over those 36 years, modest income growth in the middle
(including the poor and middle class in the US and Western Europe), and
then skyrocketing growth for the global 1 percent, and especially the global
0.001 percent and global 0.0001 percent.
WEF (2020) pointed out, the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more
wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 percent of the planet’s
population. So, what is driving this inequality? Oxfam’s report, ‘Time to
Care’, puts the blame on ‘sexist economies’ that are ‘fuelling the inequality
crisis—enabling a wealthy elite to accumulate vast fortunes at the expense
of ordinary people and particularly poor women and girls’. What gender
equity has to do with such economic extremism? Oxfam clarifies: The 22
richest men in the world have more wealth than all the women in Africa.
The tragedy of inequality is being exploited with sinister agendas. First
of all, it is reduced to promote liberal agenda of so-called gender equality.
The conclusion? “Governments around the world can, and must, build a
human economy that is feminist and benefits the 99%, not only the 1%.”
(Whiting, 2020).
Then, the effect is being connected to climate emergency, the solution
of which is reduced to universal carbon tax (Islam and Khan, 2019). The
‘generous’ ones are also promoting taxing the rich. Mathews (2019) made
the case for such tax as:
“The rich really are getting preposterously rich. And there’s a real
argument to be made—the political argument that Oxfam’s statistic
is meant to make—that making taxes more progressive and directing
the funds to, say, cash payments to poor households would lead to
faster poverty reduction than has occurred under the current system.
One analysis suggests that up to 50 percent of global extreme poverty
could be ended if developing countries adopted higher top tax rates.”
According to Oxfam’s 2016 report, the top 1% of the world controls more
wealth than the rest of the world combined. The average wealth for the top
1% was worth, on average, $1.7 billion while the average wealth of the bot-
tom 90% was around $5,000. The report states: “Power and privilege is being
used to skew the economic system to increase the gap between the richest
and the rest…The fight against poverty will not be won until the inequality
crisis is tackled.” The trend in Figure 4.5 worsened in 2019. Oxfam (2020)
reports far worsening scenario, particularly regarding women and girls.
Women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and
every day—a contribution to the global economy of at least $10.8 trillion a
year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry.
This income difference is associated with higher rates of health and social
problems, and lower rates of social goods, a lower level of economic utility in
society from resources devoted on high-end consumption, and even a lower
wealth of bottom 50%

$2.5
$2.0
$1.5
$1.0
$0.5 Wealth of richest 62 people
$0.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20072008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Figure 4.5 History of wealth accumulation (in trillion).
Worse
USA
Index of health and social problems
Portugal
United Kingdom
Greece
Ireland New Zealand
France Australia
Austria
Canada
Denmark Germany Italy
Spain
Finland Belgium
Netherlands Switzerland
Norway
Sweden
Better Japan
Low High
Income inequality (Gini)
Figure 4.6 Health and social problems are worse in more unequal countries (from Oxfam, 2020).
level of economic growth when human capital is neglected for high-end con-
sumption. Oxfam (2020) states that the most crucial aspect of the crisis is
income inequality itself. It is true in personal level as well as national and
global levels. Crucially, inequality, not the overall wealth of a country, appears
to be the most influential factor. Highly unequal rich countries are just as
prone to these ills as highly unequal poor countries. As Figure 4.6 demon-
strates, the USA pays a high price for having such high-income inequality.
Overall, only topic that has not been discussed is to return to natural
lifestyle. Sadly, that’s where true sustainability lies.
4.2.1 Environmental Awareness

The past few decades have witnessed a fundamental shift in public aware-
ness of and concern about the threats to water resources and surrounding
ecosystems. But when it comes to policy, little has changed. Most decisions
about the management of water resources remain the product of economic
criteria and politically charged reasoning – regardless of whether they con-
cern a town, a region, a country or even several countries. Despite repeated
calls from world experts, we continue to move in a wrong direction. Water
pollution today is justified through ‘water management’. This has an over-
whelming impact on the ecosystem, even more acute than what DDT and
GMO has on the environment. The factors are considered to be the most
important ones affecting water resources:
–– population growth, particularly in water-short regions;

–– movement of large numbers of people from the countryside
to towns and cities;
–– demands for greater food security and higher living standards;
–– increased competition between different uses of water
resources; and
–– pollution from factories, cities, and farmlands.
Climate change and natural variability in the distribution and occur-

rence of water further complicate the sustainable development of our water
resources. Once again, environmental insult began with commercializa-
tion of the insult. In a paper published in 1894, it was formally proposed
to add chloride to water to render it “germ-free.” Two other investigators
confirmed this proposal and published it in many other papers in 1895.
Early attempts at implementing water chlorination at a water treatment
plant were made in 1893 in Hamburg, Germany, and in 1897 the town of
Maidstone, England was the first to have entire water supply treated with
chlorine. Permanent water chlorination began in 1905, when a faulty slow
sand filter and a contaminated water supply led to a serious typhoid fever
epidemic in Lincoln, England. Ever since chlorination has become a sym-
bol of civilization. This event is synonymous with the ‘plastic culture’. Ever
since, ozonation is used by many European countries and also in a few
municipalities in the United States and Canada. Disinfection with chlo-
ramine is also becoming increasingly common. The issue of undesirable
by-products is less serious with chloramine than chlorine (gas or hypo-
chlorite). Unlike chlorine, chloramine has a longer half-life in the distribu-
tion system and still maintains effective protection against pathogens. The
reason chloramines persist in the distribution is due to the relatively lower
redox potential in comparison to free chlorine. Chloramine is formed by
the addition of ammonia into drinking water to form monochloramine
and/or dichloramine. Whereas Helicobacter pylori can be many times
more resistant to chlorine than Escherichia coli, both organisms are about
equally susceptible to the disinfecting effect of chloramine UV radiation to
disinfect offers a new genre of contamination that essentially moves from
chemical pollution to energy pollution. Because New Science has already
disconnected energy from mass, it becomes impossible to compare the
environmental impact caused by chlorine and UV (Khan and Islam, 2012).
The next series of planned water pollution is through water fluoridation.
The pretext here is that fluoride will prevent dental cavities, leading to savings
in dental care (Islam et al., 2015). Typically, a fluoridated compound is added
to drinking water, a process that in the U.S. costs an average of about $1.02
per person-year. Defluoridation is needed when the naturally occurring flu-
oride level exceeds recommended limits. A 1994 World Health Organization
expert committee suggested a level of fluoride from 0.5 to 1.0 mg/L (milli-
grams per litre), depending on climate. Bottled water typically has unknown
fluoride levels, and some domestic water filters remove some or all fluoride.
In Europe, only Ireland (73%), Poland (1%), Serbia (3%), Spain (11%), and
the U.K. (11%) fluoridate any of their water. Most developed countries,
including Japan and 97% of the western European population, do not con-
sume fluoridated water. In the U.S., about 70% of public water supplies are
fluoridated. This equates to approximately 185 million people, which is over
half the number of people drinking artificially fluoridated water worldwide.
In terms of planned contamination of water, aspirin would come next.
The popularity of aspirin declined after the market releases of parac-
etamol (acetaminophen) in 1956 and ibuprofen in 1969. In the 1960s and
1970s, John Vane and others discovered the basic mechanism of aspi-
rin’s effects, while clinical trials and other studies from the 1960s to the
1980s established aspirin’s efficacy as an anticlotting agent that reduces

the risk of clotting diseases. This followed revival of Aspirin sales well
into the 21st century. The scheme has become so successful that today,
the following question is a serious one: “Should governments add low
doses of aspirin to water supplies to save billions in healthcare costs? Or
give free pills away?” Then there are numerous sources of pollution that
are unplanned. One such source, namely, birth control pills and other
medications have been making headlines over the last decade. It is well
known that trace amounts of birth control and other medications—as
well as household and industrial chemicals of every stripe—are present
in many urban and suburban water supplies around the world as long
as there is a water treatment plant or the ground water is in communi-
cation with the surface water. While this would cause alarm because no
medication is naturally degradable, the debate revolved around whether
their levels are high enough to warrant concern. For instance, in 2008
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tested water in nine states across the
country and found that 85 man-made chemicals, including some medi-
cations, were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems
and ending up in our tap water. Another report by the Associated Press
found trace amounts of dozens of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water
supplies of some 46 million Americans. However, according to USGS,
such chemicals and medications are so diluted—at levels equal to a thim-
ble full of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool—that they do not
pose a health threat. Scientific investigation, however, suggests that even
extremely diluted concentrations of drug residues harm fish, frogs and
other aquatic species, and have been shown to labs to impair human cell
function. This effect cannot be tracked with conventional engineering
analysis that relies heavily on fundamental premises that are based on
misconceptions (Islam et al., 2010; Khan and Islam, 2012). One of the
common culprits is estrogen, much of which is inadvertently released
into sewers through the urine of women taking birth control. Studies have
shown that estrogen can wreak reproductive havoc on some fish, which
spawn infertile offspring sporting a mixture of male and female parts.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that human breast can-
cer cells grew twice as fast when exposed to estrogen taken from catfish
caught near untreated sewage overflows. Today’s science does not allow
us to identify, let alone quantify risks associated to such artificial chemi-
cals. What we know for fact is the number of breast cancer has skyrock-
eted in countries that use estrogen the most. Even though USA showed
some decline in cancer rate, it is thought to be because of reduced usage
of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
Climate Change Climate change is considered to be the equivalent of

global obesity (Islam and Khan, 2016) that captures the overall environ-
mental insult caused by the modern day practices. In the late decades of the
20th Century, the term global warming became in vogue and substantial
government funding became available for research in this area. As an inter-
esting note, substantial government funding was available for global cool-
ing in the preceding decades to the global warming phenomenon. At the
time, living in Northern Alberta, Canada (which is still subject to cold win-
ters) there were cries of beware, danger in the streets from those scientists
who continually advocated the coming of the glaciers – another Ice Age
was about to arrive. Within the recent decades, the cause of global cooling
has been diminished and the term global warming took over. However,
as late as 2010, Chilingar et al. (2010) claimed that we are well within a
cycle of global cooling. Global warming has been a subject of discussion
since the late 1970s. It is thought that the accumulation of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere causes global warming, resulting in irreversible climate
change. Even though carbon dioxide has been blamed as the sole cause for
global warming, there is no scientific evidence that all carbon dioxides are
responsible for global warming. Precisely to address this critical gap, this
chapter includes a detailed analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from the
Pre-industrial Age to the (for some) “Golden Era” of petroleum. A new
theory has been developed, which shows that not all carbon dioxides con-
tribute to global warming (Islam and Khan, 2019). The climate of the Earth
can be affected by natural factors that are external to the climate system,
such as changes in volcanic activity, solar output, and the variance of the
orbit of the Earth around the Sun. Of these, the two factors relevant on time
scales of contemporary climate change are changes in volcanic activity and
changes in solar radiation. In terms of the energy balance of the Earth,
these factors primarily influence the amount of incoming energy. Volcanic
eruptions are episodic and have relatively short-term effects on climate.
Changes in solar irradiance have contributed to climate trends over the
past century but since the Industrial Revolution, the effect of additions of
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere has also been recognized. However, as
Islam and Khan (2019) recently pointed out, one must understand what is
the most damning trait of modern-day technology development for one to
discern major causes of climate change.
4.2.2 Corporatization and Healthcare

The golden era of plastic and artificial chemicals is synonymous with
spending money on medicines before even discovering the cause of the
25%
Actual Projected
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
1961 1967 1973 1979 1985 1991 1997 2003 2009 2015 2021 2027
Figure 4.7 Healthcare expenditure in USA during 1961-2027.
disease. The United States has one of the highest costs of healthcare in the
world. In 1902 governments in the United States spent 0.25 percent of GDP
on health care programs. In the early 21st century, governments spent over
7 percent of GDP on health care programs. Health care spending increased
rapidly during the second half of the 20th century, most of which related
to medicine and diagnostic tools. In 2017, the U.S. spent about $3.5 tril-
lion on healthcare, which averages to about $11,000 per person. Relative to
the size of the economy, healthcare costs have increased dramatically over
the past few decades, from five percent of GDP in 1960 to 18 percent in
2017. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that
such costs will climb to $6 trillion, or about $17,000 per person, and will
represent about 19 percent of GDP by 2027. Figure 4.7 shows percentage
of GDP spent on healthcare throughout 1960 through 2020 (predicted for
2018-2020). Health care spending started out at the beginning of the 20th
century at 0.25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It increased
slowly during the first half of the century, peaking at one percent of GDP in
1933 and then declining to 0.38 percent of GDP in World War II. In 1965
Congress passed Medicare, the federal health care program for Americans
over 65 years old, and Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care program
for the poor, and ever since health care spending has consistently grown
much faster than GDP.
4.2.3 Death and Lifestyle

Figure 4.8 shows top 10 leading causes of death in USA. Throughout
last few decades, the 10 leading causes of death involved heart disease, can-
cer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, unintentional injuries,
Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and
Heart disease
Cancer
Unintentional injuries
Chronic lower
respiratory diseases
Stroke
Alzheimer’s disease
2016
Diabetes
Influenza and 2017
pneumonia
Kidney disease
Suicide
0 40 80 120 160
Deaths per 100,000 U.S. population (age adjusted)
Figure 4.8 Death rate for major causes of death in USA (SOURCE: CDC/NCHS,
National Vital Statistics System, Mortality).
suicide. In 2011, they accounted for 73.8% of all deaths in the United States
(Islam et al., 2015). From 2011 to 2012, age-adjusted death rates declined
significantly for 8 of 10 leading causes of death. The rate decreased 1.8% for
heart disease, 1.5% for cancer, 2.4% for chronic lower respiratory diseases,
2.6% for stroke, 3.6% for Alzheimer’s disease, 1.9% for diabetes, 8.3% for
influenza and pneumonia, and 2.2% for kidney disease. The rate for suicide
increased 2.4%. The rate for unintentional injuries remained the same. Heart
disease and cancer remain the 1st and 2nd leading causes of death, respec-
tively, over the 80-year period. A 80-year perspective points to both stabil-
ity and change in the leading causes of death: stability because three causes
(heart disease, cancer, and stroke) remained among the five leading causes
each year between 1935 and 2010; and change because other causes moved
into or dropped out of the five leading causes at different points over the
past 80 years. There were also changes in the proportion of all deaths that
were due to each of the leading causes. For example, heart disease and cancer
were the leading causes of death from 1935 to 2010, but it was in 1983 that
these two conditions accounted for the highest percent (60 percent) of all
deaths. In 2010, they constituted 47 percent of all deaths. According to the
CDC, the 10 leading causes of death together account for about three quar-
ters of United States deaths. Cancer caused nearly as many deaths as heart
disease – 152.5 per 100,000. This represented a significant decrease from the
155.8 cancer deaths per 100,000 seen in 2016. The remaining top 10 causes of
death, in decreasing order, were unintentional injuries, chronic lower respi-
ratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and suicide.
Though life expectancy at birth decreased to 78.6 years in 2017, down

from 78.7 years in 2016, that change was driven primarily by suicide and
drug overdose. However, heart disease remains the leading cause of death
in the United States, at 165 deaths per 100,000 individuals in 2017. This
represents a slight, statistically non-significant, decrease from the 165.5
deaths per 100,000 caused by heart disease in the previous year.
Other diseases related to cardiometabolic health saw increases. Stroke
and diabetes each caused a small but significant increase in deaths in 2017,
which saw a 1-year increase to 37.6 from 37.3 stroke deaths per 100,000
people. Diabetes deaths increased to 21.5 from 21 per 100,000 the previous
year. Stroke was the fifth and diabetes the seventh most common cause of
death, according to the data brief published by the CDC’s National Center
for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Alzheimer’s disease deaths also increased significantly, from 30.3 per
100,000 in 2016 to 31 per 100,000 in 2017. Although Alzheimer’s exact eti-
ology remains under study, cardiovascular disease factors and Alzheimer’s
disease share many risk factors and are often comorbid. Infant deaths from
congenital malformations decreased from 2016 to 2017, from 122.1 to
118.8 deaths per 100,000 live births.
The age-adjusted death rate for the total population decreased 1.1%
from 731.9 deaths per 100,000 standard population in 2017 to 723.6 in
2018 (Figure 4.9).
All causes 721.9

1723.6
Heart disease 165.0

1163.6
Cancer 152.5 2017
1149.1
2018
Unitentional injuries 49.4
148.0
Chronic lower 40.9
respiratory diseases 139.7
Stoke 37.6
137.1
Alzheimer disease 31.0

130.5
Diabetes 21.5
21.4
Influenza and 14.3
pneumonia 214.9
Kidney disease 13.0

12.9
Suicide 14.0
214.2
0 200 400 600 800

Deaths per 100,000 U.S. standard population
Figure 4.9 Age-adjusted death rates for all causes and the 10 leading causes of death in
2018: United States, 2017 and 2018.
In 2018, the 10 leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer, unin-

tentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer
disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and suicide)
remained the same as in 2017. Causes of death are ranked according to
number of deaths. The 10 leading causes accounted for 73.8% of all deaths
in the United States in 2018.
From 2017 to 2018, age-adjusted death rates decreased for 6 of 10 lead-
ing causes of death and increased for 2. The rate decreased 0.8% for heart
disease (from 165.0 in 2017 to 163.6 in 2018), 2.2% for cancer (152.5 to
149.1), 2.8% for unintentional injuries (49.4 to 48.0), 2.9% for chronic
lower respiratory diseases (40.9 to 39.7), 1.3% for stroke (37.6 to 37.1),
and 1.6% for Alzheimer disease (31.0 to 30.5). The rate increased 4.2% for
influenza and pneumonia (14.3 to 14.9) and 1.4% for suicide (14.0 to 14.2).
Rates for diabetes and kidney disease did not change significantly.
Other conditions have all occupied spots within the five leading causes
for some but not all years between 1935 and 2019. Specifically, chronic
lower respiratory diseases entered the five leading causes of death in 1979;
certain diseases of early infancy was among the five leading causes only
from 1949 to 1962 and 1964; accidents entered the five leading causes of
death in 1946; kidney disease was among the five leading causes only from
1935 to 1948; and influenza and pneumonia was among the five leading
causes between 1935 and 1945, again in 1963, and between 1965 and 1978.
For all but the oldest age group (85 years and over), mortality risk fell
more than 50 percent between 1935 and 2010 (Figure 4.10). The great-
est reduction was among persons 1–4 years of age where the death rate
Age in years
85 and
Under 1 1-4 5-14 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 over
0
–20
Pecentage change
–40
–60
–80
–100
Figure 4.10 Percentage change in death rates by age: United States, 1935–2010. NOTE:
2010 data are preliminary. SOURCE: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System,
Mortality.
declined from 440.9 to 26.6 deaths per 100,000 population, a decrease of

94 percent. Declining death rates were seen among the over 65 popula-
tion, although not of the same magnitude as among the younger ages. For
example, for persons 65–74 years of age, death rates declined by 62 percent,
while death rates decreased by 58 percent for those 75–84 years of age, and
declined 38 percent for persons 85 years or more.
In 2018, life expectancy at birth was 78.7 years for the total U.S.
population—an increase of 0.1 year from 78.6 years in 2017 (Figure 4.11).
For males, life expectancy changed from 76.1 in 2017 to 76.2 in 2018—an
increase of 0.1 year. For females, life expectancy increased 0.1 year from
81.1 years in 2017 to 81.2 in 2018.
Life expectancy for females was consistently higher than it was for males.
In 2018, the difference in life expectancy between females and males was
5.0 years, the same as in 2017.
In 2018, life expectancy at age 65 for the total population was 19.5
years, an increase of 0.1 year from 2017. For males, life expectancy at age
65 increased 0.1 year from 18.0 in 2017 to 18.1 in 2018. For females, life
expectancy at age 65 increased 0.1 year from 20.6 years in 2017 to 20.7 in
2018. The difference in life expectancy at age 65 between females and males
was 2.6 years remains unchanged from 2017.
2017
At birth
2018
78.6
Both sexes
78.7
76.1
Male
76.2
81.1
Female
81.2
At age 65
19.4
Both sexes
19.5
18.0
Male
18.1
20.6
Female
20.7
0 20 40 60 80 100
Life expectancy (years)
Figure 4.11 Life expectancy at selected ages, by sex: United States, 2017 and 2018.
4.2.4 Role of Water in Bodily Functions

One of the biggest problems in describing the role of natural elements
in affecting human physiology is, New Science has focused on tangible
thereby disconnected the natural sequence in research (Islam et al., 2017).
Only recently, it is being recognized as a major issue (Liu, 2017). Any dis-
cussion of sustainability must take a holistic approach and as such, this sec-
tion is opens with a discussion of traditional Chinese medicine and New
Science. As we have seen in Chapter 2, the science of water uses a holistic
approach and that approach is now connected to various diseases that have
origins in various vital organs.
It is interesting that the most frequent cause of death in USA is heart
disease. There is a general acknowledgement in all civilizations that
the heart is the most important organ in the human body. In ancient
medical classics from Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and China, it is
generally described as being the center of a system of vessels supply-
ing the various parts of the body (Acierno, 1994). In Islamic medicine,
heart is where conscience lies and governs the overall consciousness of
a person (Islam et al., 2017).
Although western medicine considers the heart as a vital organ,
only eastern medicinal practices (traditional Chinese medicine, TCM,
Ayurveda, Islamic medicine, etc.) retained the original role of the heart.
Europe has reduced it into tangible aspects. That focus has removed heart
(or any other vital organ) from its fundamental role in working in concert
with the whole body. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) retained the
original role of the heart (called the monarch organ) and its relationship
between the heart and exterior things. In TCM, the physiological func-
tions of the heart are governing blood and vessels, controlling the mind,
opening into the tongue, manifesting on the face, and so on. Only the tan-
gible aspects of these functions are covered in modern Western medicine
through anatomical structure, spatial connection, and micromechanical
character of the organ. TCM and Western medicine have their separate
diagnostic and management systems that are very different from each
other.
Figure 4.12 shows an integrative view of the heart in traditional Chinese
medicine (left half) and Western medicine (right half). This figure clearly
shows how western medicine has disconnected vital connection of the
heart with other organs by neglecting intangibles.
Based on this fundamental truth, Chinese medicine and Western med-
icine have formed their own knowledge systems and have developed
respective theories for the diagnosis and management of heart diseases.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Western Medicine
hide
Brain anterior insular
spirits penaquedutal gray matter
Emotion anterior cingulate cortex X-Ray
5-element Amygdale
Joy
Fire Hypothalamus MRI
Zong QI
parabrachial
Lung nucleus
Nervous Sys. ECG
Season BNP
Summer Manifest Collaterals DCG
in Blood Gas (O2, CO2) Lung
Face Heart Pulmonary
Meridians Ions circulation
Lab
Direction
ANP Exam.
South
open to
interior Circulatory Sys.
Tongue n
exterior Shao io
Yin
ulat
c
cir
vessel
Color Coronary
Small ic
Red em angiography
Intestine st
Sy
Kidneys
Flavor Ultrasonic
Bitter Doppler
Figure 4.12 Integrative comparison of TCM and western medicinal description of heart
and other vital organs.
The heart is regarded as the monarch of all organs in TCM, and “Shen
Ming” ( ) is what defines the purpose of life and primary job descrip-
tion assigned to every human. The closest translation of this word would
be khalīfah (viceroy, Quran 2:30 defines that to be the principal function
of each human) in Arabic and avatar in Sanskrit). In TCM, one thinks
with the heart. This is in line with Islamic narrative of heart functions.
The responsibility of the heart is to be the emperor of all organs, even
of the brain, for the commander-in-chief achieved dominion over the
whole body by governing blood and vessels. Furthermore, at a higher
level, the heart is seen as the center of the mind and consciousness for
its storing spirit (Flaws et al., 2008). Normal mental activity depends on
regular cardiac function, for example, people will lose their mind when
the heart is in disorder.
As can be seen from Figure 4.12, for western medicine, the heart is like
a mechanical pump that generates pressure to transport blood through
the body. Besides its role as the dynamic source of circulation, the heart
is also seen as the engine (another mechanical role) of the body because it
propels the blood flow. The exact structure of the heart was not clear until
the Renaissance period when it was discovered that the heart is made up
of four separate chambers. Further anatomical studies revealed that the
heart has a blood supply system of its own and a conducting system that
consists of specialized cardiac muscles found in the sinoatrial node and in
the atrioventricular node and bundle (Moore et al., 2014).
There is nothing in common between TCM approach and the western
approach. Yet, numerous modern TCM researchers as well as alternate
medicine practitioners have rushed to find similarities and often recom-
mended that the two be combined in order to complete a treatment. Liu
(2017) summed up the difference in the following statement:
“Systematic descriptions of the heart by TCM terms can be found in
ancient Chinese medical classics, which were recompiled in 200 BC.
From then on, TCM theories have been guiding the clinical practice
steadily for more than 2,000 years. In comparison, Western medicine,
originating from the “Corpus Hippocraticum,” has continuously been
updating its theories with new discoveries. It looks as if these 2 types
of medicine have been running on 2 different rails starting from the
same station but going into different directions.”
That phrase ‘same station’ happens to be very mechanical description of

the most tangible functions of the heart.
A holistic consideration must involve both tangible and intangible
aspects of any process. The combination of five element theory and Zang
Fu theory shows that there is a continuation connection through various
“energy” levels. The five elements each has a spirit (intangible) aspect of it.
Figure 4.13 shows how different spirits connect with Shen, the umbrella
‘spirit’ belonging to the creator.
Creator
SHEN
HUN YI
ZHI PO
Figure 4.13 The existence of 5 spirits, the heart being the dominant one and creator being
connected to the heart.
It is the heart that controls all other organs, both physically and spir-
itually. In this process, hun relates to the wood element, Yi to the earth
element, Po to the metal element and Zhi to the water element. Liao et al.
(2017) shows how these elements are connected to both Zang and Fu
organs, along with the emotions that trigger imbalances in the respective
organs (Figure 4.14). The 5 Zang organs include heart, lung, liver, spleen,
and kidney. The theory does not only describe the physiological functions
of the 5 Zang organs but also shows their relationships between the organs
and the body, the organs and the orifices, and also describes the relation-
ship between the 5 Zang organs and the 5 constituents, the 5 Zang organs,
and the focal external manifestations.
Table 4.1. Completes the description and inserts Islamic description of
intangible qualities attributed to various organs.
This is derived from the following Hadith. ‘Iyād Ibn Khalīfa heard ‘Alī
say at Siffīn, “The intellect (Aql) is located in the heart. Mercy (rahma) is
located in the liver, Compassion (rafa) is located in the spleen. The self
or characteristic wind (nafs) is located in the lungs” (Al-Albani, Book 30,
Hadith no. 10)
The next cause of death is cancer, which relates to practically all vital
organs. Although new science focuses on the organ or location, where the
fu organ Small intestine Large intestine Gallbladder Stomach Bladder
zang organ Heart Lung Liver Spleen Kidney
Governing Vessels Skin Tendons Four limbs Bones
Ears,external
Opens Tongue Nose Eyes Mouth genitals and anus
External
Face Hair Nails Lips Hair
manifestation
Figure 4.14 The Five Zang organs, its constituents, and its orifices (From Liao et al., 2017).
Table 4.1 Complete description of the 5-element theory as applied in human physiology.
Tangible element Fire Metal Wood Earth Water
Intangible Shen Po Hun Yi Zhi
element
Fu organ Small intestine Large intestine Gall bladder Stomach Bladder
Zang organ Heart Lung Liver Spleen Kidney
Governing Vessels, sex glands Skin Tendon Four limbs Bones
Opens tongue Nose Eyes Mouth Ears, external
genitals and
anus
External Face Hair Nails Lips Hair

manifestation
Trait Intuition Sadness Anger Worry Fear
Joy
Peace
Mental part Moodiness Sensitivity Mental activity Pondering Will power
Taste Bitter Sour Spicy Sweet Salty
Islamic/Ibn Sina Aql Qi (Nafs) Empathy (Rahma) Pity (Rafa)
cancer manifests itself, holistic analysis (such as TCM) would reveal some-
thing different. For instance, skin cancer is a matter of skin in New Science
but it is a matter of lung in TCM. Brain cancer is a matter of brain in New
Science, TCM says it is a matter of kidney, spleen, and heart, which collec-
tively governs all emotions and tangible brain and bone marrow activities
(Sakatani, 2007).
The holistic approach stems from the simple principle that there is
no discontinuity between mass and energy or tangible and intangible.
Everything that makes up a human being, mind-body-spirit, correlates at
an energetic level to something tangible in nature.
This principle of interconnectedness also applies between different
physical aspects of our bodies. For example, the Kidney organ correlates
with the tissue of bone/teeth, the sensory taste of salt, the sensory organ of
the ear, and the areas of the lower back, knees, and the heels/feet.
Liver Health: According to TCM, the Liver is the organ that is most
affected by excess stress or emotions. In Islamic medicine, empathy resides
with liver. As such, any imbalance will cause a person to lose empathy,
depriving him of the essence of humanity. At that point, the body gets
launched into a spiralling down mode. While New Science does not recog-
nize this process of the progression of a disease, it does recognize the con-
nection between alcoholism, cigarette addiction with aggressive behaviour,
then back to liver damage.
Heart Health: True cardiovascular health is not about physical fitness
of the heart, it’s rather about deep contentment with one’s life and des-
tiny. TCM recognizes the role of contentment and love are often associ-
ated with the heart representing a state of peacefulness. Ancient Chinese
culture recognized the need for the heart to be in tune with Dao (Highest
consciousness) for it to reach statement of good health. In Islamic heart is
where conscience and intention resides – intention being the only freedom
a human has. Islamic philosophy dictates that act on empathy, conscience
and long-term objectives make a heart peaceful and give rise to any fruitful
decision.
Spleem Health: Chronic stress, worry, and anxiety can damage Spleen
and related stomach functions very quickly. Without the proper function-
ing of the Stomach and its partner organ the Spleen, you can easily begin to
suffer from poor digestive health and low metabolism function.
Lung Health: Too much sadness and grieving can harm the Lung and
its partner, the Large Intestine. While new science focuses on smoking to
cause lung cancer, it ignores the intangible aspects. For instance, a person
confined in an office, in absence of sunlight will develop lung cancer, as evi-
denced in many cases, but New Science fails to explain such occurrences.
Table 4.2 Various leading causes of death to vital organs that govern the related function.
Vital organs
Disease involved Elements Comments
Heart disease Heart Fire Heart diseases are often linked to lung and overall immune
system, affected by artificial thinking; affected by
artificial light and other energy sources
Cancer Lung, Heart, Metal, water, Cancer is the overall failure of the immune system that
Kidney, Spleen Earth succumbs to repeated insult with artificial material.
Chronic lower Lung, heart Metal, fire Most sensitive to air quality, including the one due to air
respiratory diseases conditioning
Stroke Heart, lung, Kidney Fire, metal, Water Water quality as well as genetic vulnerability will play a role
Unintentional injuries N/A N/A N/A

Alzheimer’s disease Spleen, Kidney Earth, Water Food quality, water quality as well as energy quality (e.g.
artificial light, energy sources) will affect
Diabetes Kidney, Liver Water, wood Genetic one is related to Kidney but Non-genetic one is
combination of heart, spleen, lung and kidney
Influenza and Lung Metal Immune system is important, and as such both water
pneumonia element and lung play a role
Kidney disease Kidney Water Includes genetic vulnerability and water quality
Suicide Heart, Spleen, Liver Fire, Earth, wood Unless schizophrenia, it is a combination of several factors
According to TCM, lung is connected to large intestine and govern skins.

New Science rarely looks at skin or intestine cancer’s link to the lungs.
Kidney Health: The Kidney is the “reserve generator” of energy in the
body, supplying extra vital energy to all the organs when necessary. Its cor-
responding emotion of fear can be a red flag that these powerhouses of the
body are themselves low on immunity and working too hard. The kidney
has water as the primary element and it thus contains all genetic infor-
mation of a person. While New Science recognizes the role of genetics, it
confines to negative aspects and does not include the role of environment
in shaping water ‘energy’. This, in turns, makes it impossible to trace the
root cause of any disease.
The next most death-causing disease is lower respiratory disease. In
TCM, this disease is connected to both lung and heart (Zhen et al., 2018).
As such, lifestyle, air quality and water quality will feature prominently.
Stroke is the next most fatal disease. Stroke in TCM, relates to the heart,
lung, as well as spleen and kidney (Zhang and Yang, 2012).
Alzheimer’s disease is New Science is most about brain and nervous
system. In TCM, it is connected to Kidney as well as Spleen (Sun et al.,
2013). As such water quality as well as genetic factors feature prominently.
Also important is to maintain organic food habits. New science connected
refined fuel with Alzheimer only recently (Helou and Jacker, 2013).
Similarly, all other deadly diseases relate to some form lifestyle and
water quality issues. They are listed in Table 4.2.
4.2.5 A Relevant Anecdote

A relevant anecdote, which highlights the role of lifestyle and particularly
water quality, exists from Ecuador. The village of Vilcabambawas identified
as the “valley of longevity” by a Harvard Medicine professor (Leaf, 1973).
French studies had shown that the diet and lifestyle of the inhabitants may
have been a factor. Nobel Laureate Chemist, Richard Laurence Millington
Synge, the man who discovered amino acids, claimed that there are remark-
able medicinal qualities to be found in the plant life in certain places near
the Ecuador in the proximity of the valley of Vilcabamba. Thanks to scien-
tific chemical assay techniques, analysis has now shown that the fruit, roots
and herbs of this particular equatorial subarea offer some of the strongest
anti-oxidant protection in the world. In 1981, the Ecuadorian government
hired medical journalist Dr. Morton Walker to study these people in depth.
In his book, “The Secret to a Youthful Long Life”, Walker reported that his
research showed the mineral rich water that the Vilcabambans drank was
key to their long lives and health. Laboratory analysis of the Vilcabamba
water determined that the unique balance of enriched colloidal minerals in

the local drinking water was ideal for promoting optimum human health.
In 1991, businessman Craig Keeland traveled to Vilcabamba to study
the anti-oxidants. He developed and marketed a whole fruit puree made
from Vilcabamba fruits and vegetables and sold it through his former com-
pany, Youngevity, which he sold in 2005. In July 2003, Keeland formed a
new company that developed a whole food puree product called ViaViente
which is now sold globally in over 26 countries and territories. Keeland
founded the Andes Children’s Foundation in 2003 to support the educa-
tion of children in Vilcabamba. Furthermore, medical researchers had
confirmed that the retinas of 100 year-old residents are often comparable
with those of 45 year-old city-dwellers. The same village now forms the
core of another epidemiological study. It has the highest rate of stomach
cancer in the world (over 50 for 100,000 inhabitants). How is such drastic
switch possible? The answer, of course, lies within consideration of each
health practices that has changed in that community (Islam et al., 2015).
Such practices may include, water purification, usage of European toilet,
processed food, smoking cigarettes, and numerous other artificial changes
that are made in name of civilization. Natural processes have been replaced
with new processes that increased the profitability and created a paradigm
shift.
4.3 Natural Minerals

Any water purification technique can be physical, chemical or biologi-
cal. Sustainability considerations require that each of these use natural
material or process. Physical processes include factors, such as dilution,
adsorption, sedimentation, evaporation, advection and mixing. Each of
these can be enhanced with natural materials. Chemical processes are
include factors, such as, hydrolysis, photochemical reactions, photolysis,
oxidation, reduction, and ridding of free radicals. Biological processes can
include microorganism-dependent oxidations, reductions, biotransforma-
tion, accumulation by organisms, filtration of water by suspension-feeding
organisms, excretion of molecules which are instrumental in increasing
the rate of some chemical processes of degradation of pollutants, produc-
tion of oxygen that is involved in chemical oxidation of pollutants, tran-
spiration, regulation of biological processes of water purification by other
organisms (Ostroumov, 2006).
4.3.1 Filters
As stated earlier, freshly withdrawn ground water is the best for drink-
ing. If water has to be stored (say for lack of natural source), it should
be stored in glass containers. More importantly, it should be recognized
that chlorine infested water or water, which is recycled from sewage
is not acceptable for human consumption. Today, water filtration has
become necessary in most parts of the world due to pollution. We have
sophisticated technology to filter water, but none of them is sustainable
because each uses chemical resins or others to ‘purify’ the water. There
are natural options that have been used for hundreds and thousands of
years before man-made alternatives were invented and promoted as a
sign of sophistry and civilized lifestyle.
Sand: The use of sand for water filtration dates back thousands of
years. The Greeks and Romans used sand to remove sediment from the
water in their pools and bathhouses. Sand can filter out particles as small
as 25 microns and leave no harmful residuals in the water. Also, sand is
excellent for removing bacteria, eliminating the possibility of secondary
contamination.
Oysters: Oysters naturally filter toxins when they feed. The water pass-
ing through the oysters is purified enough to drink. In some parts of the
world, natural oyster reefs are still the preferred method for water filtra-
tion. One adult oyster can filter more than 60 gallons of water per day. In
Chapter 5, details are given on the use of fish scale and other biological
materials, which are more suitable for agricultural applications.
Plants: Plants are a natural choice for water filtration, especially in wet-
land areas. Plants automatically filter the water in which they live by add-
ing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. Some plants also remove heavy
metals and toxins while stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria.
Water lettuce and water hyacinth are so effective that they are sometimes
incorporated into the first step of wastewater purification.
Charcoal: Charcoal is a slow, but effective, water filter. The carbon in
charcoal helps remove toxins. Charcoal filters out particles larger than a
micron, including nitrogen oxide, lead and sulfur oxide.
Coconut: Coconut filters water by absorbing it through layers of fiber.
Coconut milk is second only to water in purity. Commercial water filters
often use coconut carbon filters to remove toxins and particles. The coco-
nut husks can trap most particles, toxins and parasites, including crypto-
sporidium and giardia.
Zeolite, Limestone, etc: These are natural rocks that can act as a filter as
well as enricher of minerals in the drinking water. Unlike chemical filters,
they do not need recharging or cleaning with toxic chemicals.
4.3.2 Ground Water Recharge

In many cases, groundwater is in shallow or over-exploited. The infiltra-
tion surface can be constructed to preserve and enhance the capability
of the soil to pass flows from the basin into the groundwater. Also using
the planted surface, rather than crushed stone or sand surface can help
improve the groundwater rechargement quality because it prevent of run-
off flowing. Also, the water undergoes natural filtration and mineralization
as long as synthetic fertilizer or pesticide are used. This process can be
practiced especially in river valleys and sedimentary plains by infiltrat-
ing river or lake water into shallow sand and gravel layers. The infiltration
technique is chosen according to the hydrogeological conditions, the avail-
able ground space, the water need, the composition of the infiltrated water,
and the degree of purification to be achieved (Balke et al., 2000).
4.3.3 Aeration
Increase in air can increase the population of aerobic bacteria and the
death of harmful anaerobic bacteria. Reduced oxygen in water decreases
water quality and finally eutrophycation occurs. Eutrophication is when
the environment becomes enriched with nutrients. This can be a problem
in marine habitats such as lakes as it can cause algal blooms. Some algae
even produce toxins that are harmful to higher forms of life. This can cause
problems along the food chain and affect any animal that feeds on them.
4.3.4 Brick, Clay and Others

Clay minerals are well known for their ability to remove heavy metals from
water (Jiang et al., 2010; Chaalal and Islam, 2000). Recently brick, made
out of natural clayey soil, has been found to be effective in filtering water
while removing metals from it. In fact, the sorption characteristics of brick
were found to be better than those of sand (Arias et al., 2006; Boujelben
et al., 2009) and to increase with the quantity of oxides and/or hydroxides
of iron, aluminum and manganese associated with the material (Boujelben
et al., 2008). Furthermore, the adsorption performance of crushed bricks
for a wide variety of salts was found to be comparable with that of activated
charcoal (Selvaraju and Pushpavannam, 2009; Yadav et al., 2006). Dehou

et al. (2012) reported works on crushed bricks, showing excellent data
about their capacity to remove dissolved iron(II) from ground waters
which were sampled in Bangui-region wells in Central African Republic.
4.4 Solar UV Treatment

With the plastic era came the era of artificial energy and artificial water
cleaning techniques. Over a century ago, advanced oxidation processes
(AOPs) were described as chemical degradation reactions which involve
hydroxyl radical (• OH) in the primary step (Mihaela, 2017). It was the
beginning of chemical treatment for purifying water. The first study on
the degradation of organic compounds through a process which at that
time was not known as proceeding through hydroxyl radical reactions
was published by Fenton (Fenton, 1894). Fenton observed that tartaric
and racemic acids are degraded in solutions in the presence of trace
amounts of ferrous (Fe2+) salts and hydrogen peroxide but he did not
investigate the mechanism of this reaction. Haber and Weiss (1932) were
the first to propose that Fe2+ reduces H2O2 with formation of hydroxyl
radicals. Although the photochemical decomposition of H2O2 was exten-
sively investigated from the early 1900’s through the 1950’s, the first
study on OH production via H2O2 photolysis for the purpose of organic
contaminant destruction in aqueous waste streams was reported in 1975
(Koubeck, 1975). The UV/H2O2 process is also the most commercially
implemented AOP. The first UV system using the UV/H2O2 process
was installed in 1992 in Gloucester (ON, Canada) to treat 1,4-dioxane
(pump & treat with aquifer recharge application). The first UV/H2O2
process was first time implemented to water treatment for public con-
sumption in 1998 in Salt Lake City, UT, to remove tetrachloroethene
(PCE) from contaminated groundwater. Currently, numerous full-scale
UV/H2O2-based systems are installed at water utilities around the world
to treat micropollutants in contaminated surface waters, groundwater,
and wastewater tertiary effluents for water reuse. In 1990s, the nega-
tive effects of this process started to surface. In 2000, Al-Maghrebi et al.
(2000) showed that all benefits of the process could be achieved, with-
out the sideeffects by using solar UV directly. Chaalal and Islam (2000)
showed that such process can be coupled with novel natural membrane
systems in order to remove even radioactive compound from the water
stream.
4.5 Natural Ozonation

Ozonation is an old water purification technique. In recent years, cata-
lytic ozonation has received considerable attention due to its high oxidation
capacity on organic matters in the wastewater. The direct catalytic oxidation
seems to be relatively slow and selective (Sui et al., 2010), so different cata-
lytic ozonation processes are combined to overcome these limitations and
enhance the treatment efficiency (Dai et al., 2014). Recently, catalytic ozo-
nation with solid catalysts has received wide attention, which exhibits rela-
tively high degradation efficiency for organic pollutants in wastewater (Qi
et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2017). The solid catalysts mainly include carbon
materials, metal oxides and metal oxides on supports. In particular, the
Fe-based catalysts are most widely applied to catalytic ozonation since (1)
they are widespread and abundant in nature and can be easily synthesized
and obtained; (2) they almost have no toxicity; (3) some Fe-based catalysts
show a high catalytic activity in catalytic ozonation system (Wang and Bai,
2017).
The Natural mackinawite (NM), as a non-toxic mineral, is a precur-
sor with great abundance to the more stable iron sulfide minerals (e.g.,
greigite and pyrite) (Gong et al., 2016). NM is mainly composed of iron
sulfide (FeS) and has long-term stability in anoxic sediments (Jeong et
al., 2007). Several studies have attempted to investigate NM to facilitate
the removal of chromium, heavy metals and radionuclide from solutions
or soils including hexavalent chromium (Mullet et al., 2004), dichlorodi-
phenyltrichloroethane (Pirnie et al., 2006), carbon tetrachloride, and
1,1,1-trichloroethane (Choi et al., 2009), tetrachloroethylene and trichlo-
roethylene (Jeong and Hayes, 2007), hexachloroethane (Butler and Hayes,
1998), Cu2+, Cd2+ and Pd2+ (Ozverdi and Erdem, 2006), technetium (Tc),
etc (Fan et al., 2014).
Peng et al. (2018) used NM for catalytic ozonation for DMAC
degradation. Their analysis of catalyst characterization suggests that NM
had a favorable active species for catalytic ozonation. They optiimized sev-
eral operating parameters to obtain the maximum degradation of DMAC
(i.e., NM = 3.5 g/L, ozone flow rate = 300 ml/min and initial pH = 6.8, the
DMAC degradation = 96.6%). Furthermore, NM could effectively catalyze
ozone for the degradation of DMAC in comparison with application of
ZVI/O3 and FeS/O3 (synthetic FeS) under the same conditions. In addi-
tion, degradation intermediates and pathways of DMAC were proposed.
Meanwhile, the activated sludge inhibition experiment was carried out to
prove the decreasing biotoxicity of the degradation products of DMAC
were reduced via NM/O3 process. In addition, through control experiments

(i.e., O3 alone, NM alone, Fe2+/O3 and Na2S/O3 system), NM was proved to
have an irreplaceable activity to catalyze ozonation for DMAC degrada-
tion, meanwhile the S2− species could play an important role in promoting
the Fe(II)/Fe(III) cycle. Besides, the reaction mechanisms involved ROS
(HO•, H2O2 and O2•−) were investigated, the results show that the extraordi-
nary efficiency for DMAC degradation was mainly caused by generation of
HO• in NM/O3 system. NM/O3 process can be a great potential technology
for treating the high concentration of the toxic and refractory pollutants
in industrial wastewater due to NM with abundant, widespread source,
low-cost and safety performances, moreover NM had an excellent catalytic
activity to enhance the treatment efficiency.
To-date, no one has reported ozonation without resorting to synthesis
from oxygen, which is subjected to high voltage or UV irradiation. This is
one area of research that should be expanded.
5
Sustainable Purification Techniques
for Agricultural Waters
5.1 Introduction
The water treatment issues confronting the agriculture market today
include an ever-increasing demand for irrigation water, compromised
water quality, declining availability, and expanded government regulations.
As globalization takes hold, the world is moving toward more agricultural
practices of the west. These practices are not sustainable and therefore very
taxing on the global environmental health. Land and water resources are
central to agriculture and rural development, and are intrinsically linked
to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adap-
tation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural
resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of rural people across the
world (FAO, 2011). FAO predicts that world population will increase to 9.1
billion by 2050. In addition, economic progress, notably in the emerging
countries, translates into increased demand for food and diversified diets.
World food demand will surge as a result, and it is projected that food pro-
duction will increase by 70 percent in the world and by 100 percent in the
developing countries. Yet both land and water resources, the basis of our
food production, are finite and already under heavy stress, and future agri-
cultural production will need to be more productive and more sustainable
at the same time (FAO, 2011). This builds up the hype that an apocalyptic
crisis is imminent. This is the same model that has driven energy policy
and virtually all aspects of modern economy (Islam et al., 2018).
In economics, the notion of there being infinite need and finite resources
is a fundamental premise that is asserted with dogmatic fervor in contem-
porary economics. In the context of water or petroleum resources, this
notion has to help foment fear that is actually the driver of contemporary
economics. This model starts off with the premise that needs must grow
continually in order for the economy to thrive. Then, it implies, without
155
looking at the validity of that premise, that there has to be an endless supply
of resource to sustain the greed. Because such endless supply contradicts
the other premise that natural sources are finite, there arises an inherent
contradiction. One such article is written by Mason (2017), who poses this
wrong-headed question:
“But what happens to that equation when the net amount of energy we
extract from the earth is shrinking? How, then, does an economy grow
exponentially forever if the one element it needs more than anything
to flourish is contracting with time?”
Then, he primes the audience with the need of a paradigm shift, that
would involve challenging all orthodoxies involving the economy, as if to
propose a revolution. Next, he creates a prophet out of a neuroscientist,
Chris Martenson, who in recent years has turned his attention to the econ-
omy, particularly as it relates to dwindling energy resources and growing
debt. Note how the premise of ‘dwindling energy resources’ is imbedded in
this ‘revolutionary’ concept. How revolutionary is it? He writes:
“He also got rid of most any equity stocks and put his money in gold
and silver. He has been labelled a prophet of doom and a survivalist,
by some. But more recently, his views have been receiving wider and
more serious attention. He has been to Canada to talk to oil and gas
investors, of all people. That’s incongruous given his view that we’re
pillaging the Earth of its energy resources in the most inefficient and
wasteful ways possible.”
Intuitively, it sounds simple – if I use up a certain amount of a finite

quantity each year, it will eventually run out. But that tells you that you can-
not have constant or increasing resource extraction from a finite resource,
it does not tell you anything about what you do with the resources you
extract, how productive they are, or whether or not they enable continued
economic growth. It is certainly possible to sustain exponential growth
infinitely with finite resources, as long as the usage is confined to sustain-
able or zero-waste operations.
Similarly, all solutions end up proposing to minimize waste and max-
imize profit – an economic euphemism for Utilitarianism that has been
preaching ‘maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain’ at a personal level.
There has always been plenty of discussion in economics discourse about
manipulating the interest rate, but never about eliminating it. There are
plenty of suggestions regarding how to minimize waste, but one never
proposes a solution to achieve zero-waste. There are even talks about
Sustainable Purifcation Techniques for Agricultural Waters 157
continuously increasing productivity, but never talk about the fundamen-

tal assumption of infinite need and finite resource.
Nature is infinite – in the sense of being all-encompassing – within a
closed system that nevertheless lacks any boundaries. Somewhat paradox-
ically, nature as a system is closed in the sense of being self-closing. This
self-closure property has two aspects. First, everything in a natural envi-
ronment is used. Absent anthropogenic interventions, conditions of net
waste or net surplus would not persist for any meaningful period of time.
Secondly, nature’s closed system operates without benefit of, or depen-
dence upon, any internal or external boundaries. Because of this infinite
dimension, we may deem nature – considered in net terms as a system
overall – to be perfectly balanced. Of course, within any arbitrarily selected
finite time period, any part of a natural system may appear out of balance.
However, to look at nature’s system without acknowledging all the subtle
dependencies that operate at any given moment introduces a bias that dis-
torts any conclusion that is asserted on the basis of such a narrow approach.
From where do the imbalance and unsustainability that seem so ubiqui-
tous in the atmosphere, the soil, and the oceans actually originate? As the
“most intelligent creation of nature,” men were expected to at least stay out of
the natural ecosystem. Einstein might have had doubts about human intel-
ligence or the infinite nature of the Universe, but human history tells us that
human beings have always managed to rely on the infinite nature of nature.
From Central American Mayans to Egyptian Pharaohs, from Chinese Huns
to the Manichaeans of Persia, and from the Edomites of the Petra Valley
to the Indus Valley civilization of the Asian subcontinent, all managed to
remain in harmony with nature. They were not necessarily free from prac-
tices that we no longer consider (Pharaohs sacrificed humans to accompany
the dead royal for the resurrection day), but they did not produce a single
gram of an inherently anti-nature product, such as DDT. In modern times,
we have managed to give a Nobel Prize (in medicine) for that invention.
Islam et al. (2010, 2012) and Khan and Islam (2016) have presented
detailed accounts of how our ancestors dealt with energy and water
needs and the knowledge they possessed that is absent in today’s world.
Regardless of the technology these ancient civilizations lacked that many
might look for today, our ancestors were concerned with not developing
technologies that might undo or otherwise threaten the perceived balance
of nature that, today, seems desirable and worth emulating. Nature remains
and will remain truly sustainable.
By contrast, the western nations, who control the UN agenda, the focus
is in selling western technology, train the indigenous population and then
throw them in deep despair that all efforts of salvaging them has been futile.
If that is tot enough, further guilt is imparted and other experts show up
to lecture them about demographics, changing consumption patterns, bio-
fuel production and climate change impacts. The UN reports identify geo-
graphic zones with high population densities, where rainfed and irrigated
crop production systems are under increasing pressure and are at height-
ened risk of reaching limits to increased production and productivities.
These ‘systems at risk’ are drawn to the attention of the global community
for concerted and timely remedial intervention, including through invest-
ments and international cooperation, not only on a global scale but locally,
where the consequences of lack of action on agricultural livelihoods are
likely to be greatest.
The global land area is 13.2 billion ha. Of this, 12 percent (1.6 billion
ha) is currently in use for cultivation of agricultural crops, 28 percent (3.7
billion ha) is under forest, and 35 percent (4.6 billion ha) comprises grass-
lands and woodland ecosystems (FAO, 2011). Low-income countries cover
about 22 percent of the land area. Land use varies with climatic and soil
conditions and human influences (Figure 5.1). Deserts prevail across much
of the lower northern latitudes of Africa and Asia. Dense forests predom-
inate in the heartlands of South America, along the seaboards of North
America, and across Canada, Northern Europe and much of Russia, as well
as in the tropical belts of Central Africa and Southeast Asia. Cultivated
land is 12 to 15 percent of total land in each category. Grasslands and
woodlands (33 to 39 percent) and forest land (20 to 33 percent) dominate
land use and cover in all three country income categories.
>75% forest
50–75% forest
>75% grass/shrub
50–75% grass/shrub
>75% crops
50–75% crops
Mixed
>50% non-vegetable
>50% bulb-up
Figure 5.1 Map showing global land use.

Cultivated land is a leading land use (a fifth or more of the land area)
in South and Southeast Asia, Western and Central Europe, and Central
America and the Caribbean, but is less important in sub-Saharan and
Northern Africa, where cultivation covers less than a tenth of the area.
Recall from Chapter 3 that this region is subject to most denigration in
matters of drinking water use and sanitation.
Table 5.1 shows land use for different income groups. The global area of
cultivated land has grown by a net 159 Mha since 1961 (Figure 5.2). This
increase, however, includes a larger area of land newly brought into culti-
vation, while over the same period previously cultivated lands have come
out of production. The entire net increase in cultivated areas over the last
50 years is attributable to a net increase in irrigated cropping, with land
under rainfed systems showing a very slight decline. Irrigated area more
than doubled over the period, and the number of hectares needed to feed
one person has reduced dramatically from 0.45 to 0.22 ha per person (FAO,
2010b). Missing from this description is the degradation of land quality
due to the use of chemical fertilizers. Many recent studies have reported
continuous degradation of soil with chemical fertilizers whereas contin-
uous nourishment with organic fertilizer (e.g., Lin et al., 2019; Gregory
et al., 2015). This is key feature of water sustainability that has been ignored
by government bodies and international agencies.
Lin, W. et al., 2019, The effects of chemical and organic fertilizer usage
on rhizosphere soil in tea orchards, PLoS One, 14(5): e0217018.
Gregory, A.S. et al., 2015, A review of the impacts of degradation threats
on soil properties in the UK, Soil Use and Management, 12 October.
Instead of looking at the global scenario, FAO takes a narrow view of
sustainability concludes that a decline of about 135 Mha (3.3 percent) in
forested area between 1990 and 2010 suggests that the expansion in the
cultivated area and the replacement of degraded arable land with new cul-
tivated land have been partly achieved through conversion of previously
forested areas (FAO, 2010d).
Globally, about 0.23 ha of land is cultivated per head of the world’s pop-
ulation. High-income countries cultivate more than twice the area per cap-
ita (0.37 ha) than low-income (0.17 ha) countries, while middle-income
countries cultivate 0.23 ha per capita (Table 5.2).
Assuming well-adapted production systems are used (meaning con-
forming to western standards), currently cultivated land is mostly of
prime (28 percent of the total) or good quality (53 percent). The high-
est regional proportion of prime land currently cultivated is found in
Central America and the Caribbean (42 percent), followed by Western
and Central Europe (38 percent) and North America (37 percent). For
Table 5.1 Land use for various income growth.
Sparsely
Grassland and vegetated Inland
Cultivated Forest woodland and barren Settlement and water
Country category land land ecosystems land infrastructure bodies
Global
share of Share of global
land, % population, % Mha % Mha % Mha % Mha % Mha % Mha %
Low- 22 38 441 15 564 20 1020 36 744 26 52 1.8 41 1.4

income
Middle- 53 47 735 11 2285 33 2266 33 1422 21 69 1 79 1
income
High- 25 15 380 12 880 27 1299 39 592 18 31 1 123 4
income
Rainfed Irrigated Cropland per person
1600 0.50
1400 0.45
Million hectares
1200 0.40
Hectare/person
1000 0.35
800 0.30
600 0.25
400 0.20
1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2008
Figure 5.2 Evolution of land (From FAO, 2011).
high-income countries as a whole, the share of prime land in currently

cultivated land is 32 percent (Table 5.2). In low-income countries, soils are
often poorer and only 28 percent of total cultivated land is classed as prime.
FAO, 2011, The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and
agriculture (SOLAW) – Managing systems at risk. Food and Agriculture,
Organization of the United Nations, Rome and Earthscan, London.
In this chapter, guidelines are provided for sustainable water purifica-
tion techniques applicable to the agricultural industry.
5.2 Organic vs. Chemical Agricultural Practices

Conventionally, water sources used for agricultural applications include
groundwater, surface water, treated municipal and industrial wastewaters,
as well as liquid manures stored in lagoons onsite at large dairy and swine
operations. Dairy and CAFO manure storage, treatment, and handling
regulation compliance are major issues confronting these segments of the
agricultural producer market. There are also water treatment issues and
regulations confronting the vegetable and fruit processor’s segment of the
market that involve vegetable/fruit washing and wastewater recycling that
must be addressed.
All plants require different set of nutrients such as the macro and micro
nutrients for good and healthy growth (Tucker, 1999). The external fea-
tures of plants do not show the impact of organic and non-organic agricul-
tural practices differently. This is similar to external features of a human on
Table 5.2 Land use for various country classifications.
Rainfed crops (%)

Cultivated land Population Cultivated land
Regions (Mha) (million) per capita (ha) Prime land Good land Marginal land
Low-income countries 441 2651 0.17 28 50 22

Middle-income countries 735 3223 0.23 27 55 18
High-Income countries 380 1031 0.37 32 50 19
Total 1556 6905 0.23 29 52 19
Source: adapted from Fischer et al. (2010).

healthy diet or steroid. Each soil needs fertilizers to compensate for the
nutrients taken by the plant. Before the so-called Green Revolution that
made chemical fertilizer ubiquitous, the practice of applying partially
decomposed animal waste in plants were the norm. natural and old pro-
cess of returning the lost nutrients back into the soil. Today, the natural
process of nourishing the soil is no longer the norm.
During the Green Revolution, chemical fertilizer as well as synthetic
pesticide were introduced with the promise of unprecedented growth
in yield. The story of English wheat is typical. It took nearly 1,000 years
for wheat yields to increase from 0.5 to 2 metric tons per hectare, but
only 40 years to climb from 2 to 6 metric tons per hectare. Modern plant
breeding, improved agronomy, and the development of inorganic fer-
tilizers and modern pesticides fueled these advances (IFPRI, 2000). A
superficial sustainability was quickly reached in the industrial countries
and the threat of starvation was eliminated. These ‘advances’ were much
slower in reaching developing countries. The colonial powers invested
little in the food production systems of these countries, and by inde-
pendence, their populations were growing at historically high rates. By
the mid-1960s, hunger and malnutrition were widespread, especially in
Asia, which increasingly depended on food aid from the west. Back-to-
back droughts in India during the mid-1960s made the already precar-
ious situation worse, and a 1967 report of the U.S. President’s Science
Advisory Committee concluded that “the scale, severity and duration of
the world food problem are so great that a massive, long-range, innova-
tive effort unprecedented in human history will be required to master
it.” The plot thickened. Soon, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations took
the lead in establishing an international agricultural research system to
help transfer and adapt scientific advances to the conditions in develop-
ing countries. The first investments were in research on rice and wheat,
two of the staple food crops for developing countries. The breeding of
improved varieties, combined with the expanded use of fertilizers, other
chemical inputs, and irrigation, led to dramatic yield increases in Asia
and Latin America, beginning in the late 1960s. In 1968, U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID) Administrator William S. Gaud
coined the term “Green Revolution” to describe this phenomenal growth
in agriculture.
To achieve higher yields for rice and wheat, scientists needed to develop
plants that were more responsive to plant nutrients and that had shorter,
stiffer straw to support the weight of heavier heads of grain. They also needed
to develop varieties that could mature quicker and grow at any time of the
year, thereby permitting farmers to grow more crops each year on the same
land. This was, in essence, putting the crops on steroid or growth hormone.
New varieties also needed to be resistant to major pests and diseases,
which flourish under intensive farming conditions, and to retain desir-
able cooking and consumption traits. Borrowing from rice-breeding work
undertaken in China, Japan, and Taiwan, the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines developed semi-dwarf varieties that met
most of these requirements. Similar achievements were made for wheat
after Norman Borlaug (later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work)
crossed Japanese semi-dwarf varieties with Mexican wheats at what is now
known as the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement
(CIMMYT) in Mexico. It was the first form of GMO and the culture of
vaccine and antibiotic (Islam et al., 2015).
Within years, the term Green Revolution, which originally described
developments for rice and wheat, became synonymous with high-yielding
varieties (HYVs) other major food crops, important to developing countries,
including sorghum, millet, maize, cassava, and beans. Today, a full-fledged
system of international agricultural research centers now works on practically
all aspects of developing-country agriculture (the Future Harvest Centers that
make up the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research).
The adoption of HYVs occurred quickly. By 1970, about 20 percent of
the wheat area and 30 percent of the rice area in developing countries were
planted to HYVs, and by 1990, the share had increased to about 70 percent
for both crops. Yields of rice and wheat virtually doubled. Higher yields
and profitability also led farmers to increase the area of rice and wheat they
grew at the expense of other crops. Furthermore, with faster-growing vari-
eties and irrigation, they grew more crops on their land each year. These
changes more than doubled cereal production in Asia between 1970 and
1995, while population increased by 60 percent. Instead of widespread
famine, cereal and calorie availability per person increased by nearly 30
percent, and wheat and rice became cheaper. Latin America experienced
significant gains as well, but the impact in Sub-Saharan Africa was much
more modest. Poor infrastructure, high transport costs, limited investment
in irrigation, and pricing and marketing policies that penalized farmers
made the Green Revolution technologies too expensive or inappropriate
for much of Africa. It was thee beginning of a culture that would later be
outed to have created the biggest scientific fraud in human history.
External features were all looking attractive. For instance, The Green
Revolution led to sizable increases in returns to land, and hence raised
farmers’ incomes. Moreover, with greater income to spend, new needs for
farm inputs, and milling and marketing services, farm families led to a
general increase in demand for goods and services. This stimulated the
rural nonfarm economy, which in turn grew and generated significant new
income and employment of its own. Real per capita incomes almost dou-
bled in Asia between 1970 and 1995, and poverty declined from nearly
three out of every five Asians in 1975 to less than one in three by 1995.
The absolute number of poor people fell from 1.15 billion in 1975 to 825
million in 1995 despite a 60 percent increase in population. In India, the
percentage of the rural population living below the poverty line fluctu-
ated between 50 and 65 percent before the mid-1960s but then declined
steadily to about one-third of the rural population by 1993. What was not
accounted for in this rosy picture is the overall decline in quality of food
and the increasing control of big banks that controlled all farmers, who
became ever more dependent for paying for the western technology and
agricultural products.
The Green Revolution also created a façade of good nutrition. Without
regards to the quality of food, meaning organic food and chemically grown
food, food values were reduced to a linear number counted with calories.
Everything artificial replaced everything natural, ranging from refined oil
to all crops and livestock. As the transition from natural to artificial was
completed, the profit margin of the western corporations skyrocketed.
With the degradation of quality of food, followed the environmental
degradation and increased income inequality, inequitable asset distribu-
tion, and worsened absolute poverty. Also, it became clear that owners of
large farms were the main adopters of the new technologies because of
their better access to irrigation water, fertilizers, seeds, and credit. Small
farmers were either unaffected or harmed because the Green Revolution
resulted in lower product prices, higher input prices, and efforts by land-
lords to increase rents or force tenants off the land. The Green Revolution
encouraged unnecessary mechanization, thereby pushing down rural
wages and employment. The crisis has hit Indian farmers so hard that
Farmers’ suicide in India became synonymous with any social status of
India. This national catastrophe of farmers committing suicide began in
the 1990s, often by drinking pesticides, due to their inability to repay loans
mostly taken from landlords and banks. As of 2014, in Maharashtra alone,
more than 60,000 suicides had taken place, with an average of 10 suicides
every day (Website 2).
Figure 5.3 shows a total of nearly 300,000 Indian farmers had commit-
ted suicide since 1995. Of these, 60,750 farmer suicides were in the state
of Maharashtra since 1995, with the remainder spread out in Odisha,
Farmer suicides from 1995 to 2015

20000
19000
18000
17000
16000
15000
Suicides Reported as per NCRB
14000
13000
12000
11000
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Year
Figure 5.3 Suicide rate among farmers in India.
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh,

all states with loose financial and entry regulations.
A number of social activist groups and studies proposed a link between
expensive genetically modified crops and farmer suicides (Gruère and
Sengupta, 2011). Bt cotton (Bacillus thuringiensis cotton) was claimed to
be responsible for farmer suicides. The Bt cotton seeds cost nearly twice
as much as ordinary ones. The higher costs forced many farmers into tak-
ing ever larger loans, often from private moneylenders charging exorbitant
interest rates (60% a year). The moneylenders force farmers to sell their
cotton to them at a price lower than it fetches on the market. According
to activists and studies, this created a source of debt and economic stress,
ultimately suicides, among farmers. Increasing costs in farming asso-
ciated with decreasing yields even with use of BT cotton seeds are often
quoted cause of distress among farmers in central India. A 2015 study in
Environmental Sciences Europe found that farmer suicide rates in India’s
rainfed areas were “directly related to increases in Bt cotton adoption.”
Factors leading to suicide included “high costs of BT cotton” and “ecologi-
cal disruption and crop loss after the introduction of Bt cotton.” (Gutierrez
et al., 2011).
Overall, agricultural processes have been turned on their heads
at the expense of food quality and the overall environmental and
socio-economical integrity. A popular anecdote drives this point of

socio-economic extremism. Consider the following
1. A healthy baby is born in a hospital after epidural treatment.*

2. A few days later, the baby is not responsive and feeling very
lethargic.
3. The baby is rushed to the emergency, everything is consid-
ered other than the effect of epidural. Many blood tests and
others are performed to check for infection. The baby goes
home, ‘untreated’.
4. The mother takes the baby to a doctor.
5. The doctor gives the baby vaccines.
6. The child develops serious symptoms and is prescribed
Tylenol.
7. A few days later, the child is back to doctor with symptoms
of infections, and is prescribed antibiotic by the doctor.
8. The child continues to develop symptoms and more antibi-
otics follow, and Tylenol becomes a routine ‘home remedy’
9. Child develops symptoms of asthma and ADHD.
10. Doctor prescribes steroids and Ritalin.
11. Mom thanks doctor for helping her child.
In this particular anecdote, each activity is an economic activity with

profound impact on the overall health of the child. Yet, during the same pro-
cess, corporate profit skyrockets all at the expense of denaturing the child’s
health (Figure 5.4). As Figure 5.4 depicts, this degeneration of the natural
order is a mirror image of natural progression. They both reach an equilib-
rium, albeit the one at the bottom being the fictitious one. In modern eco-
nomics, this fictitious equilibrium is anticipated and all measures are taken
to introduce another process of denaturing which is more toxic than the
previous one. That brings in the concept of Honey Sugar Saccharine®
Aspartame®, denoted as HSS®A®N degradation by our research group
(starting with Zatzman and Islam, 2007). The HSS®A®N pathway is a met-
aphor representing many other phenomena and chinks of phenomena
that originate from in some natural form but become subsequently engi-
neered through many intermediate stages into “new products”, ultimately
* A solution of local anesthetic (freezing) and often a narcotic as well as is then given
through this catheter inserted near the spinal cord. Also, added infusion of oxytocin or
other synthetic hormone to induce early delivery.
Natural Natural
Healthcare
Activities
1 2 3 4
5 Region
6
7 of exponential
8 profiteering
9
10
Corporate
Artificial ‘Healthcare’
Figure 5.4 Economic activities have become synonymous with corporate profiteering and
denaturing of the society.
transforming into nothing, for which the profit margin approaches infin-
ity. These “new products” include materials, technology, and thought pro-
cesses. This paper identifies the HSS®A®N pathway in theories of physics as
discussed by all major scientists and philosophers. Since 2007, the authors
have striven to popularize this Honey → Sugar → Saccharin®→Aspartame®
pattern as a kind of shorthand reference to a particularly critical insight,
often overlooked or only tangentially acknowledged, into the essence of
the transformation of natural into artificial. This is a pattern so charac-
teristic and widespread across every department of modern industrialized
commodity production as to have become invisible. HSS®A® represents an
entire class of other processes of degradation of a gift of Nature by its com-
modification as a byproduct of industrial-scale organic chemistry.
In follow up papers, the works of Newton, Maxwell, Einstein, Feynman,
and Hawking are reviewed and their fundamental premises deconstructed.
Once identified, it becomes clear how disinformation works in the current
system in the context of laws and theories of physics. One can then figure
out a way to reverse the process by avoiding aphenomenal schemes that
lead to ignorance packaged with arrogance.
This mode of economics drives the waste-based technology, which is
inherently anti-nature. By taking the short-term approach of maximizing
quarterly profit, mechanisms have been created that make the world envi-
ronment continuously worse. Figure 5.5 elaborates this aspect for technol-
ogy development. It shows how cost to customers, which is indicative of
Honey
Sap
Natural juice Cost to customers
Molasses
Quality of food
Brown sugar
Sugar
Refined food/oil
Instant mix/TV dinner
Nutrient powder, energy drinks
Chemical refining/Denaturing
Figure 5.5 The outcome of short-term profit-driven economics model.
corporate profit, goes up exponentially as the quality of food goes down.

This figure may be readily extrapolated to other aspects of social develop-
ment, including politics and education.
5.2.1 Denaturing for a Profit

Almost two decades ago, the author’s research group uncovered this pro-
gression from honey to sugar to saccharin to Aspartame®, labeling it the
HSSA Syndrome. Numerous titles among its publications elaborate on the
repeated appearance of the degenerative results of this cycle as a metaphor
for many other phenomena in which engineered interventions degrade the
quality and effectiveness of existing naturally-sourced chemicals and pro-
cesses. The discovery and elaboration of the HSSA pattern has rich impli-
cations for the very notion of sustainability. Our research has yet to find a
single corporate-controlled chemically-engineered process today that did
not invent, and-or indefinitely extend a future for itself, either by adding
anti-nature elements to a natural source or by completely replacing the nat-
ural source with a chemically-engineered substitute. Indeed: this describes
the essence of the “plastics revolution” of our own time. Today, containers
of literally every description as well as function-critical components all
kinds of engines and other machines have been or are being replaced with
chemically-engineered substitutes. These generally replace sources that
were non-toxic or of relatively neutral impact when disposed of as waste
in the environment. All that is really being sustained, then, is an artificially
low cost-price to the consumer and maximum profit for the corporate sec-
tor. The problem here is neither one of growth or of development as things
in themselves, but of how these are actually carried out, that is to say: their
pathways.
As processing is done, the quality of the product is decreased (along
the HSSA syndrome). Yet, this process is called value addition in the eco-
nomic sense. The price, which should be proportional to the value, in fact,
goes up inversely proportional to the real value (opposite to the perceived
value, as promoted through advertisements). Here, the value is fabricated,
similar to what is done in the aphenomenal models used in economics
(Chapter 3). The fabricated value is made synonymous with real value or
quality (as proclaimed by advertisements), without any further discussion
of what constitutes quality. This perverts the entire value addition concept
and falsifies the true economics of commodity (Zatzman and Islam, 2007).
Logically, before certifying a process or system as ‘sustainable’, the con-
formity of the process with nature must be demonstrated. Instead, exactly
the opposite criterion is used, that is to say, unless a mess has been made
out of natural order a patent is not granted.
5.2.2 The Consequences

At present, numerous debates break out in favor and against any study
that appears in the mainstream literature. Both sides use New Science to
make their points, without questioning the validity of the “laws” and the-
ories of New Science. In this book, the premises behind all of these laws
and theories are challenged. Just like what happened in global warming
for which each party calls the other party ‘the flat-earth theorist’ or ‘con-
spiracy theorist’, debates rage on as to every point of modern medical and
chemical industries. Ironically, scientists all believe in the “chemicals are
chemicals” or “energy is energy” mantra debate over why organic food and
wood stove are better than their toxic alternatives but they all agree that it’s
carbon or heat that cause cancer. Just like the global warming debate, for
which no one asks ‘how could carbon dioxide be the enemy when we need
carbon dioxide for producing life-sustaining plants,’ no one wonders how
high temperature or carbon can give cancer when carbon is the essence
of life and clay ovens produced healthy breads for thousands of years – all
at high temperatures. No amount of doctrinal sermon can explain these
contradictions, particularly as the same group, which promotes nuclear as
“clean” energy, considers genetically modified, chemical fertilizers and pes-
ticide infested crops derivatives processed through toxic means as “renew-
able”. This same group also proclaims that electricity collected with toxic
silicon photovoltaics and stored with even more toxic batteries – all to be
utilized through the most toxic “white light” – as sustainable. In the past,
the same logic has been used in the “I can’t believe it’s not butter” culture
that saw the dominance of artificial fat (transfat) over real fat (saturated
fat) as geared toward creating a similar crisis involving water (CBC, Dec.
19, 2008; Icenhower, 2006).
Classical dynamics as represented by Newton’s laws of motion, empha-
sizes fixed and unique initial conditions, stability, and the equilibrium of
a body in motion (Islam et al., 2010). However, it is not possible with the
‘laws’ and theories to make a distinction between the natural products and
their corresponding artificial substitutes (Table 5.3). Consequently, the
same theories that formed the basis of engineering the artificial products
cannot be called upon to make the reversal.
The above transitions embody the main bulk of modern technological
developments that have been characterized by Nobel laureate chemist,
Robert Curl as a ‘technological disaster’.
This process has affected the water resources the most, followed by petro-
leum – the 2nd most abundant liquid on Earth. The most toxic chemical that
has emerged from this process is plastic materials that have revolutionized
modern era, aptly called the ‘plastic era’ for over a century. Plastic waste has
in turn polluted everything on the earth crust. Most notable of the affected
natural chemical is the salt (sodium chloride) – the most important chemi-
cal of a human blood system – is contaminated by plastic around the world.
A recent study (Genza, 2017) shows that sea salt around the world has been
contaminated by plastic pollution, adding to experts’ fears that microplas-
tics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and finding their way into
the food chain via the salt in our diets. New studies have shown that tiny
particles have been found in sea salt in the UK, France and Spain, as well
as China and now the US. Up to 12.7m tonnes of plastic enters the world’s
oceans every year, equivalent to dumping one garbage truck of plastic per
minute into the world’s oceans, according to the United Nations. This rep-
resents the symptom of the ‘plastic addiction’, which is synonymous with
the plastic era of over 100 years right up to the Information Age.
5.2.3 The Sugar Culture and Beyond

In the HSSA degradation process of turning natural into artificial, the most
important transition has been from honey to sugar. This transition has
become iconic to the overall technology development process.
The invention of sugar correlates strongly with the most meaningful deg-
radation in overall health and lifestyle in human society during recorded
Table 5.3 Transitions from natural to processed.

Wood plastic
Glass PVC
Cotton polyester
Natural fiber synthetic fiber
Clay cement
Molasses Sugar
Sugar Sugar-free sweeteners
Fermented flower extract perfume
Water filter (Hubble bubble) cigarette filter
Graphite, clay chalk
Chalk marker
Vegetable paint plastic paint
Natural marble artificial marble
Clay tile ceramic tile
Ceramic tile vinyl and plastic
Wool polyester
silk synthetic
Bone hard plastic
Organic fertilizer chemical fertilizer
Adaptation bioengineering
history. While molasses were being manufactured without introducing any

health hazards, artificial sugar meant the introduction of numerous toxic
chemicals that are simply not suitable for human consumption. However,
this was introduced as a symbol of civilization. Sugar is white, and it is
sweeter than molasses, and far more profitable than honey.
Today, the world consumes some 110 million tones of sugar annu-
ally. Yet, sugar is prepared following a process that has never existed in
nature. If one starts with the premise that unnatural is not sustainable, the
production of sugar would mark a clear divergence from sustainable tech-

nology. If one has any confusion as to the existence of sugar as a natural
process, one should be reminded of the process involved in manufacturing
sugar. For instance, it involves crushing sugar cane, following by ‘cleaning’
with calcium hydroxide, a synthetic chemical that is not used by natural
processes for anything of benefit, let alone for cleansing. At a later stage,
brown sugar is ‘refined’ with chemical bleach, a potent toxin that oxidizes
useful nutrients to render sugar ‘white’. Then a series of other ‘refining’
material, such as, chalk, granulated carbon, etc. may be introduced.
While this color is appealing to the public that would consume sugar
unconsciously, what does it say about the long-term sustainability of the
food that just got reduced into a toxin? Indeed, anyone with conscious
and minimum knowledge about how food is processed in a human body
would have prevented engineers from employing such a technique. This
intervention did not happen. Instead the entire engineering discipline
focused on how quickly more sugar can be manufactured, while marketing
agencies went out and found new markets to sell the product. Two ques-
tions arise here. First, why did an enlightened group of people resort to
using toxins to process food? Were they that much intellectually bankrupt
that they could not find a technique that nature has already in place? After
all, what can be cleaner or whiter than milk? Why did the goodness of milk
have to be compromised in nature? It is often understood, it is because
denaturing leads to increasing the profit margin. Natural processes can
never be fully “cost-effectively engineered” in the sense of “subjected to
command and control regimes consistent with maximizing profit in the
shortest possible time”. They are not amenable to the principle desider-
atum of mass production, which is profit based on minimum input costs.
Minimizing input costs is not possible in a mass production context with-
out sacrificing quality—usually through conversion of the real/natural
into something artificial.
If a reality index† were associated with pricing, the corrected profit would
invariably always be negative. In reality, nothing is cheaper than natural
products as long as sunshine and mother’s milk are still available “for free”,
i.e., at no charge or at no cost to one’s capital outlay. How does this obvi-
ous logic elude modern-day academics? If the focus is so short-term that
long-term benefits and short-falls are entirely disregarded in all economic
†
We’ll see in subsequent chapters that in scientifically correct pricing, there should be a
penalty in turning natural (real) to artificial. With the current technology development
mode, turning from natural to artificial actually increases the profit margin – so much so
that a scientific pricing would create a paradigm shift in economic developments.
calculations (Zatzman and Islam, 2007), it will indeed elude the powers of
conventional observation. Conventionally, long-term costs, including costs
of damaging the quality of a product or polluting the environment are disre-
garded, leaving the general public to pick up the remedial costs much later.
This much about immediate practice is almost trivially obvious. In the
absence of an economic theory that includes long-term elements, however,
any engineered product can be marketed as anything else, covering the
economic bottom line. This is far from obvious and the perfect cover for a
system that is entirely artificial from root to surface. In this process, engi-
neers have been playing a robotic role. They had no option to look into the
natural order for solutions. This robotization starts early in the education
system, and pervades all disciplines.
It did not take humanity long to detect the effects of the sugar culture. For
nearly a century, it has been known that sugar is responsible for non-genetic
diabetes. Any reasonable consideration and rational reaction of this super-
flux of diabetes would lead to health warnings against sugar and to minimiz-
ing its consumption. Yet, the exact opposite happened. Sugar consumption
skyrocketed as more and more processed food and fast food hit the market-
place. Sugar was introduced even as the first drink a newborn gets, displacing
the age-old practice of giving honey to a newborn. Based on flawed analysis,
honey was in fact banned from pediatric sections of the hospital and labels
slapped on honey containers, warning people that honey can cause b otulism
– an utterly aphenomenal conclusion‡. Today, sugar or similar sweeteners
are ubiquitous, some food containing 75% sugar (Gillespie, 2010). Over
time, more ‘side effects’ of this sweet poison have emerged. For example,
addiction to refined sugar is more problematic than addiction to cocaine,
and is associated with obesity, cancer, and diabetes (Goldwert, 2012).
Chemical engineering research has focused on several fronts, all maxi-
mizing short-term economic benefits. For instance, the notion that ‘chem-
icals are chemicals’ irrespective of their natural or artificial origin and
components was used to sell the general public in the idea that natural
sugar is the same as refined sugar, therefore, refined, i.e. artificial, sugar
should be preferred because it’s cheaper. After all, if honey has just as many
calories as sugar but costs twice as much, the immediate practical reason
to opt for honey disappears. Once this dogma of refinement trumps nat-
ural availability entrenched itself, research could focus—and indeed has
focused—on developing cheaper and more effective forms of sweetener.
‡
Botulism is a rare paralytic illness caused by a toxin which is very poisonous to humans. As
late as August 3, 2013 headline reads “New Zealand recalls dairy products over botulism fears”.
Biomedical engineering research revealed the addictive nature of sugar.

As research began to reveal addictive nature of sugar, it was taken as a
boon. It causes a euphoric effect that triggers dopamine, the chemical that
controls pleasure in the brain. This should have triggered in a conscien-
tious mind that natural sugar which produces natural glucose—the only
food for the brain—cannot possibly be the same as artificial sugar that
intoxicates the brain. The received message instead was: adding sugar to
any product would make it addictive and sales will skyrocket! Recently,
Munro (2015) presented how such epidemic of addiction is turned into
a huge profit making industry, thus completing the loop between food
companies and pharmaceutical companies. For alcohol addiction, Munro
quoted, Harvard Graduate, addiction expert, and author, Dr. Lance Dodes:
“I became the Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Harvard’s

McLean Hospital. I’ve probably treated a couple of thousand people
who have one addiction or another. Almost all residential treatment
programs in the United States are 12 Step based, so their effectiveness
will depend entirely on whether 12 Step programs work and the statis-
tics for AA are not good. It is helpful for 5‒10% and that’s a good thing.
That’s 5‒10% of people who are being helped by A.A. ‒ it’s a lot better
than zero percent ‒ but it shouldn’t be thought of as the standard of
treatment because it fails for most people ‒ for the vast majority of
people.”
Add to it the fact that scientists are beginning to discover that sugar may
actually be more addictive than cocaine (for instance, Sullum, 2013 some
of the scholarly articles that opened up the debate. While it is known that
sugar causes many ailments, it is little known that the fact sugar is addictive
is a motivating factor for the food industry, who then colludes with the
pharmaceutical industry while the academic community remain totally
preoccupied with advancing ever growing number of paradoxical theories
(Satel and Lilienfeld, 2014).
The mindset of drug dealers is the moral equivalent of such a marketing
policy. Medical research groups focused on ‘fighting’ symptoms of sugar.
Because sugar consumption led to non-genetic diabetes, the immediate
replacement of natural insulin with artificial insulin became the focus.
Anyone with common sense and good conscience would be able to see this
‘remedy’ to diabetes as devastating as attaching an artificial limb because
the limb had a cut that would otherwise heal naturally. Medical profession-
als, however, put diabetes patients on permanent insulin. Considering that
insulin must be produced internally for it to have natural hold of the sugar
burning process in an organic environment, how scientific is this?
A different campaign involved engineering the fabrication of poisons

in order to fight bacteria that thrive under sugary conditions. It became
a common practice to use toxic chemicals, such as sodium nitrate, sor-
bic acid, sulfur dioxide, benzoate, and others to fight off bacterial growth.
Magically, these toxins not only restored the original longevity of food
(before adding sugar), they also increased shelf life! This was considered
to be great technological progress in the eyes of modern corporations
and corporatizers. The obsession to alter natural properties in order to
‘fight’ bacteria or natural decay was so intense that, by the 1960s, use of
gamma-rays to kill bacteria became a common practice. It was assumed
that the process of irradiation itself would not affect food.
It was nothing but a publicity stunt as anyone with logical thinking
should have known natural fat is necessary for sustenance of life. The big-
gest accomplishment of Margarine-producing companies, the first artifi-
cial fat, which was derived from animal fat in the Napoleon era, was to
render non-edible vegetable oil into artificial butter. Before, the fraud of
trans fatty acid was detected, and a huge campaign that started in 1970s
culminated in 1990s when USA Health department actively campaigned in
favor of artificial fat and calories against natural fat and natural sugar (as in
fruits, etc.). The Food pyramid was replaced with a dart board that placed
artificial food at the centre, and ‘fat-free’ became the sign of good health.
The sugar peddlers soon discovered “if you take fat out of food, it tastes like
cardboard;” therefore, fat was replaced with sugar. The sugar consumption
saw an unprecedented growth. See Figure 5.6.
Increased sugar consumption is likely to be concentrated in develop-
ing countries (Figure 5.7). Asia and Africa will show the most growth,
with growth in Asia attributable to population growth rates, economic
200
150
100
50
0
60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 00 05 10 12
Years est.
Figure 5.6 Millions of tons of sugar produced globally over the years (from Islam et al., 2018).
60
50
1983
40
Million tons
1988
30 1993
1996
20
2003
10
0
Europe North and South Asia Africa Oceania
Central America
America
Figure 5.7 Sugar production history by region (From Islam et al., 2015).
development and changing tastes and preferences. In Africa the effect of

population growth is expected to surpass the decline in per capita sugar
consumption. Central America, South America and the Caribbean have
shown a steady increase in consumption, mainly as a result of an increase
in population as well as globalization. Sugar consumption in industrial
countries will decline, although this fall should be more than offset by
growth in Asia and Africa alone. In North America and the EU, consump-
tion is stagnant: the population is only growing slowly and the effect of
rising incomes on expenditure on sugar and sugar-containing products is
minimal. In the USA, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS/in Europe called
HFS or High Fructose Syrup), is displacing evermore sugar, though at a
slower growth rate than in the past. In Central Europe and the Former
Soviet Union (FSU), consumption has decreased significantly as economic
transformation takes place, however seems to be increased again.
The three largest sugar consumers are India, the EU 15 and the Former
Soviet Union (see Table 5.4). Consumption in the FSU and the USA has
fallen sharply, but has risen significantly in India, China and Pakistan. The
highest per capita consumption occurs in Brazil, with Mexico in second
place. China has the lowest per capita consumption. However, China is
the place that leads in saccharine production. These will all correlate with
diabetes, cancer, and other ailments that are considered to be driven by
genetics.
The three largest sugar consumers are India, the EU 15 and the Former
Soviet Union (see Table 5.4). Consumption in the FSU and the USA has
fallen sharply, but has risen significantly in India, China and Pakistan.
Table 5.4 Sugar consumption for various regions/countries (from Islam et al., 2015).
% of world
Country Total sugar consumption (in million tons) consumption Per capita consumption in kg
1980 1990 1996 2001 1980 1990 2001
India 5,60 11,07 14,75 20,0 14,5 8.3 13.4 15,7
EU 10,50 13,067 14,525 14,6 10,6 31.1 38.1 34,5
FSU* 12,40 13,40 10,27 10,5 7,6 46.7 46.2 37,0
USA 8,93 7,85 8,73 9,5 5,4 39.2 31.4 29,0
Brazil 6,55 6,62 8,30 9,8 7,1 54. 44. 53,1
China 4,30 7,13 8,50 10,2 7,4 4.3 6.2 6,3

Mexiko 3,23 4,43 4,25 5,0 3,6 46.5 54.5 46,7
Pakistan 0,89 2,29 2,93 3,6 2,8 10.7 20.4 24,5
Indonesia 1,73 2,65 3,25 3,2 2,3 11.8 14.8 15,8
Japan 2,70 2,83 2,60 2,4 1,7 23,1 22.9 19,0
Total 56,84 71,32 78,12 89,1 64,5 – – –
*FSU= Former Soviet Union.
CH2OH
H C O H
C H C
H H
OH C C OH
OH OH
Figure 5.8 Sugar structure (note how all catalysts disappear).
The highest per capita consumption occurs in Brazil, with Mexico in second

place. China has the lowest per capita consumption. However, China is the
place that leads in saccharine production. These will all correlate with diabe-
tes, cancer, and other ailments that are considered to be driven by genetics.
The consumption of sugar has been increasing in Asia due to lower prices
and freer availability. In the last 20 years, sugar consumption sugar consump-
tion in Asia increased by 26 Million tons. 38% of world sugar consumption
belongs to Asia.
Figure 5.8 shows the chemical structure of a typical sugar molecule.
Note how no information pertaining to catalysts and numerous chemicals
is attached to the molecular structure.
As more and more people got addicted to sugar, an entire generation
became afflicted with sugar-induced health problems. This crisis, along
with the mantra that fat is evil, led to the development of alternative sweet-
eners that are “sugar-free”. A new index started to surface: the measuring
of everything in terms of calories, indicative of unhealthiness. So, an entire
line of artificial products was manufactured, all focusing on maximizing
sweetness and minimizing cost. It meant the introduction of Saccharin®.
Chemical Fertilizer has been determined to be the second cause of Soil
Degradation after soil erosion (Tetteh, 2015). The over use of Chemical
fertilizer has resulted to Hardened soil, Decreased in Fertility, low soil
quality, increased used of Pesticide and Herbicide, Polluted air and water,
and also produces Greenhouse Gasses. It also contains salt as well as other
acidic materials which is one of the most critical characteristics of chemi-
cal Fertilizer and is expected to damage the soil in the long run.
5.3 Removal of Heavy Metals

Determination of various treatment processes for wastewater depends
on the compounds constituting the waste. Metals exist in wastewaters in
many forms such as soluble, insoluble, inorganic, metal organic, free metal,
reduced, oxidized, adsorbed, precipitated, and complexed. Toxic heavy
metals of particular concern treatment of industrial wastewaters include

copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, nickel, silver, mercury, chromium, and iron.
The metal processing, plating, and metal finishing industries are sources
of such metal wastes (Peters and Ku, 1985). Organic wastes also play a sig-
nificant role as water micro pollutants since some of them are industrially
used widely as pesticides, resin components, disinfect ants, preservatives,
bactericide, and synthetic reagents etc. (Shin et al., 1996).
However, minimization of the heavy metals emission into the environ-
ment is necessary to protect natural waters and thus preserve the good
quality of water. There are different methods available to remove these
heavy metals from the streams, such as, chemical precipitation, electro-
deposition, electro-coagulation, reverse osmosis, membrane filtration,
solvent extraction, ion exchange, adsorption and biosorption (Patterson,
1989). However, many technologies are extremely expensive (Meunier
et al., 2003). Apart from being expensive, these technologies have several
disadvantages, such as: need for continuous input of chemicals, the pro-
duction of toxic sludge, or inefficient in reducing metal ion levels in treated
wastewater to the permissible concentrations, which are required by gov-
ernment legislation. The prime factors to be considered in choosing one
of these methods are the economic considerations, availability of the raw
materials, and regulatory requirements. Islam and Wellington (2001) gave
much stress on the development of environmentally appealing research
projects. Moreover, they mentioned the introduction of novel methods in
the areas of engineering research. Any novel method carries tremendous
impetus in making green technologies. This has encouraged our research
group into discovering materials and methods for the removal of heavy
metals that are efficient, economically attractive, and environmentally
appealing.
The adsorption process is an attractive option for the removal of heavy
metals from wastewater. Activated carbon is a commonly used adsorbent
for the removal of organic and inorganic compounds present in water and
wastewater treatment but its high cost renders it economically not compet-
itive. An economical and easily available adsorbent would certainly make
an adsorbent-based process a viable alternative for the removal of heavy
metal from wastewater. In recent years, the search for low-cost adsorbents
that have metal-binding capacities has intensified. Materials locally avail-
able in large quantities, such as, natural materials, agricultural waste or
industrial byproducts can be utilized as low-cost adsorbents. Some of these
materials can be used as adsorbents with little processing (Rahman and
Islam, 2009a and b; Rahman et al., 2013).
5.3.1 Application of Wood Sawdust for Removal

of Heavy Metals
It has been reported in the existing literature that lignocellulosic materials
present in biomasses have an excellent capacity for binding heavy metal ions
due to different types of functional groups present in its structure (Dore,
1919; Burba and Willmer, 1983; Aoyama et al., 1993; Srivastava et al., 1994;
Marshall and Champagne, 1995; Saeed et al., 2002). As wood sawdust con-
tains a significant amount of lignocellulosic materials, therefore, wood
saw dust has been studied so often and detailed as an adsorbent of heavy
metals from waste water. On the other hand, wood saw dust is abundant
byproduct. For instance, in Canada 4,175,000 km² land out of a total of 10
million square kilometers is covered by forest. It has been reported that
Canada is the world’s biggest exporter of timer (90%) (WRI, 2007). Every
year a huge amount of wood plants are using to different sectors such as
wood furniture industries, thermal power plant, paper mill, home heating
(Figure 5.9). Wood sawdust is a byproduct of wood furniture industries
Good CO2 Plants
Alkaline soln
Power plant
Wood ash extraction
Paper mill Wastewater A
Home heating treatment s
h
Cement &
Bio-diesel
Ceramic Ind.
plant-ash use
Wastewater as catalyst
treatment
Fertilizer
Wood sawdust Green Field

Agric. Field Soil
Wood sawdust Forest
Wood chips Nutrients
Bark Plants
Byproducts
Wood
Figure 5.9 Possibilities for a sustainable utilization of wood sawdust.

Aqueous streams
(Synthetic wastewater)
Natural Adsorbent
(wood sawdust)
Function group studies Characterization of

(NMR, FTIR) sawdust (SEM-DX)
Different Parameters (pH,

Temp, contact time, initial
conc) effect on adsorption
Batch isotherm studies
The Langmuir The Freundlich isotherm

isotherm modeling modeling
Maple sawdust as an
adsorbent material
Figure 5.10 Organization of the study on metal adsorption process using maple wood
sawdust sample.
and it might be used for industrial wastewater treatment. Characterization

of wood sawdust and their application for heavy metal removal process
have been schematically shown Figure 5.10.
5.3.1.1 Composition, Structure and Morphology of Wood

Wood is primarily composed of hollow, elongate, spindle-shaped cells that
are arranged parallel to each other along the trunk of a tree. When lumber
and other products are cut from the tree, the characteristics of these fibrous
cells and their arrangement affect such properties as strength and shrink-
age as well as the grain pattern of the wood. Wood is primarily composed
H OH CH2OH
C C C O
H H O
OH H H
C C C C
H OH H H
H O
C O C C
CH2OH H OH
Figure 5.11 Chemical structure of cellulose in wood sample (WSE, 2007).
of cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses, celluloses, and minor amounts (5% to

10%) of extraneous materials (Browning, 1975; Rowell, 1984).
Cellulose: Cellulose, the major component, constitutes approximately
50% of wood substance by weight. It is a high-molecular-weight linear
polymer consisting of chains of 1 to more than 4 b-linked glucose mono-
mers. During growth of the trees, the cellulose molecules are arranged into
ordered strands called fibrils, which in turn are organized into the larger
structural elements that make up the cell wall of wood fibers (Figure 5.11).
Most of the cell wall cellulose is crystalline.
Lignin: Lignin constitutes 23% to 33% of the wood substance in soft-
woods and 16% to 25% in hardwoods. Although lignin occurs in wood
throughout the cell wall, it is concentrated toward the outside of the cells
and between cells. Lignin is often called the cementing agent that binds
individual cells together. Lignin is a three-dimensional phenylpropanol
polymer (Figure 5.12), and its structure and distribution in wood are still
not fully understood.
Hemicelluloses: The hemicelluloses are associated with cellulose and
are branched, low-molecular-weight polymers composed of several differ-
ent kinds of pentose and hexose sugar monomers. The relative amounts of
these sugars vary markedly with species. Hemicelluloses play an important
role in fiber-to-fiber bonding in the papermaking process. The component
sugars of hemicellulose are of potential interest for conversion into chem-
ical products.
5.3.1.2 Structure and Morphology of Wood

Structure: The microscopic cellular structure of wood, including annual
rings and rays, produces the characteristic grain patterns in different spe-
cies of trees (Figure 5.13). The grain pattern is also determined by the plane
in which the logs are cut at the saw mill. In transverse or cross sections, the
H2COH
H2COH CH
CH CH H2COH
CO HC
6’ H2COH
O CHO CO
H2COH 5’ OCH3 HC CH2
O CH H2COH
CH H3CO HC CH CH 25
CO O 0,4 HC
HC OCH3
5 H2COH HC O
15
1 H2COH 6 HC
OCH3 H3CO OCH3 OCH3
H2COH HC O O 24
H3CO H3CO OCH3 HC
O HC 3 O CH OH CH2OH
OCH H3CO
CH H2COH 3
H2COH 14 O CH
OCH3 HC 12 O OCH3 O CH
4 CH
H COH H 3CO OCH 3
2 2
OCH3 HCOH HC O
OCH3 22 23
H3CO OCH3 HC O
O CHO 11 13 O OCH3
H2COH H2COH H2C CH OH
H3CO OCH3 OCH3
H2COH CH HC O O HC CH
HC 8 O CH CO HOCH2 CH CO HC CH2
O
CH OCH3 OCH
OCH3 9 10 H2COH 2 21
7 CH2OH C 19 O CH
H3CO H CO OCH3
H3CO O O CH CH HC 3 O
OCH3
OH HOCH2 CH CHO CO
18 20
O 16 H2COH
H2C CH2 OCH3 H3CO H2COH H2COH
HC O O
H3CO
HC CH O CH HOCH2 CH CHO HC CH
CH2 CH2 HC HC
17
9’ 10’ OCH3 24’ 25’
H3CO
H3CO OCH3 OH H3CO OCH3 OCH3
O O O OH
0,5 0,1
Figure 5.12 Chemical structure of lignin in beech (Fagus sylvatica) (Gaballah and
Kilbertus, 1998).
Thin pits
Annual ring
Horizontal plane
Pore
Crossbars
Wood rays Wood rays
Vertical plane Vertical plane
Figure 5.13 Cell structure of poplar wood (Adopted from USDAFS, 1980).
annual rings appear like concentric bands, with rays extending outward
like the spokes of a wheel. The annual rings can be counted to age-date the
tree (Armstrong, 2007). New wood cells are formed on the inside of the
cambium and new bark cells on the outside. Thus, new wood is laid down
to the outside of old wood and the diameter of the woody trunk increases.
In most species, the existing bark is pushed outward by the formation of
new bark, and the outer bark layers become stretched, cracked, and ridged
and are finally sloughed off (Hoadley, 1990).
The woods have specialized structures called vessels for conducting sap
vertically, which on the end grain appear as holes or pores. The vessels are
made up of relatively large cells with open ends set one above the other
and continuing as open passages or tubes for relatively long distances. The
pores of woods vary considerably in size, being visible without a magni-
fying glass in some species but not in others. In most woods the ends of
the individual cells of the vessels are entirely open, whereas in others, the
opening has crossbars on the radial surface. Most of the smaller cells are
spindle shaped cells usually having small cavities and relatively thick walls
(Core et al., 1979).
Many species of wood have unique chemical and physical or struc-
tural properties. Scanning electron microscopy is the best known and
most widely-used of the surface analytical techniques. SEM, accompanied
by X-ray analysis, is considered a relatively rapid, inexpensive, and basi-
cally non-destructive approach to surface analysis and elemental analysis
of samples (Thipse et al., 2002). In recent years, CP/MAS NMR (Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance) and FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectros-
copy have been using as a very valuable tool for studying the chemical
composition of wood, as well as for analyzing the chemical changes that
occur various processes, including weathering, decay and chemical treat-
ment (Gil and Neto, 1999; Moore and Owen, 2001; Baldock and Smernik,
2002).
Morphology: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is the best known
and most widely-used of the surface analytical techniques. SEM, accom-
panied by X-ray analysis, is considered a relatively rapid, inexpensive, and
basically non-destructive approach to surface analysis (Thipse et al., 2002).
Due to the manner in which the image is created, SEM images have a char-
acteristic three-dimensional appearance and are useful for judging the sur-
face structure of the sample. It is often used to survey surface analytical
problems before proceeding to techniques that are more surface-sensitive
and more specialized. EDX (Energy-dispersive X-ray). Spectrometry
coupled with SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) was used to charac-
terize maple wood sawdust samples. The electron microphotographs of
the particles of maple wood sawdust samples before adsorption and after
adsorption are shown in Figures 5.14 and 5.15. The change of the micro-
graphs of the cell materials in the maple wood sawdust particle may have
been influenced by the metal ions. It could be assumed that the dense areas
might be contained most of the sorbed metals ions. Most the researchers
who studied the areas of metal sorption on microbial biomass observed
S-4700 20.0 kV 11.9 mm ×2.00k SE(U) 20.0 um
Figure 5.14 SEM microphotograph of particle of the untreated maple sawdust sample.
S-4700 3.0 kV 13.1 mm ×2.50k SE(U) 20.0 um
Figure 5.15 SEM microphotograph of particle of the treated maple sawdust sample.
that heavy metals were deposited on cell walls (Mullen et al., 1989, 1992;
Tsezos and Volesky, 1982 a, b; Shuttleworth and Unz, 1993).
To confirm the existence of the metals ions on cell walls of the maple
sawdust particles, Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis was car-
ried out in this study. The EDX spectra for the untreated and treated par-
ticles of the maple wood sawdust using metal ions solution are shown in
Figures 5.16 and 5.17. When the microprobe was focused on the dense
areas of the surface of the maple sawdust it was noticed clearly the pres-
ence of metals ions. The EDX spectra analysis revealed the metal ions sig-
nal on the surface of the treated maple sawdust with metal ions (II) in
C Spectrum 1
Au Au
Pd Pd
Au Au Au
Au Au
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Full Scale 221 cts Cursor: –0.157 keV (0 cts) keV
Figure 5.16 Corresponding EDAX coupled with SEM spectrum of the particle of
untreated maple sawdust sample.
Spectrum 2
C
O Au
Pb
Pd Au
Au Cd Pd Pb
Cd Pb Pb
Pb Cd Au Pb
Au Pb Au
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Full Scale 384 cts Cursor: –0.033 keV (1058 cts) keV
Figure 5.17 Corresponding EDX coupled with SEM spectrum of maple sawdust after
treated by lead and cadmium ions solution.
solution (Figure 5.17), which was not present before adsorption of metal
ions on the surface of the sawdust (Figure 5.16). It was noticed in EDX
spectra (Figure 5.17) that the intensity of lead (II) ions were higher than
that of cadmium (II) ions. This might be an indication that the uptake of
lead ions is higher than that of cadmium ions. Also, it can be inferred that
ion exchange with lead ions is more significant than with cadmium (II).
The presence of gold and palladium peaks in all spectra results from the
gold and palladium purposely settled to increase the electric conduction
and to improve the quality of the micrographs. It is also observed in the
SEM-EDX spectra on the surface of wood sawdust that there is a signif-
icant difference between the oxygen peaks before (Figure 5.16) and after
(Figure 5.17) metals ions adsorption. The atomic concentration of oxygen
decreased after metal ions biosorption was decreased. This might be due
to the fact that the metal ions biosorption was accompanied by a change
in oxygen, providing evidence that the oxygen of carboxylic group took
part in the metal biosorption. For different metal ions with different types
of adsorbents, similar results were also reported by Kuyucak and Volesky
(1989).
Functional groups: Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
has been used as a very valuable tool for studying the chemical compo-
sition of wood, as well as for analyzing the chemical changes that occur
various processes, including weathering, decay and chemical treatment
(Moore and Owen, 2001; Baldock and Smernik, 2002). Rahman (2007)
used FTIR Spectrometer to detect vibration frequency changes for each
functional group presented in maple wood sawdust during the metal
adsorption process. The spectra are collected by a spectrometer using KBr
pellets. In each case, 1.0 mg of maple wood sawdust sample and 100 mg
of KBr (potassium bromide) were homogenized using mortar and pestle
thereafter pressed into a transparent tablet at 200 kgf/cm2 for 5 min. The
pellets were analyzed with an infrared spectrometer-VECTOR 22, Bruker
Co, Germany in the transmittance (%) mode with a resolution of 4 cm-1 in
the range 4600–500 cm-1. The background obtained from the scan of pure
KBr is automatically subtracted from the sample spectra. All spectra are
plotted using the same scale on the transmittance axis.
It is very important to know the chemical structure of used carbon in
adsorbent for understanding the adsorption capacity. The metals adsorp-
tion capacity is strongly influenced by the surface structures of carbon-ox-
ygen (functional groups) and surface behavior of carbon (Ricordel et al.,
2001). Functional groups in maple wood sawdust were determined by
Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The spectrum assign-
ments were made based on the model spectrums and the types of functional
groups found in different literatures (Colthup et al., 1990; Silverstein and

Webster, 1998; Field et al., 2002). The transmittance FTIR spectra between
4000 to 500 cm-1 of the maple wood sawdust and of maple wood sawdust
with metals adsorbed are shown in Figures 5.18 and 5.19 respectively. The
maple wood sawdust FTIR spectrum showed six intense bands, around
3385, 2904, 2427, 1735, 1384 and 1056 cm-1. The broad band around 3385
cm-1 is attributed to the surface of hydroxyl groups and chemisorbed water
(Baldocka and Smernik, 2002; Boonamnuayvitaya et al., 2004; Montanher
et al., 2005; Coskun et al., 2006). The peaks at around 2904 cm-1 repre-
sented C-H stretching vibrations and -CH3 wagging (Montanher et al.,
2005; Ozmen et al., 2006). The FTIR spectra at around 2427 cm-1 is charac-
teristic of the carboxyl acid groups referring to the IR spectra of carbons of
other workers (Toledo et al., 1990; Fanning and Vannice, 1993). The band
around 1735 cm-1 might be assigned to the carbonyl (C=O) stretching
vibration (Wu et al., 2004; Ozmen et al., 2006). The peaks at 1647 cm-1 and
1596 cm-1 in maple wood sawdust spectrum were caused by the stretching
band of carboxyl groups. A narrow band spectrum was observed at around
1384 cm-1 and was attributed to the aromatic CH and carboxyl-carbonate
structures (Tsai and Chang, 1995). In addition, the intensity of the band
at 1241 cm-1, related to C–O stretching vibration of the acetate function
(Ozmen et al., 2006) was observed. The strong peaks at 1115-1056 cm-1
represented C-OH stretching vibration.
100
90
80 70
Transmittance [%]
40 50 3060
4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Wavenumber cm–1
Figure 5.18 FTIR spectrum on the surface of untreated maple wood sawdust.
100
90
80 70
Transmittance [%]
40 50 3060
4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Wavenumber cm–1
Figure 5.19 FTIR spectrum on the surface of treated maple sawdust by metals solution.
The FTIR spectrum after metal binding is shown in Figure 5.19. The
spectral analysis before and after metal binding indicated the difference
on the transmittance of the peaks at 3385, 2427, 1735, 1364, and 1056 cm-1
for maple wood sawdust with Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) adsorbed and for
the native maple wood sawdust. It was observed in Figure 5.19 that the
main adsorption bands centered at around 1000 cm-1 and at 3400 cm-1 had
largely diminished while the adsorption band at around 2427 cm-1 had
almost disappeared. It was observed that the adsorption band around 1735
cm-1 for the carbonyl (C=O) in chelating group shifted to higher frequen-
cies (1757 cm-1) with the intensity of the peak decreasing. This observation
was supported by the presence of metal ions bondings with carboxylate
group, as shown in Figure 5.19. An increase in the absorption frequency
for the -COO- group corresponds to an increase in the covalent charac-
ter of the metal-carboxylate bond (Hebeish et al., 1998). Many additional
absorbances derived from contributions of the various vibration modes of
C originating from carbohydrates and lignin were observed in the 1800–
500 cm-1 spectral region (Shafizadeh, 1984; Pandey, 1999; Villaescusa et al.,
2004). In an aqueous solution, two hydrogen atoms are released for each
divalent metal cations by sorbent. FTIR studies reveal that several func-
tional groups, which are able to bind with heavy metal ions, are present in
the maple wood sawdust. It is likely that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups
presented in maple wood sawdust might be participating in the divalent

metal adsorption.
5.3.1.3 Removal of Heavy Metals Using Wood Saw Dust

Wood sawdust is a solid waste product obtained from different types of
wood processing industries. It is mainly composed of plant fibers that con-
tain cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, etc. It has been reported in literature
that lignocellulosic materials present in biomasses have the capacity for
binding heavy metal ions due to different types of functional groups pres-
ent in its structure (Dore, 1919; Burba and Willmer, 1983; Aoyama et al.,
1993; Srivastava et al., 1994; Marshall and Champagne, 1995; Saeed et al.,
2005). Several biomass materials are now being used as low cost adsor-
bents for heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions. However, maple
wood sawdust as an adsorbent has not been studied thoroughly. A sample
element “Copper (Cu)” has been experimentally used to show the heavy
metals removal efficiency from contaminated water following different
experimental condition along with adsorption isotherm modeling.
The effect of contact time on the adsorption process
(C0 − Ce )
Sorption(%) = X100 (5.1)
C0
where,
Co = Initial concentration (mg/L) of the metal solution and
Ce = Equilibrium concentration (mg/L) of the metal solution
The effect of maple sawdust dose on the adsorption process

The effect of maple wood sawdust concentration on the adsorption process
was studied at a room temperature of 23 ºC and at constant pH value of 5.0.
Copper solution samples of 100 ml each were placed in five Erlenmeyer
flasks and different amount of maple sawdust ranging form 1 g/L to 30 g/L
were placed in the flasks. Initial concentration of copper solutions were
5mg/L, 10 mg/L, 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L and 100 mg/L. The concentration of
copper solutions before adsorption and after adsorption was measured
by atomic absorption spectrophotometer and the percentage of metal
adsorption was calculated using Equation 5.1 and the results are shown
in Figures 5.20 through 5.22. It was observed that the equilibrium concen-
tration was decreased quickly with the increasing weight of maple wood
100
Adsorption percentage (%) 90
80
70
60
50
40 Experiment 1
30 Experiment 2
20 Experiment 3
Average value
10
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Contact time (min)
Figure 5.20 Effect of contact time on removal of copper ions (II) by maple sawdust
(Experimental data are plotted showing the points and trend line with points shows the
mean value of the triplicate analysis).
sawdust for different concentrations of the copper solution (Figure 5.21).

The copper ions were already adsorbed well (82.53%) by 10 g/L of maple
sawdust. After that, copper ions removal percentage was not improved sig-
nificantly with the increasing adsorbent concentration, as shown in Figure
5.21. It was revealed that the copper removal percentage was higher for the
100
90
80
Adsorption percentage (%)
70
60
50
40 Initial Conc = 5mg/L
Initial Conc = 10mg/L
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Maple sawdust concentration (g/L)
Figure 5.21 The effect of sawdust concentration on copper removal percentage (%) using
different concentrations of copper ions solutions (mean values of the triplicate analysis are
used to draw the figure).
120
Equilibrium concentration (mg/L) Initial Conc = 5mg/L
60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Maple wood sawdust dosage (g/L)
Figure 5.22 The effect of maple wood sawdust dosage on copper ions adsorption process
(mean values of the triplicate analysis for the different concentration of copper ions
solutions are used to generate the figure).
lowest concentration of copper solution (5 mg/L) with the constant amount

of the adsorbent. This can be explained by the observation that when metal
concentration is lower, all copper ions present in the solution can interact
with the binding sites of a fixed amount of adsorbent. Consequently, when
metal concentration is increased the binding sites of the fixed amount of
adsorbent can be occupied by preference and, as a result, less amount of
copper is adsorbed.
The effect of initial concentration on the adsorption process

The metal uptake is particularly dependent on initial heavy metal concen-
tration. At low concentration values, metals are adsorbed by specific sites,
while with increasing metal concentrations the specific sites are saturated
and exchange sites are filled. Different concentrations of copper ions solu-
tions i.e. 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/L were used and the experiments were
carried out triplicate with the same condition. From the experimental
studies, it was shown that the percentage of copper adsorption decreased
from 83.61% to 58.27% with the increment of the initial copper ions con-
centration (Figure 5.23). Several researchers have also studied the effect
of initial sorbate concentration on sorption of heavy metals by using dif-
ferent biomass and found similar results with this study (Al-Asheh et al.,
1996; Hasan et al., 2004; Chuah et al., 2005). At the beginning of initial
concentrations (5 mg/L), the copper removal percentage was higher due
100
90
80
70
60
50
40 Sawdust = 5(g/L)
30 Sawdust =10(g/L)
20 Sawdust = 20(g/L)
Sawdust = 30(g/L)
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Initial Cu(II) ions concentration (mg/L)
Figure 5.23 The effect of initial concentration of metal on copper adsorption using
maple wood sawdust samples (mean values of the triplicate analysis for the different
concentration of copper ions solutions are used to draw the graph).
to a larger surface area of the maple wood sawdust being available for the
adsorption of copper ions. When the concentration of the metal ions solu-
tion became higher, the copper removal percentage was lower because the
available sites of adsorption became less. As can be seen from Figure 5.23,
the copper adsorption percentage is 78.26% to 83.61% at sorbate concen-
trations of 5 mg/L, whereas the metal adsorption percentage was 58.19%
to 67.44% at higher sorbate concentrations of 100 mg/L for the different
amount of maple sawdust concentration ranging from 5 g/L to 30 g/L. At
a higher initial concentration, the ratio of initial number of moles of cop-
per (II) to the available adsorption surface area was higher, and as a result
adsorption percentage was less. This might be the major mechanism of the
effect of the initial metal ions concentration in aqueous solution on the
adsorption process.
The effect of pH on the adsorption process

The pH value of the aqueous solution is an important controlling param-
eter in the adsorption process. These pH values affect the surface charge
of adsorbent, the degree of ionization and speciation of adsorbate during
adsorption. Thus the effect of pH (H+ ion concentration) in the solutions
on the copper removal efficiency was studied at different pH ranging from
2.0 to 8.0 as shown in Figure 5.24. The experiment was performed triplicate
with an initial copper concentration of 25 mg/L, temperature of 23ºC with
a constant agitation using a laboratory made shaker. The heavy metal ions
100
90
80
70
60
50
Experiment 1
40
Experiment 2
30 Experiment 3
20 Average value
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
pH value of Cu(II) ions solution
Figure 5.24 The effect of pH values (2.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0) on the adsorption of
copper for 25mg/L metal solution and 10 g/L maple wood sawdust sample (experimental
results are plotted showing only points and the mean values for the triplicate analysis are
used to draw the trend line).
are completely released under circumstances of extreme acidic conditions.

It was observed that the biosorption was very little (28.66%) at an initial
pH value of 2.0. A sharp increase in the biosorption of copper ions from
28.66% to 83.25% occurred in the pH range of 3-4. It is observed that the
adsorption capacity is very low at strong acidic medium and the adsorp-
tion capacity increases with increasing pH values, until a certain pH value
is reached. This can be explained on the basis of decrease in competition
between positively charged H+, H3O+ and Cu2+ for the same functional
groups. As the pH value is increased, more ligands are exposed and the
number of negatively charged groups on the adsorbent matrix probably
increased, enhancing the removal cationic species (Chang et al., 1997;
Reddad et al., 2002). It was observed that the optimum copper (II) ions
removal occurred between the pH values of 5.0 to 6.0. It was also observed
that the adsorption capacity was increased again at pH value from 6-7,
which might be due to onset of precipitation of copper ions as insoluble
Cu(OH)2 and not due to adsorption. As a result, the maximum adsorption
was observed at pH of 7.0 and it might be due to interaction of the spe-
cies of Cu(II) ions i.e Cu2+, Cu(OH)+, Cu(OH)2 with the surface functional
groups present in maple wood sawdust.
The metal uptake depends on the active sites of the adsorbent as well
on the nature of the metal ions in solution. At a pH value of 6.0 there are
three species of Cu(II) ions present in solution as suggested by several
authors (Leckie and James, 1974; Baes Jr., and Mesmer, 1976). Cu(OH)+
and Cu(OH)2 in large quantities and Cu2+ is small in quantity. These spe-
cies were adsorbed at the surface of the maple wood sawdust either by ion
exchange mechanism or by hydrogen bonding for the adsorption process
due to the –COOH groups and –OH groups present in the most adsorbent
(Jeon et al., 2001; Zacaria et al., 2002).
(-ROH) + Cu2+ → (RO)Cu + H+ [Ion exchange]
(-RCOOH) + Cu2+ → (RCOO)Cu + H+ [Ion exchange]
-ROH + CuOH+ → (-RO)CuOH + H+ [Ion exchange]
-RCOOH + CuOH+ → (-RCOO)CuOH + H+ [Ion exchange]
(ROH) + Cu(OH)2 → (-ROH)2Cu(OH)2 [H – bonding]
(RCOOH) + Cu(OH)2 → (-RCOOH)2Cu(OH)2 [H – bonding]
(where, -R represents the matrix of sawdust).

In Rahman (2007)’s study, the maximum copper ions adsorption was
found in pH value of 7.0, however a pH value of 6.0 was chosen as being
the optimum for further experiment to avoid the precipitation of Cu(OH)2+
as Cu2+ precipitates above pH 6.5 in the form of Cu(OH)2. At this pH, the
Cu(II) ions species present in the solution exist in two forms, Cu2+ being
the major component and Cu(OH)+ the minor one. Several researchers
have also investigated the effect of pH on biosorption of heavy metals by
using different biomass and found similar results with this study. Saeed
et al. (2005) investigated the biosorption of heavy metals by black gram
husk and determined the optimum pH 5.0 for Cu(II) sorption. Qin et al.
(2006) reported the optimum pH value for Cu(II) adsorption on peat was
4.0. The reported optimum pH value for Cu(II) ions on waste brewery
biomass was 4.0 (Marques et al., 2000), sugar beet pulp was 5.5 (Reddad
et al., 2002). Montanher et al. (2005) studied rice bran using different pH
values in solutions for the removal of Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II) and
the maximum heavy metals removal efficiency was achieved at pH values
around 5-6.
Analysis of the maximum adsorption capacity using isotherms

The adsorption isotherm study is fundamental and the maximum adsorp-
tion capacity on adsorbent may be mathematically determined by the
isotherms. The adsorption isotherm is based on the assumption that every

adsorption site is equivalent and independent of whether or not adjacent
site are occupied. Isotherms show the relationship between metal concen-
tration in solution and amount of metal adsorbed on a specific sorbent at
a constant temperature.
Isotherm studies were conducted in a series of 250 ml Erlenmeyer
Flasks. Each flask was filled with 100 ml of different initial concentration of
Cu(II) ions solution (5 mg/L, 10 mg/L, 25 mg/L, 50 mg/L and 100 mg/L).
A fixed amount of maple wood sawdust (10 g/L) was taken in each flask
and the experiment was conducted at room temperature (23 ºC). After
equilibration, the solution was separated using Whatman-40 filter paper
and the metal ions concentration in solution before and after adsorption
was measured by AAS. The equilibrium adsorption capacity was calculated
using the following expression (Goel et al., 2005).
(C0 − Ce )V
qe (mg / g ) = (5.2)
m
where,
qe = Equilibrium adsorption capacity (mg/g)
Co = Initial concentration (mg/L) of copper ions in solution,
Ce = Equilibrium concentration (mg/L) of copper ions in
solution
V = Volume of aqueous solution (ml) and
m = Dry weight of the adsorbent (g/L).
Akinbiyi (2000) presented a graphical representation of several form of

isotherms, as shown in Figure 5.25. When equilibrium solid phase con-
centration of an adsorbate increases sharply from a low to a high equilib-
rium concentration, the adsorption is said to be favorable and results in a
convex-shaped isotherm (also called, Type I isotherm). Isotherms of con-
cave shape indicate an unfavorable adsorption process and are called Type
III isotherms. When equilibrium solid phase concentration of an adsorbate
increases linearly with equilibrium concentration of an adsorbate in the
liquid phase, the isotherm obtained is called a linear or a Type II isotherm.
The amount of copper ions adsorbed per specific amount of adsorbent
(qe) was calculated according to Equation (5.2). The dependence of the
metal uptake data (qe) on the equilibrium concentration of copper (Ce)
in aqueous solutions for different pH values is shown in Figure 5.26. It is
observed that the pH has a significant effect on adsorption equilibrium.
Irreversible
Favorable
of adsorbate on adsorbent
Equilibrium concentration
Linear
Unfavorable
Equilibrium concentration of adsorbate in liquid phase
Figure 5.25 Plots of various kinds of isotherms (adapted from Akinbiyi, 2000).
8
pH 2
Metal Adsorbed (qe) mg/g adsorbent
7
pH 4
6 pH 6
pH 8
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Equilibrium concentration (Ce) mg/L
Figure 5.26 Equilibrium concentration (mg/L) vs metal adsorption capacity mg/g maple
wood sawdust (mean values of the triplicate analysis for different pH values are used).
In order to establish the maximum metal sorption capacity, adsorp-

tion studies were performed at different pH values. The Langmuir and the
Freundlich isotherms are the most widely used isotherm and these two
isotherms were applied by Rahman (2007). Figure 5.26 indicates that the
metal adsorption increased sharply followed the isotherm type-I as the pH
was increased from 4.0 to 6.0. It reveals that the adsorption isotherms were
favorable at pH value 4.0 and 6.0. However, adsorption isotherms were
unfavorable at pH value 2.0 and 8.0 for this study.
A. Langmuir isotherm
An American chemist, Irving Langmuir, developed a theoretical equilib-

rium isotherm relating the amount of solute sorbed on a surface to the
concentration of solute (Langmuir, 1916). This equation is derived from
simple mass action kinetics, assuming chemisorption. The Langmuir
adsorption isotherm has found wide range of applications, including water
treatment. Its advantages include simplicity, having some physical basis,
and its ability to fit a broad range of experimental data. The Langmuir
model assumes that the uptakes of metal ions occur on a homogenous sur-
face by monolayer adsorption without any interaction between adsorbed
ions. The Langmuir model can be described as the following
qm K LCe
qe = (5.3)
1 + K L Ce
The Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation can be linearized as given

below
Ce 1 1
= + Ce (5.4)
qe K L ⋅ qm qm
where,
qe = Amount of metal adsorbed per specific amount of
adsorbent (mg/g)
qm = Amount of metal ions required to form a monolayer
(mg/g)
KL = Langmuir equilibrium constant, and
Ce = Equilibrium concentration of the solution (mg/L)
The equilibrium data were analyzed using the linearized form of

Langmuir adsorption isotherm Equation (5.4). The Langmuir constants,
KL and monolayer sorption capacity, qm were calculated from the slope
and intercept of the plot between Ce/qe and Ce (Figure 5.27). The Langmuir
adsorption isotherm was determined at different pH values ranging from
2.0 to 8.0 for a concentration range of 5-100 mg/L. All solutions contain a
fixed specific mass of sawdust (10 g/L). The isotherm constants were calcu-
lated from the isotherm equations for the different pH values are presented
in Table 5.5.
12
10 y = 0.182x + 6.8269
R2 = 0.5474
y = 0.1213x + 2.8565
8
R2 = 0.9205
Ceq /qeq
6 y = 0.1088x + 2.4646
R2 = 0.9294
4
2
pH 4 pH 6 pH 8
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Equilibrium conc (Ce) mg/L
Figure 5.27 The Langmuir isotherms plots for the adsorption of copper ions onto maple
sawdust sample at different pH values (4.0, 6.0 and 8.0) for each copper ions solution
(5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/L).
The linear plot of Ceq/qeq and Ce demonstrates that the experimental

data fit Langmuir isotherms reasonably well over the whole copper con-
centration range studied. The regression coefficient values (r2) in the case
of Langmuir isotherms for different pH values were varied from 0.54 to
0.92. The r2 value near unity indicates an excellent fit to the isotherm equa-
tion and near zero indicates a very poor fit. Therefore, the equation that
gives maximum coefficient of correlation is the best fit equation and this
equation is used to determine the amount of metal ions required to form
a monolayer on adsorbent (qm) and the Langmuir equilibrium constant
(KL) (Utgikar et al., 2000; Figueira et al., 2000; Brown et al., 2000; An et al.,
2001; Say et al., 2001). The values of both Langmuir isotherm parameters
are calculated from linearized equation and the results are presented in
Table 5.5. It is observed that the maximum metal adsorption capacity var-
ied with the change of pH value and the maximum metal adsorption was
found to be at a pH of 6.0. Sing and Yu (1998) have been reported that
the higher value of KL, the higher is the affinity of adsorbent for the metal
biosorbed. It is evident from the values of KL for various pH values (Table
5.5) that the affinity of maple sawdust to biosorb copper ions is greater at a
pH value of 6.0 than that the pH values of 4.0 and 8.0. From the Table 5.5,
it can be seen that the value of qe is smaller than qm for all pH values. This
indicates that the adsorption of copper ions onto sawdust is of a monolayer
type, with still unsaturated surface of the maple wood sawdust (Ozer et al.,
Table 5.5 The Langmuir adsorption isotherm parameters and equation for adsorption of copper (II) on maple sawdust.
The Langmuir isotherm constants
pH value qe (mg/g) qm (mg/g) KL (L/mg) r2 RL Equation
4 5.6 8.244 0.043 0.9205 0.823 0.354Ce
qe =
1 + 0.043Ce
6 6.1 9.191 0.044 0.9294 0.819 0.404Ce

qe =
1 + 0.044Ce
8 5.4 5.494 0.026 0.5474 0.885 0.142Ce

qe =
1 + 0.026Ce
2006). The variation of Langmuir isotherm constant KL according to pH

values indicates the fact that the affinity of metal ions onto sawdust is pH
dependent.
Hall et al. (1966) showed that the main characteristic of the Langmuir
isotherm was its dimensionless constant separation factor (equilibrium
parameter), RL. This separation factor (RL) can be calculated using the fol-
lowing equation:
1
RL =
1 + K L Co (5.5)
where, KL is the Langmuir constant and Co is the initial concentration of

metal ion. The value of separation parameter RL provides important infor-
mation about the nature of adsorption (Table 5.6).
The values of the Langmuir separation parameter, RL was calculated
using Equation (5.5) at different pH value and was shown in Figure 5.28.
The values of RL between 0 to 1.0, indicating more favorable sorption of
copper ions on maple sawdust for the pH values of 4.0 and 6.0. However
the Langmuir separation parameter RL is dependent on concentration and
according to McKay et al. (1982), this indicates that the sorption of copper
onto sawdust is also feasible at the concentrations studied.
B. Freundlich isotherm
An empirical sorption isotherm was presented by a German physical

chemist Herbert Max Finley Freundlich (Freundlich, 1926). This isotherm
assumes that the metal ions uptakes occur on a heterogeneous surfaces
by multilayer adsorption and the amount of adsorbate adsorbed increases
Table 5.6 Use of separation parameter, RL in getting information about the

nature of adsorption (Hall et al., 1966).
Information about the
Serial no. Value of RL adsorption
1. RL >1 Unfavorable
2. RL = 1 Linear
3. O< RL <1 Favorable
4. RL = O Irreversible
1
0.9 pH = 4.0
0.8 pH = 6.0
0.7 pH = 8.0
RL value at different pH
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Initial copper ions concentration Co (mg/L)
Figure 5.28 The mean values of separation factor, RL for the adsorption of copper ions
onto maple wood sawdust sample (10 g/L) using different pH values for each copper ions
solutions (Separation factor RL obtained from the Langmuir isotherm model is used to
draw the graph).
with an increase in concentration. The Freundlich isotherm is expressed by

the following equation:
qe = K F Ce1/n (5.6)
where,
qe = Amount of metal adsorbed per specific amount of adsorbent
(mg/g)
KF = Equilibrium constant indicative of adsorption capacity
Ce = Equilibrium concentration of the solution (mg/L) and
n = Adsorption equilibrium constant
The linearized form of equation (5.6) can be obtained by taking the log-
arithm of both sides
1
log qe = log K F + log Ce (5.7)
n
KF and 1/n are Freundlich isotherm constants, which indicate the

adsorption capacity, and the adsorption intensity, respectively. Both values
were determined from the linear plots of log qe and log Ce presented in
Table 5.7. The slope and the intercept correspond to 1/n and KF, respec-
tively (Al-Asheh and Banat, 2001). The linearized isotherm for copper
adsorption on maple wood sawdust was presented in Figure 5.29 and it was
revealed that the plot of log qe and log Ce yields a straight line. The values
of regression coefficient (r2), regarded as a measure of the quality of fit of
experimental data on the isotherm models (Al-Asheh et al., 2001). For cop-
per solutions, the values of r2 in the case of the Freundlich isotherms were
Table 5.7 The Freundlich adsorption isotherm parameters and equation for
adsorption of copper (II) ions onto maple wood sawdust.
The Freundlich isotherm
constants
pH value qe (mg/g) KF 1/n r2 Equation
4 5.6 0.7439 0.5442 0.9949 qe = 0.7439Ce0.5442
6 6.1 0.3806 0.7256 0.9441 qe = 0.3806Ce0.7256
8 5.4 1.047 0.2771 0.2101 qe = 1.047Ce0.2771
0.8
y = 0.542x – 0.1285 y = 0.7256x – 0.4195
0.6 R2 = 0.9441 R2 = 0.9949
0.4
log qe
y = 0.2771x + 0.0202
0.2 R2 = 0.2101
0
–0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
–0.2
–0.4 pH 4 pH 6 pH 8
–0.6
log Ce
Figure 5.29 The Freundlich isotherms plots for the adsorption of copper ions onto maple
wood sawdust sample (10 g/L) at different pH values (4.0, 6.0 and 8.0) for each copper
ions solutions of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/L (mean values for the triplicate analysis are
used to draw the graph).
0.995, 0.944 and 0.210 for pH values of 4, 6 and 8, respectively. On the basis
of the considerations of regression coefficient (r2), it may be concluded in
the case of Freundlich isotherms that the data on sorption of copper ion by
maple wood sawdust represented more acceptable fit at pH 4.
The adsorption of copper ions followed both the Langmuir and the
Freundlich type isotherms. However, a comparison of the correlation coef-
ficients indicates that the experimental data are fitted somewhat better by
the Freundlich isotherm model than the Langmuir isotherm model. Figure
5.30 also shows that the curve generated by the Langmuir isotherm data
are very close to experimental data. This was supported the assumption
that the Langmuir isotherm was well fitted (Kumar et al., 2006) to this
study. The maximum copper adsorption capacity (qm) on maple sawdust
was determined (9.191 mg/g) using the Langmuir linearized equation.
Similar adsorption capacities have been found by other researchers who
have applied lingocellulosic materials for copper adsorption. For instance,
the reported maximum adsorption capacity for different wood barks were
4.4-7.6 mg/g, for peat 12.07 mg/g; and for moss, pine bark and canola meal
were 9.46, 8.45 and 9.65 mg/g, respectively (Al-Asheh et al., 1998). For cel-
lulose pulp waste, it was reported to be 4.98 mg/g (Ulmanu et al., 2003), for
sunflower stalks 25.11 mg/g (Sun and Shi, 1998), and for sugar beet pulp to
be 20.96 mg/g (Reddad et al., 2002).
6
Metal uptake (qe) mg/g adsorbent
2 Experimental
Langmuir
Frendluich
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Equilibrium concentration qe (mg/L)
Figure 5.30 Equilibrium curves of the Langmuir isotherm, the Freundlich isotherm and
the experimental values for copper adsorption onto maple wood sawdust (mean values for
the triplicate analysis are used to draw the graph).
5.3.1.4 Conclusion
A series of experiments on maple wood sawdust samples were performed
in order to investigate the potential of maple sawdust as an adsorbent for
the removal of heavy metals from aqueous streams. Based on the experi-
mental results, spectroscopic analysis and image analysis performed in this
study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
• The SEM micrographs showed the difference of the images

between the untreated maple sawdust and the treated maple
sawdust samples with heavy metals solutions. The SEM-EDX
analysis yielded the main composition of maple sawdust to
be carbon (62.28%) and oxygen (37.72%). The X-ray analy-
sis revealed the presence of metal ions on the surface of the
treated maple sawdust particles which were not present in
the EDX spectrum of the untreated maple sawdust samples.
• The wood sawdust FTIR spectra showed six intense bands
around 3385, 2904, 2427, 1735, 1384 and 1056 cm-1 that
were attributed to the surface of hydroxyl group, C-H
stretching vibrations, carboxyl acid group, carbonyl group,
carboxyl groups, aromatic CH and C-OH stretching vibra-
tion respectively. It was observed that the main adsorption
bands centered at around 1000 cm-1 and at 3400 cm-1 had
largely diminished while the adsorption band at around
2427 cm-1 had almost disappeared. From the FTIR spectrum
analysis, it may be concluded that the carboxyl and hydroxyl
groups present in the maple sawdust samples are principally
participating in the divalent metals adsorption process.
• This study shows that the maple sawdust, which is cheap
and available abundantly as a waste material, can efficiently
remove Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) from the aqueous solution.
The adsorption process is dependent on numerous factors,
such as, solution pH, agitation time of sorbent-sorbate, ini-
tial concentration of metal solutions etc.
• It was observed that the removal yield increased with
increasing of contact time and reached the equilibrium state
within 30 min to 60min for all the metals ions studied. 7. The
effect of sawdust concentration on adsorption process was
found to be insignificant beyond 10g/L of the maple wood
sawdust samples at a concentration of 25mg/L of metals ions
solutions.
• The efficiency of metal removal was affected by the ini-

tial metal ion concentration and the removal percentages
decreased as the initial metal ions concentration increased
with constant pH value, temperature and agitation time.
From this study, it may be concluded that the purification
yield could be increased by diluting the wastewaters con-
taining high metal concentrations.
• pH of the metal solutions was found to affect the degree of
biosorption of heavy metal ions on maple sawdust. It was
observed that at lower concentration the metal adsorption
was less pronounced. However, the sorption rate increased
with increasing pH value up to a certain limit, at which
apparent steady state was reached. This was attributed to
deprotonation of polar functional groups such as –COOH,
-OH etc. with the increasing of pH value.
• For a single metal system, both the Langmuir and the
Freundlich isotherms models fitted well with the equi-
librium isotherm data at pH > 4.0 and < 8.0. The adsorp-
tion coefficients (KF, 1/n) agreed well with the conditions
of favorable adsorption. On the basis of linear regression
correlation coefficient (r2) value, the sorption data were
somewhat better fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model as
compared to Freundlich isotherm model for the adsorption
of Cu(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) from the aqueous solutions.
• At equilibrium, the maximum metal adsorption capacity
qmax (mg/g) of the maple sawdust samples was in order of
lead (9.52 mg/g) > copper (9.19 mg/g) > cadmium (7.429
mg/g). It might be due to the metals ions properties i.e. ionic
size of metal, the nature and distribution of active groups
on the biosorbent, and the mode of interaction between the
metal ions and the biosorbent.
• The maximum metal adsorption capacity qe (experimental
value) was smaller than qmax (model value) for the adsorp-
tion of lead, copper, cadmium ions. This indicated that the
adsorption of the metals ions onto the maple sawdust sam-
ples was a monolayer type one that did not fully cover the
surface of the sawdust.
• It can be concluded that the use of maple sawdust as an
effective and environmentally friendly adsorbent may be an
alternative to more costly materials such as activated car-
bon for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solution.
The main advantage of use this adsorbent is that it does not

mix with and can be very easily separated from water.
5.4 Removal of Heavy Metals Using Fish Scale

A variety of treatment technologies are available with different degree of
success to control and minimize water pollution. However, the shortcom-
ings of most of these methods are high operational and maintenance costs,
generation of toxic sludge and complicated procedure involved in the treat-
ment. Comparatively, adsorption process is considered a better alternative
in water and wastewater treatment because of convenience, ease of oper-
ation and simplicity of design. In wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs),
adsorption processes are applied for the removal of dissolved pollutants
that remain from the subsequent biological phases or after chemical oxi-
dation treatments.
A large variety of low-cost adsorbents have been examined for their
ability to remove various types of pollutants from water and wastewater.
Generally, the goal is to replace activated carbons – representing the state-
of-the-art – by means of a by-products coming from various activities such
as agriculture and industry. These by-products currently pose a variety of
disposal problems due to their bulk volume, toxicity or physical nature
(i.e., petroleum wastes, scrap tyres). If these wastes could be used as low-
cost adsorbents, it will provide a two-fold advantage to environmental
pollution.
A recent study done by Mustafiz et al. (2003) suggested that fish scales
of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua Linnaeus, be a better alternative to reduce
the level of lead, arsenic and chromium in water. Following Mustafiz et al.
(2003), several researchers have investigated the sorption capabilities of
fish scales for the uptake of heavy metals in water. The uptake abilities of
scales from different fish species should be similar because most fish scales
contain significant portions of organic protein (collagen), and the struc-
ture of collagen shows that it contains the possible functional groups, such
as phosphate, carboxyl, amine and amide, that are involved in the biosorp-
tion of heavy metals (Mustafiz et al., 2003).
5.4.1 Fish Scale Collection and Treatment

Atlantic cod scales were collected from a local fish market in Halifax, Nova
Scotia for the heavy metals removal study. The grain size tests were per-
formed in both acidic and alkaline environment and the size of the grains
varied less than 50 microns. The scales are rinsed with distilled water to
remove the sodium ions and then dried at temperature of 65 °C (Cole,
2001) for 12 hours. The drying was complete after 12 hours. The following
chemicals are used for the treatment of fish scale before using for heavy
metal removal.
1. Water
2. Hydrochloric acid (5% concentration)
3. Acetone
4. Soap
5. Sodium hydroxide (5% concentration)
The treatment of the fish scales with each of the reagents (1 through
5) mentioned above included allowing the bio-adsorbent to be in contact
with the reagents for 5 hours. The adsorbent was then rinsed with deion-
ized water until a stable pH value of the leachate was observed. The sam-
ple was completely dried in a baking oven at a temperature of 65 °C for
16 hours. The fish scale collected from the market was oven dried (after
washing with deionized water repetitively) for two days at 65 °C. This dried
scales were then grounded in laboratory by pulverize to produce powdered
mass of size in the range of 5-50 µm.
5.4.2 Experimental Setup and Procedure

5.4.2.1 Static Method
Atlantic cod (Gadus Morhua) fish scale was collected from the Fishermen’s
Market located in Bedford, Halifax, Canada. The sample was then oven
dried at 110 °C for 48 h. The scales were pulverized to the finest size (37
micron). Lead solutions were prepared for 3 different concentrations, 25
ppm, 12.5 ppm, and 6.25 ppm. This was followed by the addition of 10 g
of fish scales in each solution. The beakers were kept covered in order to
avoid evaporation. The solutions were kept for several hours and samples
were collected into test tubes from each beaker. Concentrations of lead
ions were measured by the atomic absorption (AA) technique.
5.4.2.1.1 Effect of Time

The adsorption behavior of 12.5 ppm lead solution with time is displayed
in Figure 5.31. The lead concentration decreased from 12.5 ppm to 0.48
ppm in 120 h. However, fluctuations in the concentrations of the lead solu-
tion were observed. This was perhaps due to the local desorption coefficient
30
25
Concentration (ppm)
20
15 25 ppm
12.5 ppm
10
6.25 ppm
5
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (hours)
Figure 5.31 Concentration of lead with time.
dominating the sorption process (between an 8–16 h and 24–52 h time

period). Desorptive behavior of the cations has a significant role, as
observed with the intermediate increases in concentrations of the solu-
tions in the case of the 12.5 ppm and 6.25 ppm solutions. It is likely that
with a sharp decrease in the concentration of the solutions, the lead ions
adsorbed on the fish scales tend to diffuse back to the bulk solutions.
This is followed by an increase in adsorption in later time intervals.
Borwankar and Wasan (1986) reported a kinetic-diffusion model that
could predict the surface concentration at specific influent concentrations
(provided other physical parameters are available). This model showed that
a sharp decline in the potential energy of the solution could be possible.
Moreover, after reaching the equilibrium point, if the exothermic energy
of adsorption overcomes the desorption energy barrier, a diffusion process
between adsorbed and bulk phase is established. A similar kinetic-diffusion
model based on the concept of adsorption and diffusion may be applied to
describe the behavior of the solution at 12.5 ppm. Overall, the static equi-
librium was reached after a relatively longer time period when compared to
dynamic equilibrium. The delay is partly attributed to the fact that unlike
in dynamic equilibrium, the sorption effect in the case of static equilibrium
is initially localized to the first few layers of the adsorbent.
5.4.2.1.2 Effect of Environmental pH

The fish scales when treated with caustic soda (5%) and left in a solution of
cobalt under shaking condition for 24 h yielded maximum adsorptivity. In
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 5.32 (a) Magnified image (100 times) of dried and pulverized fish scale before
adsorption. (b) Magnified image (100 times) of fish scale after adsorption (but not dried).
(c) Magnified image (100 times) of fish scale after adsorption (after drying).
other words, an increase in pH enhances the adsorptivity of the fish scales.

But the acidic solution performed poorly in adsorbing the heavy metals.
Figures 5.32a–c show microstructures of fish scales. Images of cod fish
scales were taken by a computer image analyzer. This device has been
proven to be effective for observing microstructures of biological materials
(Chaalal and Islam, 2001). In Figure 5.32a, the white color signifies the
surface of the scale, while the black spots are the voids. The variation in
color shows that the surface is uneven at particular sites. In Figure 5.32b,
some distinct black spots are observed. This gives the impression that
there are still vacant sites where more adosorption is possible. The rest of
the area looks more stable. Figure 5.32c shows the image that was taken
after the scale had been dried at room temperature after adsorption. A
brownish-grey color was observed in this case, which could be seen around
the black areas. This was an indication of the presence of some foreign spe-
cies, which was likely to be the metal cations.
5.4.2.2 Dynamic Method

The experimental setup used for the dynamic test is shown in Figure 5.33.
The column used for the study of cobalt alone in the dynamic system (con-
tinuous system) was made of plastic and was 30 cm long and 10 mm in
diameter. The column was filled with the scales of a fish scales washed with
liquid soap and rinsed. The height of the material was 22 cm.
The flow was downward in this study and the inlet concentration was
also changed. To study the mixture of cobalt chloride (CoCl2), zinc nitrate
hexahydrate (Zn(NO3)2.6H2O), strontium nitrate (SrNO3), and lead nitrate
Solution Atomic
Tank Absorption
Adsorption
Column
Pump
Figure 5.33 Schematic of the dynamic system.
(Pb(NO3)2) solutions a new column was used. Fifty ppm of each com-
pound was mixed. A mixture of 200 ppm metals was flown through the
new column containing 4 g of fish scales treated with 5% sodium hydrox-
ide (NaOH). This glass column had an interior diameter of 11 mm and a
height of 12 cm. The upward flow was controlled with a small pump (at a
flow rate of 2 ml/min). Concentrations of lead ions were measured by the
atomic absorption (AA) technique.
From Figures 5.34a and b it is observed that an increase in the flow rate
from 1 ml/min to 7 ml/min resulted in a decrease in the breakthrough time
period. This is obvious because saturation was achieved earlier with a faster
flow rate.
Figures 5.35 to 5.38 7–10 represent the outlet concentration as a func-
tion of time for each metal. The feed is a mixture of strontium, cobalt, zinc,
and lead (50 ppm each).
From Figures 5.35 it is observed that in the case of strontium ions in the
mixture, breakthrough did not take place for the first 12 min the influent
was adsorbed by the scale. This might be due to the fact that strontium
was competing with lead and zinc and both showed tremendous affinity
for the adsorbent. As a result, there might develop a concentration gradi-
ent between the feed and the solution already present. So strontium ions
with the least electron affinity among the 4 species diffused back into the
bulk solution (Lide, 1991). The energy barrier required for desorption was
provided by the heat of adsorption of all the species. But eventually this
resulted in an increase of vacant sorption sites. An increase in site concen-
tration resulted in a proportionate increase in strontium ion adsorption
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
Time (hours)
(a)
30
25
Concentration (ppm)
20
15
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Time (hours)
(b)
Figure 5.34 (a) Adsorption of cobalt in a continuous system (breakthrough);

concentration = 50 ppm and flow = 1 ml/min. (b) Adsorption of cobalt in a continuous
system (breakthrough); concentration = 100 ppm and flow = 7 ml/min.
35
30
Concentration (ppm)
25
20
15
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time (minutes)
Figure 5.35 Strontium breakthrough in the mixture.

until steady-state equilibrium was achieved. Further, note that all the zinc
and lead ions were being adsorbed during that time.
Figure 5.36 shows that in the case of cobalt ions, the equilibrium time
interval was reached after 200 min. The adsorption rate was slower in com-
parison to the strontium ions. However, Lide (1991) reported that cobalt
ions exhibit higher electron affinity than strontium ions. This behavior is
illustrated by the fact that after 50 min the vacant adsorption sites were still
being preferentially filled first by the cobalt ions.
Figure 5.37 shows the breakthrough of lead ions in the mixture. In this
figure, the process of adsorption reached its first phase after 75 min. The
larger size of the lead ions leads to a lower mobility and higher surface
contact with the adsorbent. Figure 5.38 shows the breakthrough of zinc in
the mixture. For the zinc solution, the electron affinity is unstable. Since
the ionic radii of zinc ions are smaller than those of lead ions, it is assumed
that the affinity will be larger in comparison to the lead ions. Consequently,
even though the mobility of zinc ions is higher than that of lead ions, the
50
Concentration (ppm)
40
30
20
10
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (minutes)
Figure 5.36 Cobalt breakthrough in the mixture.
0.12
Concentration (ppm)
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (minutes)
Figure 5.37 Lead breakthrough in the mixture.

8
Concentration (ppm)
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (minutes)
Figure 5.38 Zinc breakthrough in the mixture.
zinc ions are adsorbed for higher time intervals because there are still
vacant sites available.
5.4.3 Conclusions
The novel technique of using fish scales as adsorbents proposed can elim-
inate nearly 95% of lead ions in the influent. Experiments have also been
conducted with cobalt, zinc, and strontium ions. They also showed a
marked decrease of metal concentrations in their respective effluent solu-
tions. It is expected in the future that the technique of using fish scales as
an adsorbent will be developed into a patent to aid in the removal of heavy
metals from waste water. Based on these experiments, the following con-
clusions can be reached:
(1) The presence of maxima was observed in the adsorbed amount ver-
sus the concentration curve of lead ions, (2) for lead ions, breakthrough
is more distinct in comparison to breakthrough of strontium or zinc ions
because desorption effects are minimal, (3) the metal ions appeared in
the effluent solution in the following order: (a) strontium after 15 min,
(b) cobalt after 25 min, (c) lead after 1 h, and (d) zinc after 2.5 h, (4) in
competitive adsorption, the mobility and electron affinity of each cation
plays a vital role in its respective adsorption behavior. The availability of
adsorption sites determines whether the mobility or the electron affinity
will dominate.
In general, industries spend considerable resources in wastewater treat-
ment. This novel technique can result in energy savings of significant
amounts from a more efficient wastewater treatment system operating for
fewer hours. Chemicals such as chromic acid, nickel sulfate, and zinc cya-
nide are used by the electroplating industry to produce “decorative and
protective finishes” on metal and plastic products. An average plating
shop produces huge amounts of “waste rinse water” per year that requires
treatment for the removal of toxic metal ions and organics. Disposal in
land falls (burial of metal sludge or solidified metal sludge) results in the
loss of valuable metals and energy resources. The evaluation of this pro-
posed novel method has the potential to separate toxic metal ions from
wastewater. Moreover, there is the scope of finding the adsorbed metals on
the surface of fish scales as a major source of new biopolymers. This will
save enormous handling costs of energy that requires replacement of the
discharged wastewater.
It will ultimately lead to the improvement of electroplating economics.
Also, formation of less viscous new biopolymers (study is underway) from
the “adsorbed scale” can reduce pumping and drilling costs and the costs
of pipeline corrosion, which will certainly benefit the petroleum industry.
5.5 Solar UV Treatment

Solar water distillation is the process of using the energy from sunlight
to separate freshwater from salts or other contaminants. The untreated
water is placed into a still basin which absorbs heat, eventually reaching
high temperatures, causing the water to evaporate, cool and condense into
vapour, leaving the contaminants in the underlying basin. The vapour
forms as drops on an overlying cover (usually glass) that are channeled and
collected in a separate basin as freshwater. Solar water distillers are simple
and relatively cheap technologies that provide alternative sources of fresh-
water in water stressed areas. Saltwater or soft water (surface water with
few ions) can be used to produce safe drinking water, while more heavily
polluted water such as waste water should only be used for non-drinking
purposes such as industrial water reuse, unless additionally treated. Small
and simple solar water distillers are usually built for single households,
though larger systems can also be set up for shared use.
It is well documented that solar energy can be an effective means of
cleaning contaminated water. This is because ultraviolet (UV) light
destroys the formation of DNA linkages in microorganisms, thereby pre-
venting them from reproducing and thus rendering them harmless. The
World Health Organization lists solar disinfection in clear bottles by the
combined action of UV radiation, as well as thermal disinfection (pasteur-
ization) in opaque vessels with sunlight from solar cookers or reflectors
and combination systems employing chemical coagulation-flocculation
as some of the most promising and accessible technologies for household
water treatment.
There are various products available on the market for water purifica-
tion using solar energy. One method for solar water disinfection (also
called SoDis) uses solar energy to make water contaminated with bacte-
ria, viruses, protozoa and worms safe to drink. Water contaminated with
non-biological agents such as toxic chemicals or heavy metals require addi-
tional steps to make the water safe to drink. It is a simple water treatment
method using solar radiation (UV-A light and temperature) to destroy
pathogenic bacteria and viruses present in the water. Its efficiency to kill
Protozoa is dependent on the water temperature reached during solar
exposure and on the climatic and weather conditions. Microbiologically
contaminated water is filled into transparent containers and exposed to full
sunlight during 6 hours.
SODIS uses two components of the sunlight for the water disinfection.
The first, UV-A radiation has a germicidal effect. The second component,
infrared radiation, raises the water temperature and is known as pasteuri-
sation when the water temperature is raised to 70°C–75°C. The combined
use of both UV-A radiation and heat produce a synergetic effect enhancing
the efficiency of the process.
5.5.1 Effects of UV-Radiation

Solar radiation can be divided into three ranges of wavelength: UV radi-
ation, visible light and infrared radiation. UV radiation cannot be per-
ceived by the human eye. It is a very aggressive radiation that can cause
severe damage to the skin and eyes and destroys living cells. Luckily most
of the UV-C and UV-B light in the range of 200 to 320 nm is absorbed
by the ozone (O3) layer in the atmosphere which protects the earth from
radiation coming from space. Only a higher fraction of UV-A radiation
in the wavelength range of 320 nm to 400 nm, near the visible violet
light, reaches the surface of the earth. UV-A light has a lethal effect on
human pathogens present in water. These pathogens are not well adapted
to aggressive environmental conditions as they find their specific living
conditions in the human gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, they are more
sensitive to sunlight than organisms commonly abundant in the environ-
ment. UV-A radiation directly interacts with the DNA, nucleic acids and
enzymes of the living cells, changes the molecular structure and leads to
cell death. UV radiation also reacts with oxygen dissolved in the water and
produces highly reactive forms of oxygen (oxygen free radicals and hydro-
gen peroxides). These reactive molecules also interfere with cell structures
and kill the pathogens.
5.5.2 Effects of Temperature (Infrared Radiation)

Another aspect of the sunlight is the long-wave radiation called infrared.
Also this radiation cannot be seen by the human eye, but we can feel the heat
produced by light of the wavelength beyond 700 nm. The infrared radia-
tion absorbed by the water is responsible for heating it up. Microorganisms
are sensitive to heat. The following table lists the temperature and exposure
time required to eliminate microorganisms. It can be seen that water does
not have to be boiled in order to kill 99.9% of the microorganisms. Heating
up the water to 50 to 60 °C for one hour has the same effect.
5.5.3 Advantages of Solar Water Disinfection (SoDis)

Solar water distillers are typically used in remote areas where there is lim-
ited access to freshwater and centralized distribution systems. Technical
experts may be required to introduce the system and train direct users in
use and maintenance. The systems require siting on flat and open areas
with access to water and sunlight. The “roof ” of the system is installed with
a transparent cover (often glass), placed at an angle to receive maximum
sunlight. The sun penetrates through the cover and into the underlying still
basin. The untreated water is collected in the still basin and heated up by
the sun, eventually evaporating and separating from the contaminants. It
is important that the material used for the still basin can absorb heat, for
example a leather sheet, silicon, reinforced plastic, or steel plate. The slanted
cover funnels the thin layer of condensed water from its underside into a
channel (pipe, tube), which leads to a separate water storage container so it
can be used for domestic purposes or drinking water. The remaining con-
taminants in the still basin should be appropriately disposed. The specific
objectives of solar water disinfection (SoDis) are given below:
• SoDis improves the microbiological quality of drinking

water.
• SoDis improves the family health.
• SoDis can serve as an entry point for health and hygiene
education.
• Public water supply systems in developing countries often
fail to provide water safe for consumption. SoDis provides
individual users a simple method that can be applied at
household level under their own control and responsibility.
• SoDis is easy to understand.
• Everybody can afford SoDis, as the only resources required

are sunlight, which is cost free and plastic bottles.
• SoDis does not require a large and costly infrastructure and
therefore easily is replicable in self-help projects.
• SoDis reduces the need for traditional energy sources such
as firewood and kerosene/gas.
• Consequently the use of SoDis reduces deforestation, a
major environmental problem in most developing coun-
tries, and SoDis decreases air pollution created by burning
conventional energy sources.
• Women and children often spend much of their time and
energy collecting firewood. SoDis reduces this workload as
less firewood needs to be collected.
• Financial advantages: Household expenditures can be
reduced when the user’s family health is improved: less
financial resources are required for medical care. In addi-
tion, expenses for traditional energy sources such as gas,
kerosene and firewood are reduced. Only limited resources
are required for the procurement of transparent plastic bot-
tles. Therefore even the poorest can afford SoDis.
5.5.4 Limitations of Solar Water Disinfection

• SoDis requires sufficient solar radiation. Therefore it depends
on the weather and climatic conditions.
• SoDis requires clear water.
• SoDis does not change the chemical water quality.
• SoDis is not useful to treat large volumes of water.
5.6 Bioremediation for Sustainable Purification

of Water
Microbial bioremediation is the use of prokaryotes (or microbial metab-
olism) to remove pollutants. The oldest example, and the most success-
ful, is sewage treatment, which has been used in one form or another,
for thousands of years. However, the connection between disease and
contaminated water was only made in the late 1800s. Whether the sew-
age is buried below an outhouse, in septic tanks or processed in modern
wastewater treatment plants, bioremediation of the water is largely, if not
entirely, based on microbial degradation of the organics to inorganics.

Bioremediation happens naturally in the environment, but has also been
used to remove agricultural chemicals (e.g., pesticides, fertilizers) that
leach from soil into groundwater and the subsurface. Certain toxic metals
and oxides, such as selenium and arsenic compounds, can also be removed
from water by bioremediation. The reduction of SeO4-2 to SeO3-2 and to Se0
(metallic selenium) removes selenium ions from water and is catalyzed by
bacteria and archaea using the selenium ions are terminal electron accep-
tors in anaerobic respiration. As an active ingredient of some pesticides,
mercury is used in industry, and is also a by-product of certain processes
such as battery production. Methyl mercury is usually present in very low
concentrations in natural environments, but it is highly toxic because it
accumulates in living tissues. Several species of bacteria can carry out the
biotransformation of toxic mercury into nontoxic forms. Bacteria such as
Pseudomonas aeruginosa can convert Hg+2 into the less toxic Hg0 through
anaerobic respiration.
6
Sustainable Purification Techniques
for Industrial Wastes
6.1 Removal of Radionuclides

The formation of radioactive isotopes of cesium and strontium is con-
sidered to be one of the most difficult long-term problems associated
to nuclear reactors. Commonly proposed methods, used for removal of
cesium and strontium, are adsorption on zeolites, clay minerals, and syn-
thetic exchangers (Amphelett, 1964). In a similar way, phosphate, arsenate,
tungstate, and molybdate salts of zirconium, thorium, titanium, and other
metals have also been considered for CsC removal. Each of these meth-
ods has its shortcomings (Komarneni and Roy, 1986). For instance, zeo-
lites tend to decompose at high pH, clays cannot sustain selectivity at high
sodium concentrations, organic materials undergo radiolysis in the pres-
ence of large amounts of 137CsC, and others (Mercer and Ames, 1978).
The use of biomass as an effective adsorbent has been gaining popularity
since 1990s. Avery and Tobin (1992) reported the use of Saccharomyces
cerevisiae in order to adsorb divalent metal cations in dilute solutions onto
the cell walls, both alive or denatured.
They reported particularly high selectivity for Sr2C atoms. In a simi-
lar approach, living sunflower stalks have been found to reduce Sr2C con-
centration within hours of implementation in a hydroponic pond (Anon.,
1997). The study by AlMarzouqi and Islam (1999) reveals more about the
adsorptive properties of both denatured and live sunflower stalks. Their
study found that sunflower stalks are not reliable in adsorbing strontium
when other contaminants are present in the liquid stream. Similar use
of organic materials has gained popularity in developing technologies
or removal for heavy metal from wastewater streams (Shiskowski and
Viraraghavan, 1993; Viraraghavan and Dronamraju, 1993).
Until 2001. No research reported the ability to remove these two elements to
level acceptable by regulatory agency. For the first time, Chaalal and Islam (2001)
221
introduced a novel combination of some of the well-known adsorption tech-

niques are introduced in order to develop a comprehensive technique that
reduces strontium concentration to a low level and has the potential of being an
effective wastewater treatment process.
The schematic of the Chaalal Islam process is presented in Figure 6.1.
It contains an algae-packed column. This column constitutes the first fil-
tration column of the process. The permeability of the packed column was
high enough to allow continuous flow with only hydrostatic pressure of the
line connected to the source trough. In addition to Sr2+ ions, these algae are
known to adsorb most of Mg2+ and Ca2+ commonly found in water con-
taminated with strontium. However, the selectivity to Sr2C ions is usually
significantly higher than that of the other ions. In case adsorption of Mg2C
and Ca2C is a problem, these ions can be removed with Na3PO4 prior to
this treatment step (Avery and Tobin, 1992).
The packed column was connected to the air-curtain driven fluidized
bed/membrane system.
The Fluidized bed/membrane reactor is a very successful air curtain
driven fluidized bed reactor (Backhurst et al., 1988), coupled with a mem-
brane system (see Figure 6.1). The membrane system was an addition to
the design of Backhurst et al. (1988). Compressed air is injected into the
reactor through a series of perforations in a transverse tube in order to cre-
ate fluid circulation with an air curtain. This process provides very efficient
Contaminated
water tank
Compressed
Algae-packed column cotton membrane
(φ = 40 mm)
Fluidized
bed/membrane Fluidized bed
reactor with resins
(φ = 45 mm)
Compressed
air Air bubbles
Figure 6.1 The Chaalal set-up for removing radionucleiods (from Chaalal and Islam,
2001).
Purification Techniques for Industrial Waste 223
and rapid mass transfer in the liquid phase (Chaalal, 1990). Even though
this technique has been employed in mixing mechanically sensitive mate-
rials (e.g. filamentous bacteria or larvae) with great success, the application
of such a process in remediating contaminated water is new.
Air was supplied to the reactor through a transverse tube with equally
spaced 16 perforations of 1Ð6 mm diameters, placed in a single row. The
tube was placed centrally (wall in the left and membrane to the right)
across the narrow width of the bottom of the tank. A pre-specified
amount of API bentonite powder was suspended in the reactor. This ben-
tonite was of API grade and was supplied by the local water and electric-
ity department. The bentonite particles were aimed at adsorbing the bulk
of the contaminants. The membrane was installed in order to separate
the bentonite from the suspensions. The same membrane, however, can
be designed to separate some of the residual contaminants from the sus-
pension. Water exited the apparatus via a 7-mm thick compressed cotton
filter (membrane) enclosed in a perforated plexiglas box which retained
the bentonite particles and adsorbed contaminants. Turbidity measure-
ments of the effluent showed non-detectable loss of bentonite. The filter
did not appear to become plugged with bentonite for the duration of the
laboratory test. Besides, bentonite was primarily maintained in suspen-
sion by the air curtain.
Effluent from the fluidized bed/membrane reactor was passed through
a fluidized ion-exchange reactor. One gram of resin (Amberlite IR-120Na)
was added to the fluidized bed of a relatively small diameter of 45 mm (see
Figure 6.1). A single source of air bubbles was added to the bottom of the
fluidized bed. Air bubbles were injected at a rate of 75 bubbles a minute,
which was found to be adequate to keep the resins in suspension.
Finally, bio-encapsulation followed by bioseparation was performed.
Bacterial growth curves show that the bacteria (mesophilic and thermo-
philic strains) can survive and thrive in concentrations as high as 100 mg/l.
Beyond this concentration, bacteria do not survive and are destroyed within
24 h. It is anticipated that the best use of bio-concentration is at a concen
tration lower than 10 mg/l. Besides, bacterial growth rates being higher at
lower concentration, it is most efficient to use the bio-concentration method
for low concentrations of strontium.
This process was later optimized for thermophilic bacteria, which were
selected from the UAE, where harsh climate conditions prevail (Chaalal
et al., 2015). They discovered that the use of thermophilic bacteria enhances
the purification process but total recovery remains the same (meaning time
required is reduced).
6.2 Removal of Heavy Metals Precious Metals

The industrial development is synonymous with the contamination of
valuable surface and groundwater resources with toxic contaminants, such
as heavy metals, dyes, nutrient ions (nitrogen and phosphate), and precious
metals (PMs) (Won et al., 2014; Abdi and Kazemi, 2015; Shakoor et al.,
2015). Out of all these, heavy metals in general poses the biggest threat
as they are ubiquitous. Several conventional techniques (e.g., chemical
precipitation, chemical coagulation, ion exchange, electrochemical tech-
nology, membrane process, ultrafiltration) have been used to achieve effec-
tive and rapid removal of these environmental contaminants, particularly
metal ions, because of their toxic nature, and high production cost, and the
limited or decreasing availability of metal deposits (Das, 2010; Lin et al.,
2015; Dodson et al., 2015). However, as discussed in Chapter 3, none of
these techniques are sustainable. In addition, they are high cost operations.
Most importantly, they only transfer toxicity from one level to another,
with superficial camouflaging the apparent toxicity to barely meet the reg-
ulatory requirement, which is always trailing the science of sustainability.
Recently, sorption using biosorbents and biochars has seen significant
advancements and is considered a promising technology for immobiliz-
ing (anionic/cationic) PMs and heavy metals, with subsequent recovery
from water and wastewaters. This is attributed to the low cost and high effi-
ciency, the negligible production of chemical or biological sludge, regen-
erability and reusability, and recovery of metals by the desorption process
(Vijayaraghavan and Yun, 2008).
A wide variety of biomaterials have been identified and examined to gen-
erate low-cost sorbents for the purification of water and wastewater, such
as fungi, algae, and biowastes from agricultural and industrial by-products
(Vijayaraghavan and Yun, 2008; Park et al., 2010). In the past few decades,
biosorption of heavy metals, PMs, and ionic dyes has been widely and suc-
cessfully studied for their removal from water and wastewater using agri-
cultural and food industry biowastes: for example, peels of various fruits
and vegetables, wheat straw, rice husk, and sugarcane bagasse (Shakoor et al.,
2015; Abid et al., 2016). In addition to biosorbents, studies revealed sig-
nificant advancements in the production of biochar from biowastes which
differ in their physicochemical properties from carbonized materials (i.e.,
activated carbons) (Khare et al., 2013).
Heavy metals such as zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr),
lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and cadmium (Cd) have been
used in different industrial manufacturing/catalytic processes and released
into the environment through wastewater discharges or from their solid

waste resources (Ghaly et al., 2014).
In addition to heavy metals, PMs such as platinum group metals
(PGMs) (ruthenium [Ru], rhodium [Rh], palladium [Pd], osmium [Os],
iridium [Ir], and platinum [Pt]) are widely used in a variety of “hi-tech”
industries owing to their unique physical and chemical properties (details
on heavy metals and PMs have been provided in the following sections).
The increasing demand of these heavy and PMs is in direct contrast to their
reduced availability, particularly of PMs, and this has led to great rises or
fluctuations in their prices, as well as efforts to explore new deposits. This
prompted the need to remove and recover these metals from the water or
wastewater and their secondary resources.
Some researchers have tried to use various biomasses to recover PMs, in
particular Au, Pt, Pd, and Ru. Table 6.1 shows the various types of biomaterials
used to prepare biosorbents and biochars to recover heavy metals and PMs.
6.2.1 Precious Metals and Heavy Metals Recovery

Precious metals, such as, gold (Au), silver (Ag), Pt, Pd, and Rb are used in
various manufacturing fields including jewelry, electronics, dental indus-
tries, and the textile industry (Ghaly et al., 2014). The demand for PMs has
increased, especially in the emerging economies of the world (McGlone,
2015). However, acquiring these PMs is difficult economically and techno-
logically owing to their restricted supply by specific producing countries
or their uneven distribution in production areas (Kawamoto, 2008). Heavy
metals are described as metals which in their standard state have a specific
gravity of more than 5 and atomic weight of 63.546-200.590 (Aslam, 2011).
Heavy metals are responsible for many toxic effects on human health, such
as lead poisoning (Pb), immune depression and skin diseases (Zn and
Cu), cancer (Cr, Cd), neurological disorders (Mn), and blood disorders
(Fe) (Abdalla et al., 2013). There is growing anxiety about securing a stable
supply of these elements; therefore, the development of recycling technol-
ogies is important for using heavy metals and PMs resources efficiently,
thus reducing their environmental burden through sustainable processes
(Umeda et al., 2011).
The following sources of precious metals and heavy metals are identified
by Niazi et al. (2016):
–– Municipal Wastewater and Storm Water

–– Farm Wastewater Effluent of varying composition from farms
Table 6.1 Sources of metals and heavy metals.
Precious metals/
heavy metals Source Origin References
Au, Ag, Pt, Rh, Ru Solid waste Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Morf et al. (2013)
Au, Ag, Pt, Pd Solid waste Incineration bottom ash of MSW Muchova et al. (2009)
Ag, Au, Pt Solid waste Bottom ash fractions of incinerated MSW Bakker et al. (2007)
Au, Ag Pt, Ir Solid waste Waste electrical and electronic equipment Cui and Zhang (2008),
Park and Fray (2009)
Ru, Ir, Pd Solid waste Heterogonous catalytic waste Paul (2009),
Won et al. (2014)
Soluble form of Liquid waste Spent electroplating and other solutions Cui and Zhang (2008)
various PMs
Dissolved PMs Liquid waste Waste solutions from hydrometallurgy Won et al. (2014)
Ru, Ir, Rh Liquid waste Spent homogenous catalyst Kwak et al. 2013
Au, Ag Pt, Pd Liquid waste Hospital wastes jewelry-processing/making Umeda et al. (2011)
industry wastewater
Au, Pt Liquid waste Municipal sewage Hartman and Schuster (2013)
(Continued)
Table 6.1 Sources of metals and heavy metals. (Continued)
Precious metals/
Platinum group Atmospheric air Automotive catalyst exhaust Bardi and Stefano (2014)
metals
Pt, Ir Atmospheric air Incineration of PM vapors Gimeno-Gabra et al. (2003)
Au, Ag, Cu Atmospheric air Volcanic eruptions ashes Scher et al. (2013)
Zn, Cu Solid waste Plastic, paper, ash, kitchen waste from MSW Long et al. (2011)
Cu, Pb Zn Atmospheric air Motor vehicle emissions, drips of crankcase oil, Brow and Peake (2006)
vehicle tire wear, asphalt road surfaces
Cu, Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni, Liquid waste Aqueous wastes from industries of metal-plating, Kadirvelu et al. (2001)
mining operations,tanneries, smelting, alloy
industries, storage battery manufacture
As, Cd Cu Agricultural soils Wastewater irrigation industrial production, Du et al. (2015)
fertilizer and pesticide abuse, fossil fuel
combustion
Cd Atmospheric air Tobacco making Järup (2003)
Ni Atmospheric air Fumes or dust Kasprzak et al. (2003)
Ni, Cu, Pb Oil polluted soil Oil spillage Osuji and Onajake (2004)
(Continued)
Precious metals/
Cu, Zn Liquid waste Sewage sludge Nicholson et al. (2003)
Cu, Zn Livestock manure Provided to animals as dietary supplements Nicholson et al. (2003)
Hg, As Agrochemicals Sprayed as pesticides or fungicides Nicholson et al. (2003)
Hg Domestic waste Households bleach, acid caustic chemicals, dental Tangahu and
amalgam, ink and paper coatings, etc. Warmadewanthi (2001)
Cu2+ Biochar Rice husks, olive pomace, orange wastes, compost Pellera et al. (2012)
Cu2+ Biochar Peanut, canola, soybean, straw biochars Tong et al. (2011)
Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Biochar Pig and cow manure biochar Kolodyńska et al. (2012)
Pb2+ removal
Cu2+, Cd2+ Biochar Buffalo weed biochars Yakkala et al. (2013)
Cd2+, Pb2+ Biochar Alamo switchgrass biochar Regmi et al. (2012)
Cr6+ Biochar Sugar beet tailing biochar Dong et al. (2011)
Hg2+ Biochar Soybean stalk-based biochar Kong et al. (2011)
PB2+ Biochar Anaerobically digested dairy waste residue Inyang et al. (2012)
(Continued)
Precious metals/
2+
Zn Biochar Empty fruit branches Mubarak et al. (2013)
Cu2+ Biochar Aerobically composted swine manure Meng et al. (2013)
PB2+, Cd2+, As3+ Biochar Bioproduct chars from pine, wood, pine bark, oak Mohan et al. (2007)
wood, oak bark
CR3+ Biochar Sugarcane pulp residue biochar Yang et al. (2013)
Ag Biochar Brewery waste yeast Dodson et al. (2015)
Au Biochar Rice husk carbon Dodson et al. (2015)
Ce Biochar Grapefruit peel Dodson et al. (2015)
Tangerine peel
Corn style
Plantanus orientalis leaf
Powder
Pinus brutia leaf
prawn carapace
La Biochar Modified rice husk Dodson et al. (2015)
Activated carbon
Bamboo charcoal
(Continued)
Precious metals/
Nd Biochar Activated carbon
Polyethyleneimine
(PEI)-grafted chitosan
Beads
Seaweed
Ir Biochar Polyethyleneimine (PEI)-grafted chitosan beads Won et al. (2014)

AU(I) Biochar Seaweed Won et al. (2014)
AU(III) Biochar Hen eggshell membrane Won et al. (2014)
Pd(II) Biochar PEI-modified Won et al. (2014)
C. glutamicum biomass
Ru Biochar Decarboxylated PEI-Modified C. glutamicum Won et al. (2014)
biomass
–– Industrial Wastewater
–– Electrical and Electronic Equipment
–– Heterogeneous Catalytic Wastes (from motor vehicles)
Aqueous wastes Bioremoval of PMs through biosorbents and biochar

can be applied directly to recover elements from fluid or aqueous phases.
The most available aqueous wastes that contain PMs are summarized next.
Used in electroplating and other aqueous solutions used in the elec-
troplating industry, metal objects are coated with a thin layer of different
metals. The used or spent aqueous solutions from electroplating are pro-
duced as a result of washing and batch dumps containing dissolved forms
of various precious as well as base metals themselves. PMs in electronic
industries are used as crucial materials in connectors, switches, relay con-
tacts, connecting wires, and strips (Cui and Zhang, 2008). The wastewater
or aqueous solutions of these wastes contain various PMs that require recy-
cling after removal from water systems. For example, aqueous waste from
the semiconductor electronic industry is a main source of PMs in surface
water streams.
Hydrometallurgy Waste: Various hydrometallurgical methods have
been exploited for the recovery of PMs from ores and secondary sources
after leaching from solution waste. Hydrometallurgical techniques involve
ion exchange, solvent extraction, reduction, and co-precipitation (Das,
2010). As a result of these processes, a huge amount of secondary waste is
produced with low concentrations of dissolved PMs. These PMs need to be
immobilized from their aqueous phases and recovered for future use in the
relevant industries.
Waste Homogeneous Catalysts Solution: In contrast to heteroge-
neous catalysts, homogeneous catalysts act in the same phase as the
reactants. Because they are difficult to isolate from the reaction media,
they are frequently detected in the product and waste solution (waste-
water) streams. For example, preparation of acetic acid on a large or
industrial scale in industries involves the use of PMs as a catalyst (Ru,
Ir, or Rh).
Figure 6.2 shows the blown up version of the sorption of biomass.
6.3 Industry Lifestyle Change

Ancient practices right up to the era of industrial revolution were all sus-
tainable (Khan and Islam, 2012). The technological marvels ranging from
BIOSORBENTS
Natural biomass
modification Desorption/
Recovery of metals
Sorption
of metals
BIOWASTES
Electrostatic ion exchange
attraction
Surface precipitation
Micro-precipitations
sorption
on biomass
Co-precipitation
Surface complexation Physical sorption

(inner sphere)
Exchangeable metal ions
Metal ions in aqueous soln.
Metal ions bound to desorption & biochar
Mineral components in biomass
Pyrolysis Sorption
Desorption/
Biochar of metals Recovery of metals
Figure 6.2 Process involved at the surface of the biomass during biosorption and biochar
recovery. (Modified from Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
pyramids and mummies to curving houses out of rock were all based on
sustainable developments. It is the modern era that introduced unsus-
tainable technologies through an array of ‘refining’ and processing
tools, starting with coal and oil refining. Ever since chemicals extracted
from these technologies have been used across the entire spectrum of
today’s lifestyle. This resulted in the largest accumulation of waste within
waterbodies all across the globe. Ever since, the world’s water resources have
been under increasing threat from the impacts of energy production and
utilization and ubiquitous existence of synthetic chemicals, all derived from
petroleum products. As the global population grows, a persistent challenge is
how to access enough water to meet humanity’s needs while also preserving
the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. There is no moving forward unless there
is a fundamental shift in energy utilization and collective lifestyle change.
Perhaps the most lucrative value addition done is in the pharmaceutical
industry. It is a very broad field, dealing with both synthetic, biological and
natural medicines as well as cosmetics and food ingredients. Even when
biological and natural medicines are used, they are either denatured or
added to synthetic products.
Ion exchange
Electrostatic M
M
attraction
(Inner-sphere) M
M– M O O
O Surface precipitation/
O C R M
H2+ micro-precipitation
pH < pHPZC M– O
O C M
(anionic metal H2+
attraction) O R
M– H2+ O H M
M Sorption on biomass O
O (biosorbent and biochar)
M+ O C M
R
O M
M+ CO32– + M2+ MCO3 ↓
pH < pHPZC O O
M+ C R SiO42– + M2+ MSiO4 ↓
(cationic metal M
O 2PO42– + 3M2+ M3(PO4)
attraction) H O O
M
H H Co-precipitation
M
M
M
Outer-sphere complexation
Surface complexation (Physical sorption)
(Inner-sphere)
Exchangeable metal ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+)

M Metal ions (M+/M–) in aqueous solution
M Metal ions (M+/M–) bound to biosorbent and biochar

Mineral components in biomass (PO43–, CO32–)
Figure 6.2a Metal removal mechanisms at the surface of biosorbents and biochars
through sorption process.
In the ancient era, all the way up to the pre-industrial revolution age,
both energy and pharmaceutical sectors were using natural ingredients.
The knowledge of how beneficial oil could be was widespread all across
the ancient world and people from all continents used oil for a number of
purposes. These practices were also extremely effective and produced far
more durable products than what are available today, without adding toxic
chemicals. In terms of petroleum use, pre-industrial age era used natu-
ral products in their raw form. For instance, for millennia tar, a naturally
deposited petroleum product, was used as a sealant for roofing shingles,
brick bonding, the hulls of ships and boats (Daintith, 2008). The desired
quality of tar was its ability to be waterproof. Tar was also used us a gen-
eral disinfectant. Often tar would be mixed with other natural oil, such as
balsam turpentine, linseed oil or Chinese tung oil, to obtain the desired
properties.
One important direct use of petroleum products (e.g. tar) was medic-
inal (Barnes and Grieve, 2017). Since most oils that had seeped to the
surface would mostly evaporate and leave behind bitumen - the tarry com-
ponent of the mixture of hydrocarbons from which it is composed, this
tarry material was the most in use. Even in Ancient Europe, tar once had
the reputation of being a panacea. Pine tar, a carbonized distilled form of
pine, is reported to be in use for over 2000 years as a medicine for skin
conditions because of its soothing and antiseptic properties (Barnes and
Grieve, 2017). Although pine tar is considered to be distinct from coal tar
or naturally occurring petroleum tar, they all have medicinal values for a
wide range of applications because of its antipruritic, anti‐inflammatory,
antibacterial and antifungal nature (Muller, 1984). In addition to its ker-
atolytic action, pine tar has been shown to be antipruritic (Braun‐Falco,
1991), anti‐inflammatory, antiseptic (Dawber, 1994), astringent, kerato-
plastic, cytostatic, antibacterial (Veijola and Mustakallio, 1964) and anti-
fungal (Ishida et al., 1992). This is no surprise because it is well known that
tar from natural sources have all of the natural chemicals (including heavy
metals) that can serve as a medicine. After all, the pharmaceutical industry
indeed uses the synthetic version of the same chemicals.
Similarly, crude oil is known to have been used since the ancient era.
Even today, some parts of the globe use crude oil for medicinal (Dienye
et al., 2012) and therapeutical (Hoke, 2015) purposes. However, in the
modern era, use of crude oil or petroleum products in their native form is
not promoted as a valid material source for any application and invariably
all petroleum resources undergo refining.
In terms of refining petroleum products, there is evidence that even
during medieval era, refining techniques were present. However, those
days, refining was not done in an unsustainable manner (Islam et al., 2010).
There is evidence that both distillation and expression were common during
the medieval era. In the perfume industry, as early as during early Islamic
era (7th century onward), distillation in the form of hydrodistillation and
production of absolute, mainly through Enfleurage and fermentation was
common (Katz, 2012).
The distillation process for refining oil appears to have been practiced
throughout ancient times. Recent discovery of a 5000-year-old earthenware
distillation apparatus, used for steam distillation tells us that our ancestors
were well versed on developing sustainable technologies (Shnaubelt, 2002).
Khan and Islam (2016) demonstrated how an earthenware distillation appa-
ratus is sustainable. The ancient and middle age practices were mainly focused
on medicinal applications. It was the case in ancient Orient and ancient
Greece and Rome, as well as the Americas the oils used for medicinal purposes.
However, as reported by Islam et al. (2010), Medieval era scientists were

also refining oil for producing shoot-free light. During the fifth century
AD, the famed writer, Zosimus of Panopolis, refers to the distilling of a
divine water and panacea. Throughout the early Middle Ages and beyond,
a basic form of distillation was known and was used primarily to prepare
floral waters or distilled aromatic waters. These appear to have been used
in perfumery, as digestive tonics, in cooking, and for trading.
Over 1000 years ago, Al-Rāzī (865-923), a Persian Muslim alchemist,
wrote a book titled: Kitāb al-Asrār (Book of Secrets), in which he outlined
a series of refining and material processing technologies (See Taylor, 2015
for the translation). Al-Rāzī developed a perfectly functioning distillation
process. In this distillation process, he used naturally occurring chemi-
cals. His stockroom was enriched with products of Persian mining and
manufacturing, even with sal ammoniac, a Chinese discovery. These were
all additives that he was using similar to the way catalysts are used today.
His approach was fitting for his time, but way ahead of today’s concept
of technology development. He avoided the ‘intellectual approach’ (what
has become known as mechanical approach ever since Newtonian era or
New Science) in favour of causal or essential approach (what Khan and
Islam, 2016, called the ‘science of intangibles’). Table 6.2 shows that the 389
Table 6.2 Classification of the procedures use by Al-Razi in book of secrets.

Type of
procedure Purpose Count Percent Example
Primary Produces a 175 45 Sublimation of
substance that mercury
transforms metals
into gold or silver
Intermediate Prepares materials 127 33 Calcination of
required for silver through
primary procedures burning
Reagent Produces a chemical 51 13 Liquids that
used in other dissolve or
procedures create colours
Preparation Instructions for a 36 9 Mixing through
method used in pulverizing
other procedures and roasting
Total 389 100
procedures by Al-Rāzī can be divided into four basic types: primary, inter-
mediate, reagent, and preparation methods. The 175 “primary” procedures
involve transformation of metals into gold or silver. It is worth noting here
that bulk of Newton’s unpublished work also involved transformation of
metals into gold (Zatzman and Islam, 2007). The 127 preparatory proce-
dures involve softening and calcination. Today, equivalent processes are
called denaturing, in which the natural features of materials are rendered
artificial. Al-Rāzī then adds 51 procedures for reagent preparations.
The reagents are solvents and tinctures, which usually contain trace amount
of heavy metals. It is similar to what is used today except that Al-Rāzī used
natural sources. Table 6.2 further shows 36 instructions for commonly
needed processes such as mixing or dissolving.
The procedure types include sublimation, calcination, softening whereas
major sources are all natural (such as, quicksilver, sulfur, metals, stones).
The calcination, sublimation and calcination themselves are also done
through natural processes.
The dominant theme was all source materials are derived from plants,
animals and minerals and used in their natural state. The knowledge of
seven alchemical procedures and techniques involved: sublimation and
condensation of mercury, precipitation of sulphur, and arsenic calcination
of minerals (gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron), salts, glass, talc, shells, and
waxing. In addition, the source of heat was fire.
Al-Rāzī gave methods and procedures of coloring a silver object to imitate
gold (gold leafing) and the reverse technique of removing its color back to
silver. Also described was gilding and silvering of other metals (alum, cal-
cium salts, iron, copper, and tutty, all being processed in a furnace with real
fire), as well as how colors will last for years without tarnishing or changing.
Al-Rāzī classified naturally occurring earthly minerals into six divisions
(Rashed, 1996):
Four spirits (Al-Arwāh, the plural of the Arabic word Rūh, which is best
described in the Qur’an as an order of Allah):
1. mercury
2. sal ammoniac, NH4Cl
3. sulfur
4. arsenic sulphide (orpiment, As2S3 and realgar, As4S4 or AsS)
Even though this classification has been often referred to as ‘ghosts that
roam around the earth’, this translation is ill-conceived and defies Qur’anic
logic. Correct meaning is these materials are the source materials as in
essence. In our previous work, we have called it the ‘intangible’ (Zatzman

and Islam, 2007; Khan and Islam, 2012; Islam et al., 2010; Islam et al., 2015).
The above list is meaningful. Each of these materials bears some signifi-
cance in terms of sustainability and human health. In today’s society, mer-
cury is known to be a toxic material with adverse effects on the body and
unanimously portrayed as a toxic chemical with long-term implication, it
is one of those rare metals that had time-honoured applications even in the
ancient society (Iqbal and Asmat, 2012). This unique heavy metal, which is
less toxic in its elemental form than in its compound form, has enjoyed both
industrial and medicinal applications throughout history (Wong, 2001).
6.3.1 Mercury
From ancient times, the history of mercury has been connected with that of
the medicine and chemistry (Block, 2001). Both sulphur and mercury are
known to have been used in early civilizations in China, India and Egypt.
Mercury has particular relevance to the history of science of both medicine
and alchemy (Norn et al., 2008). Both sulphur and mercury have been used
as disinfectants. In post Roman Catholic Church (RCC) Europe, mercury
was first introduced by Muslim physicians and it was first mentioned in
European literature in 1140 by Matthaeus Platearius, who recommended
its use for treatment of syphilis as well as for treatment of wound and oth-
ers (Block, 2001). On the medicinal side, mercury, in both its elemental
and compound forms, has been used throughout history as a microbiocide
(Weber and Rutala, 2001). However, ancient times had used only natural
processes for extracting mercury. In this context, Figure 6.3 summarizes
Beneficial
Optimal
Limiting
Natural
Unnatural metals
Harmful metals
Metal ion concentration
Figure 6.3 The usefulness of metal depends on its concentration as well as source (Figure
adapted from Islam et al., 2016 and Weber and Rutala, 2001).
how metals act within human bodies. This figure is adapted from Islam et
al. (2016), who used the bifurcation to demonstrate that natural chemi-
cals act the opposite way from unnatural chemicals, and Weber and Rutala
(2001), who did not distinguish between natural processing and unnatural
processing, settling instead for ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ varieties. Islam
et al. (2015) as well as Islam (2014) contended that every naturally occur-
ring chemical is beneficial at some concentration, beyond which it becomes
toxic (see the top graph in Figure 6.3) On the other hand, what is perceived
as non-essential (as per Weber and Rutala, 2001, most heavy metals are
non-essential although there is almost yearly discovery that these metals are
also essential, albeit at a very small concentrations. The concept that unnat-
ural metals, i.e., the ones processed through non-sustainable techniques
is inherently toxic to the organism is new but it answers all the question
regarding how toxicity functions within an organic body. As discussed by
Islam and Khan (2018), the presence of artificially processed metal is akin
to introducing a cancer cell that continues to wreck havoc to the organism.
In ancient times, only the upper graph of Figure 6.3 existed because
all processes were sustainable from both mass and energy perspectives
(Khan and Islam, 2016). Today, it has become a common practice to
lump chemicals that had been in use since the ancient time with those
discovered in later era, for which there is no longer a natural processing
technique available. For instance, many clinical studies have lumped cad-
mium, lead, mercury, thallium, bismuth, arsenic, antimony and tin in the
same vein. Yet, cadmium was discovered in 1872 (just before the inven-
tion of electricity in 1979), thallium was discovered in 1861 whereas
other metals were either used in their natural form (ore) or processed
through natural means (e.g. open fire, natural additives). The first metal
to be smelted in the ancient Middle East was probably copper (by 5000
BCE), followed by tin, lead, and silver. To achieve the high temperatures
required for smelting, furnaces with forced-air draft were developed; for
iron, temperatures even higher were required. Smelting thus represented
a major technological achievement. Charcoal was the universal fuel until
coke was introduced in 18th-century England (Islam et al., 2010).
Many forms of mercury exist in nature, including elemental mercury,
inorganic mercury, and organic mercury (Weber and Rutala, 2001). From
ancient times onward, organic mercury* compounds have been used as
antiseptics, antibacterials, fungicides and other disinfectants. These are
* Organic mercury compounds, sometimes called organomercurials, are those containing

covalent bonds between carbon and mercury. Examples are methylmercury, dimethyl-
mercury and methylmercury chloride (methylmercuric chloride).
highly toxic beyond very low concentration. It means their optimal con-
centration (Figure 6.3) is quite low. Beyond the optimal concentration,
organic mercury can produce toxicity through skin absorption, ingestion,
or inhalation. They are also associated with gastrointestinal, renal, and
neurologic toxicity. Thimerosal (merthiolate; 2(9-ethylmerucrio-thio)
benzoic acid sodium salt has been widely used as a bactericide at concen-
trations of 0.001% to 0.1%. It has also been used as preservatives in phar-
maceuticals and cosmetics, including in vaccines, eyedrops, contact lens
cleaning and storage solutions, cosmetic creams, toothpaste, mouthwash,
etc. (Van’t Veen and Joost, 1994). While this is widely recognized, few
are aware of the fact that the chemicals that are used in modern industry
are not chemicals that are naturally occurring, they are instead synthetic.
Therefore, they are toxic even below the optimal concentration, meaning
the lower graph of Figure 6.3 should be consulted. This same principle
also applies to mercury vapour. For instance, today’s mercury vapor lamps
use an arc through vaporized mercury in a high-pressure tube to create
very waves (of various wavelengths) directly from its own arc. This is dif-
ferent from fluorescent lightbulbs, which use the mercury vapor arc to
create a weaker light that mainly creates UV light to excite the phosphors.
This usage is just one of many alterations of original usage of mercury.
In Figure 6.4, relative output spectra of low- and medium pressure mer-
cury arc lamps are shown. The ‘medium pressure’ refers to lamps for which
500
400
300
Relative
Irradiance
200
100
320
0 300
E 280
D 260
C 240 Wavelength
Medium B 230
A (nm)
Pressure Low 200
Lamp type Pressure
Figure 6.4 Relative output spectra of low- and medium pressure mercury arc lamps
in the germicidal UV range. A=2 kW, 100 W/in; B=3.5 kW, 150 W/in; C=5 kW, 150 W/in;
D= 6.4 kW, 150 W/in; E=7 kW, 200 W/in (from Blachley III and Peel, 2001).
the internal pressures are in the range of 2 to 5 bar and that operate at
temperatures ranging from 700-900 C. The important aspect of the figure
is the fact that UV output is a strong function of internal pressure of the
lamp generate characteristic wavelengths of a broad spectrum. With con-
ventional mass and energy balance treatment that disconnects the tran-
sition between mass and energy such dependence of relative irradiance
on pressure cannot be quantified or predicted qualitatively. However, the
technique (using the ‘galaxy’ model) proposed by Islam (2014) and later
used by Khan and Islam (2016) makes it possible to account for alteration
in the subatomic level to be coupled with tangible expression, such as light
intensity. The next feature of this figure is the fact that different irradi-
ance level of UV will kill different types of bacteria. Once again, such
anti-bacterial effects can be described with the galaxy model that allows
for different wavelengths to destroy different types of bacteria (based on
their characteristic length).†
Knowledge of cinnabar (HgS) is traced back to ancient Assyria and
Egypt, but also to China (Wang, 2015). It had value for both medicinal
and alchemy applications. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), cin-
nabar has been a high value medicinal component. Wang (2015) pointed
out Shennong’s Classic of Materia Medica claims that cinnabar can treat
practically all ailments involving the five yang organs‡, namely, heart, liver,
spleen, lung and kidney. Cinnabar reportedly has calming and revitaliz-
ing effects, which help build one’s strength and improve vision, and kill
“evil spirits”. The term “evil spirit” has been known to imply inexplicable
ailments, including mental illness (Islam et al., 2017). There have been
reports of improvement of lungs and hearts owing to ‘moistening actions’
of cinnabar while consumed orally or even applied externally. Most signifi-
cantly, cinnabar was known to be a cure of convulsion and epilepsy, as well
as fetal toxicity and pox virus. It was also considered to prevent malaria
(Wang, 2015).
One such compound is mercury sulphide (cinnabar), which is known
in ancient Chinese (called zhūshā, ), Greek and Arabic (called zinjafar
) culture with universal use in medicine as well as general alchemy.
Cinnabar has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a sedative for
more than 2000 years (Huanga et al., 2007). In addition to being used for
insomnia, cinnabar is thought to be effective for cold sores, sore throat,
and some skin infections.
†
For details of the galaxy model, see Islam (2014).
‡
On the yang side of the yin-yang are six organs, namely, gall bladder, stomach, small
intestine, large intestine, bladder and triple burner.
Cinnabar is generally found in a massive, granular or earthy form and is

bright scarlet to brick-red in color, has the highest refractive index of any
mineral (King, 2002).
It turns out that mercury compounds continued to be used in Europe
during 15th through 20th century. In the era before synthetic antibiotics,
sexually-transmitted diseases were of great concern. In search for a cure,
various forms of mercury were tried. As such, mercury was the remedy
of choice for syphilis in Protestant Europe. Paracelsus (1493-1541) for-
mulated mercury as an ointment because he recognized the toxicity and
risk of poisoning when administrating mercury as an elixir. Mercury was
already being used in Western Europe to treat skin diseases.
The dominating medical use of Hg, (in metallic form and as calomel,
Hg2Cl2), in Sweden in the second half of the 19th century indicates that
some persons were highly exposed to Hg, mainly for treatment of syphilis,
and 0.3-1% of the population of 3.5-5 millions were treated for venereal
diseases (10,000-50,000 patients).
Sublimate (HgCl2 ) is in certain countries still used as an antiseptic for
wounds. It was used in large quantities during the World Wars, triggered
by the largely increased use of Hg in explosives. Sublimate was also used
for preserving wood.
In the 1830’s, dental restorative material, called ‘amalgam’ was intro-
duced to the United States. This amalgam was developed in England and
France and contained silver, tin, copper, zinc and mercury. The amalgam
fillings were not openly embraced by organized dentistry in America,
and in 1840, members of the American Society of Dental Surgeons were
required to sign pledges not to use mercury fillings. By this time, the cur-
rent methods of refining metals (including mercury) have been in place.
Mercury and its compounds used in dental practice may be responsible
for release of mercury into the oral cavity. Compounds of mercury tend
to be much more toxic than the element itself, and organic compounds of
mercury (e.g., dimethyl-mercury) are often extremely toxic and may be
responsible in causing brain and liver damage.
Recently, Wang et al. (2013) conducted an interesting study. They orally
administered various doses of cinnabar for 10 consecutive days, then stud-
ied the mercury levels. They discovered that the mercury level in serum
and tissues are significantly higher than that of vehicle control (Table 6.3).
The serum mercury levels in the cinnabar groups were increased in a dose‐
dependent manner. However, the serum mercury content for the cinnabar
group was only about 1/100 of that of the HgCl2 group at the same dose. The
mercury levels in the brain tissue of the cinnabar group were raised slowly
with the increasing dose and were about 1/19 of HgCl2 group at the same
Table 6.3 Mercury contents after cinnabar and HgCl2 administration for 10 days (From Wang et al., 2013).
Group Serum (ng/ml) Brain (ng/g) Liver (ng/g) Kidney (ng/g)
Vehicle 1.39 ± 0.05 2.96 ± 1.24 11.19 ± 4.31 14.24 ± 2.97
HgCl2 0.01 g/kg 401.94 ± 30.3 190.25 ± 11.8 5571.91 ± 1211 23592.40 ± 446
Cinnabar 0.01 g/kg 4.10 ± 0.47 10.63 ± 2.53* 25.58 ± 5.97 70.00 ± 18.02
Cinnabar 0.05 g/kg 14.63 ± 0.59 11.07 ± 2.10 32.73 ± 6.96 82.69 ± 20.02
Cinnabar 0.1 g/kg 26.75 ± 6.98 12.20 ± 1.44 84.75 ± 9.47 271.10 ± 49.25
Cinnabar 1 g/kg 75.30 ± 9.24 13.27 ± 2.22 89.47 ± 10.02 455.88 ± 76.93
Table 6.4 Mercury contents after cinnabar and HgS administration for 10 days (From Wang et al., 2013).
Group Serum (ng/ml) Brain (ng/g) Liver (ng/g) Kidney (ng/g)
Vehicle 1.52 ± 0.02 1.83 ± 0.49 5.71 ± 1.69 16.29 ± 1.19
Cinnabar 0.1 g/kg 24.62 ± 1.55 12.12 ± 1.19 77.57 ± 10.17 206.21 ± 33.76
HgS 0.1 g/kg 27.44 ± 3.29 8.03 ± 1.98 41.39 ± 9.78 454.56 ± 70.68
dose. Similar to the pattern of the HgCl2 group, mercury accrued more in
kidney than in liver. However, in the HgCl2 group, mercury accumulation
was about 330 times higher than that of the cinnabar group.
Meanwhile, there were no significant differences in the tissue distribu-
tion patterns between the cinnabar and pure HgS groups (Table 6.4) except
that the pure HgS group accumulated mercury in the kidney ~2 times
higher than that of the cinnabar group.
This study indicates that cinnabar is remarkably different from HgCl2
in mercury absorption and tissue distribution. This finding is profound
because up until recently synthetic chemicals were considered to be the
same as natural chemicals (Khan and Islam, 2016). As will be discussed in
latter chapters, this marks a bifurcation point in terms of natural chemicals
following a different pathway from artificial chemicals.
6.3.2 Sal Ammoniac

Sal ammoniac is a naturally occurring substance, mainly containing NH4Cl.
It is the best known of the ammonium-bearing minerals. It forms in natural
fumaroles, where gas vents from underground from volcanic activity. It also
forms from the process of the burning of coal in coal deposits. The formation
of Sal ammoniac is unique, as it is created from sublimation, meaning it crys-
tallizes directly from gaseous fumes and bypasses a liquid phase. Sal ammo-
niac is highly soluble in water. It is known for its utility in many applications,
ranging from fertilizer, to colouring agent to medical usage.
Sal ammoniac (naturally occurring Ammonium Chloride) has reported
to be first found in the wastelands of Central Asia, from which it was used
by Muslim Alchemists of the medieval age, primarily for distillation of
organic materials (Multhauf, 1965). In later centuries, there is evidence
that Sal ammoniac was being produced through solar distillation of camel
urine and other organic products, in proportion of five parts urine, one
part common salt, and one-half part soot, which was also derived from
natural products (Malthauf, 1965). Soot in general is a common source of
heavy metals. Whenever soot is formed, they contain heavy metals that
act as the nucleation site within the powdery soot. It is also reported that
soot collected from the chimney of camel dung furnaces in Egypt con-
tained natural ammonium chloride. This is expected as any herbivorous
animal would have natural supply of salt in its diet. The concept of com-
bining ammonia (then known as volatile alkali) and hydrochloric acid
(then known as ‘spirit of salt’) was not invented until late 18th century
(Malthauf, 1965). The now well-known synthesis process was:
NH3 + HCl NH4Cl (6.1)
This synthesis process was deemed to be cheaper than the ‘decomposi-

tion, which used decomposition of soot (including organic material), sul-
furic acid and salt. By the mid-nineteenth century the synthetic process
had superseded all others for the manufacture of sal ammoniac, and it was
accomplished with utter simplicity through the addition of hydrochloric
acid to the “ammonia liquor”, which was a residue from coal distillation.
Later on, another process evolved. It involved double decomposition of
ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride:
(NH4)2CO3 + CuSO4 CuCO3↓ + (NH4)2S04 (6.2)
(NH4)2S04+ 2NaCl Na2SO4+ 2NH4C1 (6.3)
Ammonium carbonate refers to smelling salts, also known as ammonia

inhalants, spirit of hartshorn or sal volatile. Today, this chemical is known
as baker’s ammonia – the source of gaseous ammonia. It is also the form
taken by ammonia when distilled from carbonaceous material without
drying. Similarly, copper sulfate can be derived from naturally occurring
blue vitriol, other sulfates, such as calcium sulfate (gypsum in its natural
state). In Equation 6.2, the requirement is that an insoluble carbonate be
formed, permitting the separation of the ammonium sulfate. The separa-
tion of the sal ammoniac in the second reaction was accomplished either
by its sublimation or by differential crystallization.
Even later, came the double decomposition of ammonium carbonate
and magnesium chloride (bittern), following the reaction:
(NH4)2CO3 + MgCl2 MgCO3 + 2NH4Cl (6.4)
This involved one step less than the preceding process and moreover
utilized as a source of magnesium chloride the waste mother liquor, “bit-
tern,” which is the waste of brine after production of common salt and is
rich in magnesium chlorides, sulfates, bromides, iodides, and other chem-
icals present in the original sea water. This process was introduced com-
mercially by the well-known hydrometer inventor, Antoine Baume, only
a year after the establishment of the Gravenhorst factory, and we have a
circumstantial account of his works written in 1776, while it was still in
operation.
6.3.3 Sulphur
As per New Science, sulfur is the tenth most abundant element in the universe,
has been known since ancient times. Table 6.5 shows abundance numbers for
various elements in the universal scale. On earth, this scenario changes. Table
6.5 lists the most abundant elements found within the earth’s crust.
Wexler (2014) points out that the use of sulphur has been popular since
the ancient Greek period in production of chemical ‘weapon’. As early as
420 BC, toxic aerosol was created with natural pitch and sulphur powder.
This tradition was continued by the Romans, who often added other natu-
ral chemicals to increase the deadly effect of the toxic cloud. Similarly, both
ancient Chinese and Indian cultures used sulphur for warfare. They, how-
ever, added combustible chemicals, such as explosive saltpeter or nitrate
salts, and/or a variety of plant, animal, or mineral poisons, such as arsenic
and lead, in making smoke and fire bombs. In even the new world and in
India, the seeds of toxic plants and hot peppers have been in use to rout
attackers (Wexler, 2014).
When it comes to using sulphur for material processing or medicinal
needs, Muslim scientists of the medieval era are the pioneers (Islam et al.,
2010). As pointed out by Norris (2006), the Sulfur–Mercury theory of metal
composition by these scientists is paramount to understanding sustain-
able material processing. This theory is in the core of the so-called exhala-
tion theory that includes continuous transition between solid and gaseous
Table 6.5 Abundance number for various elements present in the universe
(from Heiserman, 1992 and Croswell, 1996).
Atomic Mass fraction, Abundance (relative
Element number ppm to silicon)
Hydrogen 1 739,000 40,000
Helium 2 240,000 3,100
Oxygen 8 10,400 22
Neon 10 4,600 8.6
Nitrogen 7 960 6.6
Carbon 6 1,090 3.5
Silicon 14 650 1
Magnesium 12 580 0.91
Iron 26 10,900 0.6
Sulfur 16 440 0.38
phases. Norris (2006) identified the main strengths of the mineral exhala-
tion theory as compositional flexibility and upward mobility: the mixing
of protometallic vapours, which could vary compositionally and react with
other mineral matter during their movement through subterranean regions,
seemed sufficient for producing a plurality of metals and ores.
The Muslim scientists considered metals to be of composite material.
Among their most important conceptual advances in this field is the idea
that metals, and many minerals, are composed of compositional principles
likened to sulfur and mercury. In this theory, the Sulfur generally corre-
sponds to the dry and solid qualities of a metal, while the Mercury pro-
vides the moisture and metallic character. It has been suggested that the
Sulfur–Mercury theory may have been derived by generalising the process
by which cinnabar congeals when sulfur and mercury are combined under
appropriate conditions (Principe, 1998). These substances, often referred
to as “sophic” or “philosophic” sulfur and mercury in later literature, were
hypothetical materials qualitatively. This term is no longer in use. In the
New Science era, the focus has been on tangible aspects and materials are
characterized based on their tangible features, irrespective of the source of
the material (Islam, 2014). Khan and Islam (2012) introduced the Avalanche
theory that leaves room for counting all entities in a material. Islam (2014)
extended that theory and introduced the galaxy theory that includes the
entire history of the individual ‘particles’ within any material body. It was a
restoration of original theory developed by Muslim scholars of the medieval
era and a departure from the ‘science of tangibles’ that has dominated the
New science, which emerged from sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Another possible physical analogue would seem to be the process of
smelting sulphide ores, with the consequent generation of sulfurous fumes
and earthy dross, and a molten metal considered as a type of mercury.
Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) held a similar view as we know from his work that he
considered metallic mercury being “solidified by sulfur vapour”. During
his epoch materials were considered to be whole and the elemental con-
sideration was unfathomable. The general theme was material is inher-
ently a composition of various matters and cannot be reconstituted from
‘refined’ materials. The mercury-sulphur theory added to this context the
notion that every component nature, irrespective of its physical or external
appearance, pays a role in the nature of the final product (Norris, 2006).
This principle also applies to Avicenna’s work that theorize the produc-
tion of precious metals by combining base metals with various “solidifi-
cations” of mercury treated with one or more kinds of sulphur (Newman,
2014). Remarkably, none of the Muslim scholars of that era believed that
a scheme outside of natural processes can be initiated, let alone sustained.
Newman (2014) points to another important point. That is material

processing and refining were routine except that at no time artificial or
synthetic material was used. These processes may appear to be crude or
unsanitary in today’s standard, but they were nevertheless wholly organic.
For instance, he mentions about the use of vinegar, and sour milk, and
goats’ whey, and water of chickpeas and boys’ urine during boiling and sub-
limation. Avicenna was known to recognize water as the mother material
whereas earth materials were today’s equivalent of catalysts. For instance,
quicksilver is considered to be composed of a watery moisture united with a
subtle earth. Avicenna had described this inherent earth within mercury as
being “sulphurous.” As discussed in previous sections, this characterization
amounts to the intangible designation, the term ‘intangible’ covering trace
elements as well as vapour phase. When this principle is applied to say, heat-
ing cinnabar in a current of air and condensing the vapour, the following
equation emerges in conventional sense. The equation for this extraction is
HgS + O2 + Hg + SO2 + Σ (6.5)
In this equation, Σ contains information regarding intangibles (called

‘sulphurous’ by Avicenna)
In true scientific form, this equation should be written as
Cinnabar + air + natural additives ----------- quicksilver + Σ

Natural Healing (6.6)
In this format, any process can be described with its sustainability

considerations intact. It also implicitly recognizes the role of water as the
mother substance (ubiquitous), thus “humidity” being an intrinsic prop-
erty of matter. This process was the hallmark of Medieval Muslim sci-
entists, such as Avicenna and and Al-Rāzī. For instance, Al-Rāzī’s Kitāb
al-Asrār is filled with similar recipes for refining a host of mineral prod-
ucts ranging from sal ammoniac and orpiment to boraxes and alkalis
(Newman, 2014). Islam (2014) recognized this process as the tangible-in-
tangible yin-yang – a form that was later used by Islam et al. (2018) to
formulate a new characterization technique for crude oil. Norris (2006)
saw it as mercury and sulphur combination, thought to be equivalent to
water-oil version for minerals. In later centuries, the theory of double
unctuosity§ was introduced in order recognize the existence of intrinsic
contents within bulk material.
§
‘Intangible’ would be the closest meaning of this word.
Unlike Muslim scientists, none of these scientists recognized the exis-

tence of water as the mother material, whose concentration cannot be
reduced to nil irrespective of the refining process carried out. Nevertheless,
European scientists went ahead and used the concept of a double humid-
ity, one of which is flammable, with a common reference to distillation of
ethanol from wine. The logic here is: just as wine contains a highly volatile,
combustible material that can be distilled off (ethanol), and a less volatile
component that is not combustible, so too does the metallic intangible, sul-
phur. These scientists saw normal sulphur as having a burning unctuosity
that blackens and burns metals when it is fused and dropped on them. For
this reason, Albert adds, alchemists Eventually, this principle would lead to
modern refining techniques with the addition of synthetic chemicals as the
catalysts (one type of intangibles or unctuous material). For quicksilver,
they accepted Avicenna’s claim that it contains a liquid component along
with a ‘subtle earth’. However, Avicenna described the ‘subtle, unctuous,
humidity’ as ‘water’, whereas European scientists envisioned the ‘moist’
component as mercury. Furthermore, the likes of Albertus Magnus have
introduced three forms of intangibles, rather than two. The Wyckoff (1967)
translation offers the following quote:
We know, therefore, that the ability of metals to be burnt is [due to]

the Sulphur, and not to the Quicksilver by itself. Furthermore, we
also know that in anything that contains very unctuous moisture
mixed with earthiness, the moisture is of three kinds. One of these
is extremely airy and fiery, adhering to the surface, as a consequence
of the [upward] motion of those elements [Fire and Air], so that they
always rise to the surface of things in which they are mixed and com-
bined. The second, close beneath this, contains more wateriness float-
ing about among the parts of the thing. The third has its moisture
firmly rooted and immersed in the parts and bounded in the combi-
nation; and therefore this is the only one that is not easily separated
from the combination, unless the thing is totally destroyed. And
therefore this must be the nature of Sulphur (p. 197-198).
Here we can see that Albertus Magnus has divided the extrinsic mois-
ture into two types while retaining the unitary character of the third,
intrinsic humidity. His goal in making this new bifurcation probably lay in
the desire to have both a flammable and a non-flammable type of unfixed
humidity. Thus, the first extrinsic moisture is fiery and airy, hence combus-
tible, while the second is not, being composed of “wateriness” (Newman,
2014). Whatever the intention of Albertus was, this point about distin-
guishing ‘fiery’ element from others is of profound implication. In later
Being
Tangible Intangible
Passive Active
Quantity Quality
Figure 6.5 Scientific pathway of a chemical reaction Modified from Kalbarczyk (2018).
centuries, this formed the basis of considering energy as a form, discrete

from mass, thereby creating opacity in maintaining natural energy sources.
The original form of the mass energy transformation theory of Avicenna
is depicted in Figure 6.5. This figure shows how any matter will have tangi-
ble and intangible components, the intangible component being the driver
for so-called chemical reactions. For instance, the intangible component
will include energy source as well as the presence of trace elements, includ-
ing catalysts. Just like components of energy source are not traceable, com-
ponents of catalysts are considered to be insignificant in determining final
mass of various reaction products. New Science, in essence, focuses on the
tangibles and adds the effect of intangibles through tangible expressions.
For instance, heating is evaluated through the temperature and catalysts
are measured by the mere presence and for both cases no determination
is made as to how the pathway changes in presence of two sources of tem-
perature (or catalytic reaction) that are different while have the same exter-
nal expression (for instance, temperature or mass of catalyst).
Another important aspect of Islamic scholars was the recognition of water
as the mother and ubiquitous phase. Islam (2014) recognized this observa-
tion and reconstituted the material balance equations to develop new char-
acterization of materials as well as energy. Tichy et al. (2017) discussed an
interesting aspect of water content and sustainability. They studied the role of
humidity on the behavior of insects. Optimal functionality is a direct func-
tion of humidity optimization within an organic body. This optimization is
necessary for metabolic activities, as well as overall survival abilities. From
an evolutionary perspective, this need of optimum humidity can explain the
existence of hygroreceptors very likely. Interestingly, these hygroreceptors
are associated in antagonistic pairs of a moist and a dry cell in the same sen-
sillum with a thermoreceptive cold cell. Although the mechanism by which
humidity stimulates the moist and dry cells is little known, it is clear that the
duality that Avicenna envisioned persists in all levels of natural functions.
Also of significance is the fact that the moist cell and the dry cell appear to
be bimodal in that their responses to humidity strongly depend on tempera-
ture. Either modality can be changed independently of the other, but both
are related in some way to the amount of moisture in the air and to its influ-
ence upon evaporation (Tichy et al., 2017). This scientific model was altered
by subsequent European scholars, who recognized the natural refining pro-
cess through the ‘theory of three humidities’ (Newman, 2014).
6.3.4 Arsenic Sulphide

Arsenic sulphide, in its natural form has been in use for longest time.
Similar to any other natural products, Arsenic trisulfide had a wide range
of industrial use, including tanning agent, often with with indigo dye.
Orpiment is found in volcanic environments, often together with other
arsenic sulfides, mainly realgar (“ruby sulphur” or “ruby of arsenic”).
Similar to mercury, this naturally occurring chemical was used through-
out history as a potent poison or a medicine (Frith, 2013). Arsenic was
used in traditional Chinese as well as Indian medicine. In addition, it was
popular as a cosmetic product in eye shadow in the Roman era. In tra-
ditional Chinese medicine, preparations can be obtained in the form of
coated or uncoated pills, powder or syrups. Different studies have shown
that the majority of traditional Chinese medicines, such as Chinese herbal
balls, show high doses of as varying between 0.1 and 36.6 mg per tablet,
causing patients to get intoxicated by the high As dose and Indian ayurve-
dic herbal medicine products are also known to cause lead, mercury and
As intoxication.
Avicenna recommended arsenic with the gum of pine for asthma. He also
prescribed arsenic in honey water, for a wide range of remedies, including
for herpes esthiomenos of the nose (Aegineta, 1847). Avicenna discussed
the use of white, red, and yellow arsenic, all being used in their natural state.
It was much later that ‘refined’ arsenic emerged. For instance, arsenic was
known as early as the fourth century B.C., when Aristotle referred to one
of its sulfides as “sandarach,” or red lead (now known as As4S4). It was only
in 1250 that Albertus Magnus, a German philosopher and alchemist that
isolated the element. Of course, the word arsenic comes from the Persian
word “zarnikh,” which means “yellow orpiment,” which the Greeks adopted
as “arsenikon”. This is commonly denominated as Arsenic trisulfide (As2S3),
although natural state contains other chemicals that are in perfect balance
with the molecular form. Of course, the more common form is crystal-
line oxides, As2O3 (white arsenic). The most common form, however, is the
Arsenopyrite (FeAsS), an iron arsenic sulfide, also called mispickel.
Nowadays, the therapeutic use of As is making a comeback in modern

medicine. Arsenic-trioxide, for instance, is used in treating patients with
relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). However, the notion of nat-
ural state of arsenic being different from synthetic one’s is absent.
Long before being hailed as “the arsenic that saved” in early 20th century
(Vahidnia et al., 2007), Muslim scholars considered Arsenic sulphide as a
chemical of crucial pharmaceutical value. The word arsenic is derived from
the Persian zarnikh and Syriac zarniqa, later incorporated into ancient
Greek as arsenikon, which meant “masculine” or “potent” and referred
primarily to orpiment, or yellow arsenic. The word became arsenicum in
Latin and arsenic in old French, from which the current English term is
derived (Vahidnia et al., 2007).
In post-Renaissance Europe, the use of arsenic as a poisoning agent
became common. Its application in getting rid of wealthy people became
so popular that by the 17th century France, white arsenic became known
as poudre de succession, the ‘inheritance powder’ (Vahidnia et al., 2007).
In the 19th century, the same tactic was used to commit insurance fraud.
During that era, one of the most infamous case was that of Goeie Mie
(‘Good Mary’) of Leiden, The Netherlands, who poisoned at least 102
friends and relatives between 1867 and 1884, distributing arsenic-trioxide
(ATO) in hot milk to her victims after opening life insurance policies in
their names. Of the 102 people poisoned, 45 persons became seriously ill,
often with neurological symptoms and 27 persons died; 16 of whom were
her own relatives (De Wolff and Edelbroek, 1994).
Research during that period led to the development of post-mortem
detection of poison, followed by decrease in incidents of poisoning with
arsenic. During the 19th century, European women applied arsenic pow-
der to whiten their faces as well as to their hair and scalp to destroy vermin.
It was also thought that arsenic consumption by women gave “beauty and
freshness” to the skin. For the first time in Europe, medicinal applications
of arsenic are found in late 18th century, when various chronic disorders
were being treated with arsenic (Bentley and Chasteen, 2002). Arsenic
continued to be used in cosmetics well into the early twentieth century
and this was a common source of accidental poisoning.
When arsenic is heated, it oxidizes and releases an odor similar to that of
garlic. Striking various arsenic-containing minerals with a hammer might
also release the characteristic odor. At ordinary pressure, arsenic, like car-
bon dioxide, does not melt but sublimes directly into vapor. Liquid arsenic
only forms under high pressure.
Curiously, alchemists gave emphasis on characterizing material in terms
of mercury and arsenic. Mercury, lead and arsenic are effective mitotic
poisons (turbagens) at particular concentrations, due to their known affin-

ity for thiol groups and induce various types of spindle disturbances. New
Science classifies these clastogenic effects to be S-dependent. The availabil-
ity of cations affects the number of aberrations produced quantitatively.
Plants, following lower exposure, regain normalcy on being allowed to
recover (Patra et al., 2004). However, as usual New Science does not dis-
tinguish between natural arsenic and processed arsenic, thereby obscuring
any usefulness of the research findings.
Historically, New Scientists¶ have focused on medicinal effects of arsenic
when it comes to finding any positive aspect of arsenic. Citations of medic-
inal applications range from Ancient China to Ancient Greece through
Ancient India (Doyle, 2009). Hippocrates (469–377 BC) recommended
arseniko as a tonic whilst Dioscorides (c. 54–68AD) recommended it
for asthma. A Greek surgeon‐herbalist working in Nero’s army, he made
extensive observations on asthma, including the use of realgar mixed with
resin, inhaled as a smoke for the relief of cough or taken as a potion for
asthma. The Roman Pliny secundus (23ade extensive observations and
Nero (37–68 AD) using it to kill Britanicus in 55AD.
Egyptologists claim that ancient Egyptians used arsenic to harden cop-
per at least 3000 years ago. This was confirmed by Islam et al. (2010), who
reviewed ancient technologies and found them to be totally sustainable
because they used no artificial mass or energy source. They also discussed
the fact that such chemicals were added in the embalming fluid during
processing of mummies. Of course, the Medieval Islamic golden era saw
numerous applications through alchemy. However, the role of arsenic
in material processing has drawn little attention from New Scientists. In
Europe, during the New Science era, the use of arsenic is synonymous with
processed derivatives of arsenic, rather than naturally occurring version.
Graeme and Pollack (1998) described how artificial processing of arsenic
can render both mercury and arsenic into toxic agents. They pointed out
that Greeks and Romans continued to use natural arsenic throughout the
Medieval era for various medical purposes.
Even during the 1800s, arsenic remained in use for medical purposes
in treating leukemia, psoriasis, and asthma. Of interest is the fact that the
Fowler’s solution was not withdrawn from the US market until the 1950s.
Meanwhile, Erlich and Bertheim produced nearly 1000 compounds of
arsenic to be used in the treatment of syphilis; the use of such compounds
¶
This term is applied to Newton and scientists of the post-Newtonian era that are believers
of New Science, which is premised on the ‘infallibility’ of Newtonian description of mass
and energy.
was not curtailed until after the advent of penicillin in 1943. The arse-
nic-containing drug melarsoprol (Mel B) is still the drug of choice for
treating African trypanosomiasis at the meningoencephalitic stage 1, 2,
3, 4. Note that commercial use of electricity began in 1870s. Although
it is unknown among New scientists, the use of electricity for thermal
alteration renders a process unsustainable. In the meantime, while nat-
ural penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, Professor
of Bacteriology at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, mass production was
possible only after synthetic version of penicillin was created. This trans-
formation from natural penicillin to Benzylpenicillin (C16H18N2O4S) first
took place in 1942 (Fischer and Ganellin, 2006). This transition from
natural to artificial is symbolic of what has happened in sustainability
considerations, natural being sustainable while artificial (or synthetic)
being unsustainable.
Arsenic may occur in an inorganic or an organic form. The inorganic
arsenic compounds include the arsenites, the arsenates, and elemental
arsenic. The organic arsenic compounds include arsine and its organic
derivatives. In modern era, synthetic or inorganic arsenic has been the only
one used for commercial applications. In all these applications, arsenic is
never in its natural form and all the byproducts are inherently toxic to the
environment. For instance, arsenic is a byproduct of the smelting process
for many metal ores such as, cobalt, gold, lead, nickel, and zinc. The natural
form of arsenic was used in ancient and medieval era for similar applica-
tions. It seems even in modern Europe as late as 19th century arsenic was
used in paints and dyes for clothes, paper, and wallpaper (Meharg 2003).
Even then, arsenic for the production of green pigments following the
synthesis in the late eighteenth century of copper arsenite was in its toxic
form. These pigments were widely used in wallpapers. In damp rooms,
fungi living on the wallpaper paste turned the arsenic salts into highly toxic
trimethylarsine. Arsenic pigments were responsible for untold numbers of
cases of chronic illness and many deaths (Meharg, 2003).
The source of both organic and inorganic arsenicals are naturally
occurring minerals, such as, arsenopyrite (FeAsS), realgar (As4S4) and
orpiment (As2S3). As these erode, they react with moisture and oxygen to
form arsenites and arsenates that are water soluble and consequently end
up in both surface and groundwater. Some of these chemical forms and
oxidation states cause acute and chronic adverse health effects, including
cancer (Hughes, 2002). The metabolism involves reduction to a trivalent
state and oxidative methylation to a pentavalent state. The trivalent arsen-
icals, including those methylated, have more potent toxic properties than
the pentavalent arsenicals. The exact mechanism of the action of arsenic is
not known, but several hypotheses have been proposed. What is missing
in this analysis is the role of artificial chemicals. At a biochemical level,
inorganic arsenic in the pentavalent state may replace phosphate in sev-
eral reactions. In the trivalent state, inorganic and organic (methylated)
arsenic may react with critical thiols in proteins and inhibit their activity.
However, this ‘organic’ in New Science doesn not mean that an artificial
state has been avoided. As such, potential mechanisms include genotoxi
city, altered DNA methylation, oxidative stress, altered cell proliferation,
co-carcinogenesis, and tumor promotion cannot be tracked to artificial
chemicals. A better understanding of the mechanism(s) of action of arse-
nic will make a more confident determination of the risks associated with
exposure to this chemical.
In surface waters, these chemicals can be absorbed by algae that then con-
vert them to arsenosugars, arsinolipids and arsenobetaine. In surface waters,
these can be absorbed by algae that then convert them to arsenosugars,
arsinolipids and arsenobetaine. Fish and other forms of marine life feed on
these algae and concentrate the arsenic compounds. When the same arsenic
compounds are absorbed by plants, similar but less complex reactions take
place and further dilution occurs when they are passed on to grains.
Figure 6.6 shows the pathway followed by the original naturally
occurring ore, containing arsenic. Most arsenic in the terrestrial envi-
ronment is found in rocks and soils. Arsenic in surface and ground water
is mostly a mixture of arsenite and arsenate. Although New Science des-
ignates various components in molecular form, in reality molecules are
Bio concentration
arsenosugar, arsinolipids,
arsenobetaine
O– O–
As Surface water
O–
(Absorbed by algae)
Naturally Air Arsenites and
occurring
ore Moisture Arsenates Groud
water
arsenopyrite (FeAsS), realgar (As4S4), O–
orpiment (As2S3)
As O–
–O
O– Filtration
Figure 6.6 Pathway followed by arsenic chemicals.

fictitious and never exist in isolation. During the pre-New Science era
chemical equations were not written in molecular or atomic form, hence
the words, such as ‘air’ (instead of Oxygen), ‘moisture’ (instead of H2O)
and chosen.
This figure shows that in order for arsenic to travel natural pathway,
the entire chain of air and moisture has to be free of synthetic chemicals.
In the post-industrial revolution, major sources of arsenic include the
combustion of coal, nonferrous metal smelting, and the burning of agri-
cultural wastes. These are inherently toxic to the environment. Similarly,
each chemical containing arsenic that has been widely used as herbicides,
fungicides, wood preservatives, desiccants, cattle and sheep dips, and
dyestuffs is necessarily synthetic or artificially processed. Today, arse-
nic continues to be widely used in agriculture, in glass and ceramics, as
a metal alloy, and in semiconductors and other electronic devices – all
causing irreparable harm to the environment. It is no surprise that the
entire branch of toxicology deals with only artificial type of arsenic prod-
ucts (Hughes, 2002).
6.3.5 Refining Techniques

In terms of processing of petroleum crude, Al-Rāzī’s work is likely the old-
est complete reference available today. In his Kitāb al-Asār, Al-Rāzī described
two methods for the production of kerosene, termed naft abyad (white
Picture 6.1 The refining technique used by the Alchemists.

petroleum), using an apparatus called an alembic. Picture 2.1 shows this device.
The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts (Bearman et al., 2012):
1. the “cucurbit” (Arabic, qar‘; Greek, βίκος, bikos), the still pot
containing the liquid to be distilled
2. The “head” or “cap” (Arabic, al-anbīq; from Greek ἄμβιξ,
ambix, meaning `cup, beaker`) fits over the mouth of the
cucurbit to receive the vapors,
3. A downward-sloping “tube” (Greek σωλήν, sōlēn), leading to
the “receiver” (Arabic, kābīlā, Greek ἄγγος, angos, or φιάλη,
phialē) container.
This set up is often reduced to one retort, used for distillation. This setup,
however, uses open fire and the material used in different parts is entirely sus-
tainable, it has no artificial material in it. The original process was used to pre-
pare rose water. Picture 6.1 shows a schematic of the original distillation system.
One method used clay as an absorbent, whereas the other method used
ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac). The distillation process was repeated
until most of the volatile hydrocarbon fractions had been removed and the
final product was perfectly clear and safe to burn. It is not clear from the lit-
erature what was the most used source for producing kerosene, but the word
naft implies a petroleum source. However, it is conceivable similar technique
was used to refine olive oil, which would in fact produce gases that are bene-
ficial to human health (Islam et al., 2010). During the same period, kerosene
was also produced during the same period from oil shale and bitumen by
heating the rock to extract the oil, which was then distilled.
Similarly, Avicenna wrote volumes on plants and their uses. His instruc-
tion manual also contained refining processes. His improvement of
the cooling system within the distillation apparatus is most noteworthy
(Waines, 2010).
Today, such distillation processes are all be eliminated. Perhaps the clos-
est to retaining the original sustainable refining technologies is the per-
fume industry, for which extracting essential oils from plants is the biggest
technological challenge. The advantage of distillation is that the volatile
components can be distilled at temperatures lower than the boiling points
of their individual constituents and are easily separated from the con-
densed water. For the perfume industry, the use of water is desirable as
water is the most ubiquitous material and does not alter the original aroma.
Such fascination for water is absent in the chemical industry, particularly
the ones dealing with petroleum fluids. In fact, in considering petroleum
waste disposal, water is considered to be an undesirable by-product of the
petroleum operation that need to be removed in order to ensure proper

functioning of the refining process.
Similarly, the process of expression, also referred to as cold pressing,
is popular in the perfume industry. Numerous essential oils are routinely
extracted through cold pressing. In particular, citrus essential oils, such as
tangerine, lemon, bergamot, sweet orange, and lime employ the process
of expression. In older times, expression was done in the form of sponge
pressing. The zest or rind of the citrus would first be soaked in warm water
to make the rind more receptive to the pressing process. A sponge would
then be used to press the rind, thus breaking the essential oil cavities, and
absorb the essential oil. Once the sponge was filled with the extraction, it
would then be pressed over a collecting container, and there it would stand
to allow for the separation of the essential oil and water/juice. The essential
oil would finally be siphoned off. Centuries ago, less labor-intensive pro-
cesses have been employed. One such process, termed the Écuelle à piquer,
involves a prodding, pricking, sticking action to release the essential oil.
During this process, the rind of the fruit is placed in a container having
spikes that will puncture the peel while the device is rotated. The punctur-
ing of the rind will release the essential oil that is then collected in a small
area below the container. While it is not commonly understood, the mate-
rial used in those puncturing spikes would affect both the quality of the
essential oil and the sustainability of the process (Khan and Islam, 2016).
Today, the majority of modern expression techniques are accomplished by
using machines using centrifugal force. The spinning in a centrifuge sepa-
rates the majority of essential oil from the fruit juice.
6.4 The Energy/Water Crisis

The energy crisis was scientifically fomented through the advancement of
so-called Peak Oil theory that became the driver of many other theories
with great impact on economic polices. Peak oil is one of the concept that
promotes the notion that global oil reserve is limited and at some point will
start to run out, leading to sharp rise in oil price (Speight and Islam, 2016).
These fears are based on premises that are not scientific.
6.4.1 Are Natural Resources Finite and Human Needs Infinite?

In economics, the notion of there being infinite need and finite resources
is a fundamental premise that is asserted with dogmatic fervor in
contemporary economics. In the context of petroleum resources, this

notion has to help foment fear that is actually the driver of contemporary
economics. This model starts off with the premise that needs must grow
continually in order for the economy to thrive. Then, it implies, without
looking at the validity of that premise, that there has to be an endless
supply of energy to feed it. Because such endless supply contradicts the
other premise that natural sources are finite, there arises an inherent con-
tradiction. One such article is written by Mason (2017), who poses this
wrong-headed question:
“But what happens to that equation when the net amount of energy we
extract from the earth is shrinking? How, then, does an economy grow
exponentially forever if the one element it needs more than anything
to flourish is contracting with time?”
Then, he primes the audience with the need of a paradigm shift, that
would involve challenging all orthodoxies involving the economy, as if to
propose a revolution. Next, he creates a prophet out of a neuroscientist,
Chris Martenson, who in recent years has turned his attention to the econ-
omy, particularly as it relates to dwindling energy resources and growing
debt. Note how the premise of ‘dwindling energy resources’ is imbedded in
this ‘revolutionary’ concept. How revolutionary is it? He writes:
“He also got rid of most any equity stocks and put his money in gold
and silver. He has been labelled a prophet of doom and a survivalist,
by some. But more recently, his views have been receiving wider and
more serious attention. He has been to Canada to talk to oil and gas
investors, of all people. That’s incongruous given his view that we’re
pillaging the Earth of its energy resources in the most inefficient and
wasteful ways possible.”
Intuitively, it sounds simple – if I use up a certain amount of a finite

quantity each year, it will eventually run out. But that tells you that you can-
not have constant or increasing resource extraction from a finite resource,
it does not tell you anything about what you do with the resources you
extract, how productive they are, or whether or not they enable continued
economic growth. It is certainly possible to sustain exponential growth
infinitely with finite resources, as long as the usage is confined to sustain-
able or zero-waste operations.
Similarly, all solutions end up proposing to minimize waste and max-
imize profit – an economic euphemism for Utilitarianism that has been
preaching ‘maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain’ at a personal level.
There has always been plenty of discussion in economics discourse about

manipulating the interest rate, but never about eliminating it. There are
plenty of suggestions regarding how to minimize waste, but one never
proposes a solution to achieve zero-waste. There are even talks about con-
tinuously increasing productivity, but never talk about the fundamental
assumption of infinite need and finite resource.
The notion of ‘The Infinite’ has intrigued humanity for a long time.
In ancient civilizations, infinity was not a ‘large number’. It was some-
thing external to creation. In other words, only a Creator was consid-
ered to be infinite, along with many other traits that could not be part of
Creation. However, this ‘infinity’ has nothing to do with the unbound-
ed-ness of nature that has no boundary. Even though the ancient Greeks
had a similar concept of infinitude, post-Aquinas Europe developed an
entirely different take on infinitude, one highlighted recently by Khan
and Islam (2016).
In a study published nearly 2 decades ago, Lawrence Lerner, Professor
Emeritus in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Chicago, was
asked to evaluate how Darwin’s theory of evolution was being taught in
each state of the United States (Lerner 2000). In addition to his attempt to
find a standard in K-12 teaching, Lerner made some startling revelations.
His recommendations created controversy, with many suggesting he was
promoting “bad science” in name of “good science.” However, no one singled
out another aspect of his finding. He observed that “some Native American
tribes consider that their ancestors have lived in the traditional tribal terri-
tories forever.” He then equated “forever” with “infinity” and continued his
comment stating, “Just as the fundamentalist creationists underestimate
the age of the earth by a factor of a million or so, the Black Muslims over-
estimate by a thousand-fold and the Indians are off by a factor of infinity”
(Lerner 2005). This confusion between “forever” and “infinity” is not new
in modern European culture. In the words of Albert Einstein, “There are
two things that are infinite, human stupidity and the Universe, and I am
not so sure about the Universe.” Even though the word “infinity” emerges
from a Latin word, infinitas, meaning “unbounded-ness,” for centuries
this word has been applied in situations in which it promotes absurd con-
cepts. In Arabic, the equivalent word (la nihāyah) means “never-ending.”
In Sanskrit, similar words exist (Aseem, meaning ‘no end’) and those words
are never used in mathematical terms as a number. This use of infinity to
enumerate something (e.g., infinite number of solutions) is considered to
be absurd in other cultures.
Nature is infinite – in the sense of being all-encompassing – within
a closed system that nevertheless lacks any boundaries. Somewhat
paradoxically, nature as a system is closed in the sense of being self-clos-

ing. This self-closure property has two aspects. First, everything in a natu-
ral environment is used. Absent anthropogenic interventions, conditions
of net waste or net surplus would not persist for any meaningful period
of time. Secondly, nature’s closed system operates without benefit of, or
dependence upon, any internal or external boundaries. Because of this
infinite dimension, we may deem nature – considered in net terms as a
system overall – to be perfectly balanced. Of course, within any arbitrarily
selected finite time period, any part of a natural system may appear out
of balance. However, to look at nature’s system without acknowledging
all the subtle dependencies that operate at any given moment introduces
a bias that distorts any conclusion that is asserted on the basis of such a
narrow approach.
Figure 6.7 shows how the population in more developed countries
reached a plateau while that of less-developed countries continued to grow,
albeit with a slowed rate. In terms global energy need, this figure presents
an interesting divide. In average, the energy consumption per capita of
the ‘less-developed countries’ is an order of magnitude less than that of
‘more-developed countries’. In mathematical terms, it means the world
has a capacity of sustaining energy needs of the majority of the population
even if the population is increased 10-fold. In practical terms, it means that
if we could contain the per capita energy consumption, we would have no
worries about natural population growth. Indeed, the energy consump-
tion of the ‘more developed countries’ has been contained. In last 20 years,
the most populous ‘developed country’, the USA has shown practically
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3 Less-developed countries
2
1
More-developed countries
0
1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050
Figure 6.7 There are different trends in population growth depending on the state of the
economy.
constant per capita energy consumption. The USA is an important case

as this country personifies global trend in terms of energy consumption.
Historically, the USA has set standards for all aspects of technology devel-
opment and other tangible aspects of civilization for a duration that has
been synonymous with petroleum golden era – i.e., whatever it does today
is emulated by the rest of the world in years to come. Table 6.6 shows
per capita energy consumption (in tons of oil equivalent per year) of the
USA in the last few decades, along with predictions for 2015. In this,
Canada represents an interesting case. Canada follows the USA’s trend
closely in matters of per capita energy consumption but falls far behind
in matters of population growth, expenditure in research and develop-
ment (particularly in energy and environment), expenditure in defense
and pharmaceutical industries, and other long-term economic stimuli.
Japan, on the other hand represents other extremity of the energy con-
sciousness spectrum. As can be seen in Table 6.6, Japan maintains steady
per capita energy consumption at almost half the value of that of Canada.
At the same time, Japan has maintained very high relative investment in
education and research and development. However, Japan’s population
has been dropping, or keeping pace with Europe and unlike the USA.
Canada’s population growth has been a mix of Europe/Japan (decline)
and USA (mild growth). The difficulty involved in maintaining a balance
Table 6.6 Per capita energy consumption (in TOE) for certain countries (From
Islam et al., 2018).
Countries 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
USA 7.7 7.8 8.2 7.9 7.3 7.3
Canada 7.5 7.9 8.1 8.4 7.6 7.6
Japan 3.6 4.0 4.1 4.1 3.7 3.9
Germany 4.4 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.8
Russia 5.9 4.3 4.2 4.5 4.8 5.5
Saudi Arabia 3.9 4.8 5.1 6.0 6.6 7.7
China 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.3 1.8 2.2
India 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7
Indonesia 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.2
Sri Lanka 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6
between urbanization and per capita energy consumption is most sternly

manifested in the case of Saudi Arabia. Both Germany and Russia show
mild per capita energy consumption, signaling prudent usage of energy
sources and high energy efficiency. Saudi Arabia is a ‘developing country’
in all measures except that it is projected to be the most energy-consum-
ing country in the world by 2015. In as early as 1995, it exceeded the per
capita energy consumption of Russia and Germany and is slated to exceed
that of USA by 2015. Saudi Arabia represents the global trend by ‘develop-
ing countries’ to emulate the wasteful habits of the USA while shunning
positive aspects of USA in the areas of economic growth, education or
research and development. This trend of Saudi Arabia is alarming and is
a trademark of global obsession with wasteful energy habits. Saudi Arabia
is just an example of this obsession that is all pervasive in the developing
countries as can be seen in Figure 6.7.
Figure 6.8 shows the growth in per capita energy consumption for
some key countries that are not characterized as ‘more developed coun-
tries’. These countries all had very modest per capita energy needs in
1990. However, they all show exponential growth in energy needs in the
last two decades. China leads the pack with the highest growth in energy
needs. It nearly triples the energy need in 25 years. This trend shows that
China could have dealt with its ‘population crisis’ by keeping the per cap-
ita energy consumption in check. This would have avoided many short-
comings of the one-child policy that China has imposed on its population
for decades. Similar growth is shown by Indonesia – another country that
per capita energy, TOE

2.2
2.1
1.9 China
1.7
1.5
1.3 Indonesia
1.1
0.9
0.7 India
0.5 Sri Lanka

0.3
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Figure 6.8 Per capita energy consumption growth for certain countries.
attempted to decrease its population rather while increasing per capita

energy needs. Over the two decades, Indonesia has doubled its per cap-
ita energy consumption. India has shown restraints in per capita energy
consumption. While this is the case, its per capita energy consumption
has doubled during the decades of concern. Sri Lanka has been the lowest
energy consuming country (from the list of countries) but still maintains
growth very similar to India and Indonesia.
It has been recognized for some time that there is a strong correlation
between per capita energy need and GNP (as well as GDP). Over the last
30 years, the average consumption of the global ‘South’ has been nearly an
order-of-magnitude less than that of the ‘West’ (Goldemberg et al., 1985;
Khan and Islam, 2012). As the West has been trying to boost its population
and contain its per capita energy consumption, while increasing its GNP,
the ‘south’ has been trying to contain its population while increasing the
per capita energy consumption as well as GNP.
These contradictory measures have created confusions in both the west
and the ‘south’. This is most visible in the definition of GNP and GDP that
reward an economy for increasing wasteful habits (e.g. per capita energy
consumption). This contradiction has been discussed by Khan and Islam
(2007), who introduced new techniques for measuring economic growth
that could take account of true sustainability. They showed that true sus-
tainability would increase GNP by increasing efficiency (rather than
increasing per capita energy consumption).
Figure 6.9 shows how energy consumption has become synonymous
with the concept of societal welfare, as expressed as tangible expression
of the ‘quality of life.’ Goldenberg et al. (1985) correlated per capita energy
Tangible index
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Energy consumption per-capita (kW)
Figure 6.9 A strong correlation between a tangible index and per capita energy
consumption has been at the core of economic development (from Goldenberg, 1985).
consumption with a Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI), which is an

attempt to measure the quality of life or well-being of a country. The value
is the average of three statistical data sets: basic literacy rate, infant mortal-
ity, and life expectancy at age one, all equally weighted on a 0 to 100 scale. It
was developed for the Overseas Development Council in the mid-1970s by
Morris David Morris, as one of a number of measures created due to dis-
satisfaction with the use of GNP as an indicator of development. PQLI is
best described as the measure of tangible features of the society, not unlike
GDP (Khan and Islam, 2007). Ever since, numerous other indices have
been proposed, including more recently developed Happiness index, but
they all suffer from similar short-comings, i.e., focus on tangibles, as out-
lined by Khan and Islam (2012 and Zatzman, 2012, 2013). The following
steps are used to calculate Physical Quality of Life:
1) Find the percentage of the population that is literate (literacy

rate).
2) Find the infant mortality rate (out of 1000 births). INDEXED
Infant Mortality Rate = (166 - infant mortality) × 0.625
3) Find the Life Expectancy. INDEXED Life Expectancy = (Life
expectancy - 42) × 2.7
4) Physical Quality of Life = (Literacy Rate + INDEXED Infant
Mortality Rate + INDEXED Life Expectancy)/3.
This trend goes back to the earliest times of the Industrial Revolution
more than two-and-a-half centuries ago. Khan and Islam (2012) dis-
cussed the mindset that promoted such wasteful habits in all disciplines.
Figure 6.10 summarizes the dilemma. At the dawn of the industrial age,

of developed countries
Population

of developing countries
TIME SINCE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Figure 6.10 While population growth has been tagged as the source of economic crisis,
wasteful habits have been promoted in name of emulating the west.
civilization began to be defined by consumption and wasteful habits. As

the population grew, the energy consumption per capita should have been
decreased in order compensate for the increasing energy demand. This
would be in line with the claim that industrialization had increased human
efficiency.
The opposite happened in the developed countries. For centuries, the
per capita energy consumption increased, along with dependence on
mechanization. It only stabilized in 1990s. By then, the population growth
in the west has been arrested and have been declining in most part (the
exception being USA). This population and energy paradox was further
accentuated by encouraging the developing countries to emulate the west
in wasteful habits. In every country, consumption per capita increased
with time as a direct result of colonialism and imposed culture that is
obsessed with externals and short-term gains. As a result, a very sharp
increase in per capita energy consumption took place in the developing
countries. As can be seen from Table 6.6, even with such increase, the
“south” has not caught up with the “west”, with the exception of some
petroleum-rich countries.
A major case in point here is China. For the last two decades, it attempted
to curtail its population growth with a one-child per family law. The current
Chinese government at the behest of the latest congress of the Communist
1.4 2.0
1.3 1.8
1.2 1.6
Population growth
1.1 1.4
Per capita energy
1 1.2
0.9 1.0
0.8 0.8
0.7
0.6
1961 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Figure 6.11 Population and energy paradox for China (From Speight and Islam, 2016).
Party of China has now repudiated this policy as practically unenforceable.

Furthermore and even more interesting, however is that Figure 6.11 shows
that the population growth has in fact been dwarfed by the increase in
per capita energy consumption. A similar conclusion emerges from the
comparable statistical profile for the Indian subcontinent, where infanti-
cide and female-selective abortion is in order to boost male population in
favor of female population that is considered to be a drain to the economy.
This finding is meaningful considering India and China hold one third of
the world population and can effectively change the global energy outlook
either in favor or against sustainability.
In order to change the above trend, and address the population and
energy paradox, several indices have been introduced. These indi-
ces measure happiness in holistic terms. Comparing one person’s level
of happiness to another’s is problematic, given how, by its very nature,
reported happiness is subjective. Comparing happiness across cultures is
even more complicated. Researchers in the field of “happiness econom-
ics” have been exploring possible methods of measuring happiness both
individually and across cultures and have found that cross-sections of
large data samples across nations and time demonstrate “patterns” in the
determinants of happiness. The New Economics Foundation was the first
one to introduce the term “Happiness index” in mid 2000’s (Khan and
Islam, 2007; White, 2007). In first ever ranking, Bangladesh, one of the
poorest nations of the time was found to be the happiest among some
150 countries surveyed. At that time, Bangladesh was among the lowest
GDP countries along with very low per capita energy consumption. This
study demonstrated that happiness is in fact inversely proportional to
per capita energy consumption or GDP. Before, this study would set any
trend globally in terms of energy policies, a number of similar happiness
indices were introduced in succession, all showing a direct, albeit broad,
correlation between GDP and happiness. One such index is the Happy
Planet Index (HPI) that ranks 151 countries across the globe on the basis
of how many long, happy and sustainable lives they provide for the peo-
ple that live in them per unit of environmental output. It represents the
efficiency with which countries convert the earth’s finite resources into
well being experienced by their citizens. The Global HPI incorporates
three separate indicators:
a) ecological footprint: the amount of land needed to provide

for all their resource requirements plus the amount of vege-
tated land needed to absorb all their CO2 emissions and the
CO2 emissions embodied in the products they consume;
b) life satisfaction: health as well as “subjective well-being”

components, such as a sense of individual vitality, oppor-
tunities to undertake meaningful, engaging activities, inner
resources that help one cope when things go wrong, close
relationships with friends and family, and belonging to a
wider community;
c) life expectancy: included is the child death, but not death at
birth or abortions.
The first item couples CO2 emission levels with the carbon footprint
measure. This emission relates only to fossil fuel usage, and does not take
in account the fact that CO2 that is emitted from refined oil is inherently
tainted with catalysts that are added during the refining process. This cre-
ates bias against fossil fuels and obscures the possibility of finding any rem-
edy to the energy crisis.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) introduced the Better Life Index. It includes 11 topics that the
OECD has identified as essential to wellbeing in terms of material living
conditions (housing, income, jobs) and the quality of life (community,
education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and
work-life balance). It then allows users to interact with the findings and
rate the topics against each other to construct different rankings of wellbe-
ing depending on which topic is weighted more heavily. For the purpose of
this analysis, what matters is the Life Satisfaction survey. Life satisfaction is
a measure of how people evaluate the entirety of their life and not simply
their feelings at the time of the survey. The OECD study asks people to
rate their own life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. The ranking covers the
organization’s 34 member countries plus Brazil and Russia.
The Happy Planet Index ranked Costa Rica as the happiest country in
2012. The particularly high score relates to high life expectancy and overall
wellbeing. Vietnam and Colombia follow in second and third place. Of
the top ten countries, nine are from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Countries from Africa and the Middle East dominate the bottom of the
ranking instead. Botswana is last after Bahrain, Mali, the Central African
Republic, Qatar and Chad. Developed nations such as the United States
and the European Union member countries tend to score high on life
expectancy, medium-to-high in wellbeing, but rather low on their ecologi-
cal footprint, which puts them in the ranking’s second-tier.
6.4.2 The Finite/Infinite Conundrum

The next assumption introduced in energy management is that oil (or fos-
sil fuel) reserve is finite. The theory first assumes the ultimate recoverable
reserve, then expresses cumulative oil production as a function of the ulti-
mate recoverable reserve. Cavallo (2004) defines the Hubbert curve used to
predict the U.S. peak as the derivative of:
Qmax
Q(t ) = (6.7)
1 + ae −bt
Where Q(t) is the cumulative oil production and Qmax is the maximum
producible reserve and a and b are constants. The year of maximum annual
production (peak) then back is calculated as:
1
t max = ln(a) (6.8)
b
The fixation of Qmax is in the core of the Hubbert curve. Theoretically,

the recoverable reserve increases for two reasons: 1) the boundary of
resource; 2) the technology. As discussed in earlier sections, the boundary
of resource is continuously moving. The recent surge in unconventional oil
and gas reserve makes an excellent point to this regard. In fact, the follow-
ing section makes the argument that this boundary is fictitious and for a
sustainable recovery scheme, this boundary should not exist. The second
reason for the reserve to grow is the technology that becomes applicable to
a broader resource base.
There is a general misconception that Hubbert was concerned with
“easy” oil, “easy” metals, and so forth that could be recovered without
greatly advanced mining efforts and how to time the necessity of such
resource acquisition advancements or substitutions by knowing an
“easy” resource’s probable peak. The difficulty of Hubbert curve is not
its assumption that easy oil recovery is constant, it is rather the notion
that a resource that turns into reserve with time is finite. As shown in
previous sections, accessing greater resource bases is not a matter of
‘more difficult’ technology, it is rather a matter of producing with sus-
tainable techniques.
6.5 Certain Sustainable Technologies

6.5.1 Direct Use of Solar Energy
Much has been talked about solar energy but all involving creation of solar
panels, then storage of electricity through a series of very toxic devices,
which make the process extremely environment hostile and utterly inef-
ficient (See Chhetri and Islam, 2008 for detailed analysis). The same solar
energy has tremendous potential if used directly. Islam (2020) discussed
the use of solar-assisted steam injection projects in some of the most
demanding enhanced oil recovery schemes. With renewed focus on envi-
ronmental impacts, companies are turning to solar energy, especially in
places, where the sunlight is plentiful.
For any solar high-temperature system, a solar contractor is necessary.
Such collector will have much higher efficiency than conversion to elec-
tricity if used directly. Figure 6.12 shows a widely used steam power plant,
which transforms heat energy to electrical energy.
The solar collector efficiency indicates the fraction of solar energy that
can be transferred to the thermal fluid in the receiver. The parabolic solar
collector efficiency varies much on the fluid temperature. Eck et al. (2005)
reported that the collector efficiency shows higher at low temperature
ranges (Figure 6.13).
Heat Loss Transmission line

Q
Flue
Q
Gas Transformer
Q
S Steam
t
a
Generator
c
Turbine
k Cooled
Water
Fire
Fuel
Warm
Oxygen Cooling Water
Pump
Tower Q
Furnace Q
Water
Figure 6.12 Typical steam power plant.

80
70
Collector Efficiency [%]
60
DNI = 1000 W/m2

50 DNI = 800 W/m2
DNI = 600 W/m2
DNI = 400 W/m2
40
30
20
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
T – Ta [K]
Figure 6.13 Collector efficiency at different direct normal irradiance (DNI) as a

function of fluid temperatures above the ambient temperatures (Redrawn from
Eck et al., 2005).
At low fluid temperatures, the thermal loss is minimal, as shown in

Figure 6.14. From the figure, it is found that at a fluid temperature of
100°C (78 C above ambient temperature), the efficiency of solar collec-
tor is 75%.
The solar transmission efficiency is dependent on the heat transfer
loss from the thermal fluid to the fluid in the generator and the bub-
ble pump. An efficient system will have more than 90% efficiency of
transmission.
Heat
Receiver
Tracking
Mechanism Concentractor
Reflective
Surface
Figure 6.14 The thermal loss of the collector with respect to fluid temperature above the
above the ambient temperature (Redrawn from Odeh et al., 1998).
If the efficiency of the solar system is calculated from the solar energy on
the parabolic surface to the heat transfers to the heating fluid, the overall
efficiency will be:
Overall energy transfer efficiency =

Collector efficiency (75%) × Transmission efficiency (90%).
Overall energy transfer efficiency = 67.5 % (6.9)
It can be speculated that the extraction process of energy from different

processes do not differ much. So the consideration of a solar system is ben-
eficial as it has other benefits as discussed earlier.
There are some existing efficient methods to concentrate the dispersed
solar energy and transfer to the desired places. The most common method
is the use of a parabolic trough (Figure 6.15) for the concentration of solar
energy to obtain high temperatures without any serious degradations in
the collector’s efficiency (Bakos et al., 2001; Geyer et al., 2002; and You
et al., 2002). The parabolic trough collector consists of large curved mirror,
which can concentrate the sunlight by a factor of 80 or more to a focal line
depending upon the surface area of the trough. In the focal line of these is
a metal absorber tube, which is usually embedded into an evacuated glass
tube that reduces heat losses (Figure 6.16). A special high-temperature,
resistive selective coating additionally reduces radiation heat losses.
California power plants, known as solar electric generating systems
have a total installed capacity of 354 MW (Kalogirou et al., 1997). These
systems use thermo-oil as a heat transfer fluid, which can reach up to 400 C
(Herrmann et al., 2004). The parabolic collector effectively produces heat
at a temperature between 50°C and 400°C (Kalogirou, 2004).
100
80
Thermal loss W/m2
60
40
20
0
0 100 200 300
Fuel temperature above ambient temperature °C
Figure 6.15 Parabolic trough.

Radiation
Convection loss
loss
Glass tube
Bream
Residual gas radiation
conduction loss Working Optical
fluid loss
Evacuated
space
Absorber tube
Reflector
Figure 6.16 Cross section of collector assembly (Redrawn from Odeh et al., 1998).
Khan and Islam (2016) reported the use of a parabolic trough has been
constructed that is adjustable and moves along the direction of the sun so
that maximum solar energy can be achieved anytime of the day (Figure
6.17). Each parabolic trough has a surface area of 4 m2 (2.25 m × 1.8 m)
that can radiate almost 1.6 kW to 4 kW to the absorber, depending on the
direct normal irradiance, which is again dependent on the geographical
area. Taking 600 w/m2 as DNI (direct normal irradiance) and consider-
ing the energy transfer efficiency from solar surface to the heating point,
it is found that one surface (4 m2) can supply 1.62 kW. A heating load of
10.47 kW will require 7 such parabolic collectors, which can supply neces-
sary energy to run a refrigerator or an air cooler having a one ton cooling
Figure 6.17 Constructed parabolic trough.

Nickel platting on copper metal surface
Black painted aluminium surface

incorporating outlet copper tube
Inlet copper tube
Outlet copper tube
Ply wood surface
Solar pump Oil storage tank
Steel frame supporting

solar contractor
Figure 6.18 Experimental solar trough (from Khan and Islam, 2016).
load. The number of collectors will vary from place to place, depending
on the DNI of any place and the climate of that place. The experimental
data show that the parabolic collector can absorb 0.80 kW during early
summer in a cold country when the environmental temperature is nearly
21 C. The thermal fluid used by Khan and Islam (2016) was vegetable oil.
It is circulated by the solar pump and that is why no electricity is needed
(Figure 6.18). The choice of waste vegetable oil itself is another step toward
achieving true sustainability.
6.5.2 Effective Separation of Solid from Liquid

Organic waste products such as, cattle manure, slaughter house waste, veg-
etable waste, fruit peels and pits, dried leaves and natural fibers, wood ash,
natural rocks (limestone, zeolite, siltstone, etc.) are all viable options for
the separation of fines and oil. In 1999, a patent was issued to Titanium
Corporation for separation of oil from sand tailings (Allcock et al., 1999).
However, this technique uses chemical systems, such as NaOH and H2O2,
which are both expensive and environmentally hostile. Drilling wastes
have been found to be beneficial in highway construction (Wasiuddin
et al., 2002). Studies have shown that the tailings from oil sands are high
in various mineral contents. To extract the minerals, usually the chemical
treatment is used to modify the surface of minerals. Treatment with a solu-
tion derived from natural material has a great potential. Also, microwave
heating has the potential to enhance selective floatability of different parti-

cles. This aspect has been studied by Gunal and Islam (2000). Temperature
can be a major factor in the reaction kinetics of a biological solvent with
mineral surfaces. Various metals respond in a different manner under
microwave condition, which can make significant change in floatability.
The recovery process can be completed through transferring the micro-
wave-treated fines to a flotation chamber (Henda et al., 2005).
Application of bio membranes to separate solid from liquid has also
given considerable attention recently (Kota, 2012). Even though, synthetic
membranes are being used for some application, they are highly energy
intensive to produce, toxic and costly.
6.5.3 Effective Separation of Liquid from Liquid

The current practice involves separation of oil and water and the water is
disposed as long as it has a hydrocarbon concentration below an allowable
limit. However, it is expected that such practice cannot be sustained and
further purification of water is necessary. Consequently, this task involves
on both separation of oil and water and heavy metals removal from the
water. The oil-water emulsion has been produced and it was found that the
selected paper fibre material gives 98-99% recovery of oil without produc-
ing any water (Khan and Islam, 2006). An emulsion made up of varying
ratios of oil and water was utilized in different sets of experiments. Almost
all the oil-water ratios gave the same separation efficiency with the mate-
rial used. The mentioned paper material, which is made of long fibrous
wood pulp treated with water proofing material as filtering medium. Water
proofing agent for paper used in these experiments is “Rosin Soap” (rosin
solution treated with caustic soda). This soap is then treated with alum
to keep the pH of the solution within a range of 4~5. Cellulose present in
the paper reacts reversibly with rosin soap in presence of alum and forms
chemical coating around the fibrous structure and acts as coating to pre-
vent water to seep through it. This coating allows long chain oil molecules
to pass making the paper a good conductor for oil stream. Because of the
reversible reaction, it was also observed the performance of filter medium
increases with the increased acidity of the emulsion and vice versa. As well,
the filter medium is durable to make its continuous use for a long time
keeping the cost of replacement and production cut-down. The material
used as filtering medium is environmental friendly and useful for down-
hole conditions. Further, other paper-equivalent alternate materials, which
are inexpensive and down-hole environment appealing, can be used for
oil-water separation. Human hair has been proven to be effective in sepa-

ration of oil and water as well as heavy metal removal.
Similarly, natural zeolites can also effectively function to separate liquid-
liquid from different solutions. Such zeolites can adsorb some liquid leav-
ing others to separate depending on their molecular weight.
6.5.4 Agricultural Waste for Water Purification

and Value Addition
In modern era, agricultural waste peels have been seen as an ecological bur-
den for the society. Ancient cultures valued any agricultural waste for other
applications. Recently, waste peels, as lignocellulosic biomass-rich materi-
als, have stimulated new gateways for the production of renewable, low cost
and sustainable adsorbents for water treatment applications. Bhatnagar et al.
(2015) reviewed the work conducted by various researchers over the last few
decades on the use of various agricultural waste peels as adsorbents for
the water and wastewater treatment. In this review, adsorption capacities
for organic and inorganic pollutants by different peel-based adsorbents
were summarized. Wherever applicable, different modification methods,
which have been employed to develop modified peel-based adsorbents,
have also been presented to highlight and discuss the key advancements
on the preparation of novel adsorbents using agricultural waste peels.
Adsorption mechanisms responsible for pollutants removal by peel-based
adsorbents have also been discussed.
In past few years, numerous approaches have been studied for the
development of cheaper and more effective adsorbents containing natu-
ral biopolymers. These biopolymers represent an interesting and attractive
alternative as adsorbents because of their particular structure, physico-
chemical characteristics, chemical stability, high reactivity and excellent
selectivity toward aromatic compounds and metals, resulting from the
presence of chemical reactive groups (hydroxyl, acetamido or amino func-
tions) in polymer chains. Various bio-based/biopolymer materials have
been examined for the removal of diverse type of pollutants from water.
Agricultural by-products usually are composed of lignin and cellulose as
major constituents and may also include other polar functional groups
of lignin, which include alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic, pheno-
lic, and ether groups. These groups have ability to bind aquatic pollutants
through different binding mechanisms. Among several agricultural wastes
that have been studied as biosorbents for water treatment, “waste peels”
from fruits and vegetables are of great importance since most of the peels
are discarded as waste and find no application anywhere, which sometimes
pose serious disposal problems. Following is discussion on various fruit

peels, considered to be waste.
6.5.4.1 Orange Peel

The adsorption capacity of orange peels was found to be 7.75 (Pb2+), 6.02
(Ni2+), 5.25 (Zn2+). Table 6.7 Shows the composition of orange peels.
6.5.4.2 Pomelo Peel

Pomelo has more peel and segment membrane than most other citrus fruits,
generating a significant quantity of pomelo waste. Pomelo peel as biosor-
bent using the zinc chloride activating method was used in laboratory to
Table 6.7 Chemical composition of orange peel adsorbent by

X-ray fluorescence analysis.
Characteristics Values
CaO 1.42%
K2O 0.18%
SO3 0.14%
MgO 0.12%
Fe2O3 0.11%
SiO2 0.08%
P2O5 0.05%
BaO 0.02%
SrO 0.01%
Al2O3 0.01%
NiO 0.01%
WO3 Not detected
ZnO Not detected
Mn Not detected
Organic matter 97.83%
test its capability of removing Pb2+ from wastewater (Liu et al., 2012). The
optimal conditions for the adsorption were found to be: 5.3–6.5 initial pH
of the wastewater, 1.5 h of exposure duration, 10 g/L.
6.5.4.3 Grapefruit Peel

Grapefruit is cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world,
with approximately 4 million metric tons annual production. Thus, a lot
of grapefruit peel (GFP) is available throughout the world. GFP contains
several water soluble and insoluble monomers and polymers. The water
soluble fraction contains glucose, fructose, sucrose and some xylose, while
pectin, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin constitute between 50% and 70%
of the insoluble fraction. These polymers are rich in carboxyl and hydroxyl
functional groups, which may bind pollutants in aqueous solution (Saeed
et al., 2010).
6.5.4.4 Lemon Peel

Lemon is of agronomic importance because the lemons are consumed as
an ingredient in cooking, as garnish, and as juice in lemonade, carbonated
beverages, and other drinks. To make better use of this cheap and abun-
dant agricultural waste, lemon peel after juice extraction, can be utilized as
an inexpensive adsorbent for aquatic pollutants.
The adsorption potential of lemon peel was examined as an adsorbent
for the removal of two anionic dyes, Methyl orange (MO) and Congo red
(CR) from aqueous solutions (Bhatnagar et al., 2009). The adsorption
capacities of lemon peel adsorbent for dyes were found to be 50.3 and
34.5 mg/g for MO and CR, respectively. Batch adsorption studies were
conducted to remove cutting oil from wastewater using activated lemon
peels (Tembhurkar and Deshpande, 2012). The effect of various import-
ant parameters, namely, pH, dose of adsorbent, contact time, mixing speed,
and initial oil concentration, and their optimum conditions for maximum
sorption efficiency were studied and results indicated that adsorbent dosage
of 5 g/L, contact time of 70 min, mixing rate of 45–50 revolutions/min, and
pH of 2 provided maximum oil removal efficiency. The feasibility of lemon
peel waste was studied for the removal of cobalt ions from aqueous solu-
tions (Bhatnagar et al., 2010). The maximum adsorption capacity of lemon
peel adsorbent for cobalt removal was ca. 22 mg/g. Adsorption of Azure A
dye in aqueous solution on commercial activated carbon (CAC) and indig-
enously prepared activated carbon from orange peel (OPC) and lemon
peel (LPC) carbon have been studied (Meenakshisundaram et al., 2009).
Extent of dye removal increased with decrease in the initial concentration of

the dye and particle size of the adsorbent and also increased with increase in
contact time, amount of absorbent used and the initial pH of the solution.
The biomass Citrus limetta fruit peels was examined for its potential for Pb2+
ions (Suryavanshi and Shukla, 2010).
6.5.4.5 Banana Peel

Banana, Musa spp, is a worldwide consumed tropical fruit and comprises
several varieties. Banana peel is the main residue, corresponding to 30–40%
(w/w), and has been mainly used in composting, animal feeding, and the
production of proteins, ethanol, methane, pectin, and enzymes. Cellulose,
hemicellulose, pectin, chlorophyll, and other low molecular weight spe-
cies are its main constituents. The banana peel presents a high adsorption
capacity for metals and organic compounds, and this aspect is primarily
due to the presence of the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups of the pectin. The
adsorption of lead(II) and cadmium(II) on peels of banana has been stud-
ied in batch mode (Anwar et al., 2010). Maximum adsorption capacity of
banana peels from Langmuir isotherm indicated that 1 g of banana peels
can adsorb 5.71 mg of cadmium and 2.18 mg of lead. Untreated banana
peels (UTBPs), alkali-hydrolyzed banana peels (AlBPs), acid-hydrolyzed
banana peels (AcBPs), and bleached banana peels (BBPs) were used as
adsorbents separately for the removal of Cr(VI) and Mn(II) from aque-
ous solution during batch experiments (Ali and Saeed, 2014). The maxi-
mum removal capacities for Cr(VI) were: UTBP (45%), AlBP (87%), AcBP,
(67%) and BBP (40%). While for Mn(II), the maximum removal capaci-
ties of theses adsorbents were: UTBP (51%), AlBP (90%), AcBP (74%) and
BBP (67%) at optimum conditions. The maximum removal of Cr(VI) and
Mn(II) was obtained at initial concentration of 3 mg/L, adsorbent dose of
4 g/L, pH 6, and contact time of 60 min. It was noted that the metal ions
removal capacity of these adsorbents was AlBP > AcBP > UTBP > BBP,
which indicated that chemical treatment of banana peels enhanced the
biosorption of metal ions. The adsorption of metals (Cu2+, Zn2+, Co2+, Ni2+,
Pb2+) from synthetic solutions using the acid-, alkali-, and water-treated
banana peels was investigated by Annadurai et al. (2003). The adsorption
capacity was found to be 7.97 (Pb2+), 6.88 (Ni2+), 5.80 (Zn2+), 4.75 (Cu2+),
and 2.55 mg/g (Co2+) using banana peel. Chemical and physical properties
of banana peel are shown in Table 6.8. The banana peel showed a high
adsorption capacity of phenolic compounds (689 mg/g). The adsorption
process was very fast, and it reached equilibrium in 3 h of contact time.
The equilibrium solid-phase concentration of phenols decreased with
Table 6.8 Chemical and physical properties of banana peel used in

the experiments. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
Parameters Data
Moisture content (%) 13.55
Volatile matter (%) 86.44
Ash (%) 3.85
C content (%) 31.79
O content (%) 42.87
K content (%) 14.86
Na content (%) 1.33
Si content (%) 1.48
Al content (%) 1.05
Cl content (%) 3.22
pH 6.60
increasing adsorbent (banana peel) concentration was mainly attributed

to the unsaturation of the adsorption sites through the adsorption process.
Desorption experiments showed chemisorptive interactions between the
natural phenolic and the adsorption sites on the banana peel.
6.5.4.6 Cassava Peel

Cassava is known as one of the most important agricultural commodities in
many countries (e.g., Indonesia, Nigeria etc.). Cassava is used as raw mate-
rial for the production of cassava starches and traditional foods and cakes.
Its leaves can be utilized as vegetables or natural medicine since it contains
high amounts of protein and other bioactive compounds, and its wood is
often used as firewood for cooking. Cassava starch processing produces a
large amount of solid wastes (cassava peels), and direct discharge of these
solid wastes causes environmental problems. Utilization of cassava peels as
precursor for activated carbon with a high surface area has been demon-
strated by various researchers. Activated carbons were prepared from
waste cassava peel by employing physical and chemical methods and their
efficiency was tested in the removal of dyes and metal ions from aqueous
solution (Rajeshwarisivaraj et al., 2009). Both adsorbents were found effi-

cient for dyes and metal ions, however, the material impregnated with H3PO4
showed higher efficiency than the heat treated materials. Sorption of arsenic
from aqueous solution was carried out using polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)
K25 coated cassava peel carbon (PVPCC). In batch studies, the adsorption
was dependent on initial As(V) concentration and adsorbent dosage. The
adsorption was higher in batch mode when compared to the column mode
studies. The IR studies confirmed the presence of PVP K25 and As(V) on
the adsorbent. The XRD studies revealed that the nature of adsorbent was
amorphous before and after the As(V) adsorption process.
6.5.4.7 Jackfruit Peel

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) is specie of tree of the mulberry
family (Moraceae) and is widely grown in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar,
India, Philippines and Malaysia. Jackfruits usually reach 10–25 kg in weight
at maturity however, the large sized jackfruits, sometimes, weight as much
as 50 kg. Jackfruit peel wastes have no economic value and in fact often
create a serious problem of disposal for local environments. Thus, utilizing
jackfruit peel as a low-cost adsorbent would increase its economic value,
will help to reduce the cost of waste disposal, besides this, the problem of
environmental pollution also can be reduced considerably.
Treatment of jackfruit peel with sulfuric acid produced a carbonaceous
product (JPC) which was used to study its efficiency as an adsorbent for the
removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solution (Inbaraj and Sulochana, 2004).
Physical and chemical characteristics of JPC are summarized in Table 6.9.
6.5.4.8 Pomegranate Peel

Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae), commonly called pomegranate, is one of
the most popular fruits in the world due to its pleasant taste, high nutritional
value, and many medical features. Pomegranate fruits are widely consumed
fresh and in processed forms as juice, jams and wine. The pomegranate
peel, a by-product from juice industry, constitutes 5% to 15% of its total
weight. Pomegranate peel is composed of several constituents, including
polyphenols, ellagic tannis and gallic and ellagic acids. Pomegranate peel is
discarded as waste residue that can be used as a low cost and renewable source
of biosorbent. Removal of lead(II) and copper(II) from aqueous solutions
was studied using pomegranate peel (raw), activated carbon prepared from
pomegranate peel (AC1) and activated carbon prepared from chemically
treated pomegranate peel (AC2 and AC3) (El-Ashtoukhy et al., 2008).
Table 6.9 Physico-chemical characteristics of JPC. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).

Parameters Data
pH 7.24
Moisture content (%) 16.27
Bulk density (g/ml) 0.72
Ash content (%) 4.99
Water soluble matter (%) 1.32
Acid soluble matter (%) 9.30
Decolourising power, mg/g 46.50
Ion exchange capacity, meq./g 0.93
Surface area, m2/g 123.17
Iron content (%) 0.07
Ash analysis (%)
SiO2 16.0
Na2O 4.03
K2O 0.72
MgO 33.8
CaO 16.6
6.5.4.9 Garlic Peel

Garlic peel, an agricultural and easily available waste, could be an alternative
for wastewater treatment processes. Due to the high consumption of gar-
lic, massive amounts of peels are disposed, causing a severe problem in the
community. The viability of garlic peel (GP) to remove Pb2+, Cu2+, and Ni2+
was evaluated. The results showed that the adsorption process could attain
equilibrium within 20 min. GP had remarkable higher adsorption affinity
for Pb2+ than Cu2+ and Ni2+ with the maximum adsorption capacity of 209
mg/g. The adsorption efficiency and uptake capacity of one metal ion were
reduced by the presence of the other metal ion. The adsorption mechanism
was supposed to be ion exchange between Ca2+ of GP with heavy metal ions
in the solution. Native garlic peel and mercerized garlic peel as adsorbents
for the removal of Pb2+ has been studied. For determination of major com-
ponents of native garlic peel and mercerized garlic peel, the elemental anal-
ysis was carried out, and the results are shown in Table 6.10.
The adsorption capacity of garlic peel after mercerization was increased
2.1 times and up to 109.05 mg/g. FT-IR and scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) results indicated that mercerized garlic peel offered more little pores
acted as adsorption sites than native garlic peel and had lower polymeriza-
tion and crystalline and more accessible functional hydroxyl groups, which
resulted in higher adsorption capacity than native garlic peel. The FT-IR
and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of both garlic peels before
and after loading with Pb2+ further illustrated that lead was adsorbed on
the peels through chelation between Pb2+ and O atom that existed on the
surface of garlic peels. The potential of garlic peel (GP) was also evaluated
to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution in a batch process.
Tables 6.11 through 6.13 show information about selected adsorbents.
6.5.5 A Novel Desalination Technique

Desalination is a technique that has been used throughout history for pro-
duction of sea salt. However, the use of desalination to produce drinking
water is relatively new (Oren, 2008). Most of the techniques involved in
this process are expensive and none of them is sustainable. Khan and Islam
(2016) reported a novel desalination technique that can be characterized
as totally environment-friendly process. This process uses no non-organic
chemical (e.g. membrane, additives). This process relies on the following
chemical reactions in four stages:
(1)saline water + CO2 + NH3 (2) precipitates (valuable

chemicals) + desalinated water (3) plant growth in
solar aquarium (4) further desalination
Table 6.10 The percentages of main elements in garlic peels by element analysis.
(From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
Material C (%) N (%) O (%) H (%) S (%)
Native garlic peel 37.01 1.04 47.71 4.22 0.81
Mercerized garlic 36.01 1.47 48.79 4.11 1.02
peel
Table 6.11 Uptake capacities of various peel-based adsorbents for metals removal.
(From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
Amount
Peel/adsorbent type Metal adsorbed
Citric acid modified orange peel Cd(II) 0.90 mol/kg
Chemically modified orange peel Cu(II) 289.0 mg/g
Mercapto-acetic acid modified orange peel Cu(II) 70.67 mg/g
Mercapto-acetic acid modified orange peel Cd(II) 136.05 mg/g
Mg2+ type orange peel adsorbent Cu(II) 40.37 mg/g
K+ type orange peel adsorbent Cu(II) 59.77 mg/g
KCl modified orange peel Cd(II) 125.63 mg/g
KCl modified orange peel Pb(II) 141.84 mg/g
KCl modified orange peel Zn(II) 45.29 mg/g
KCl modified orange peel Ni(II) 49.14 mg/g
Sulfured orange peel Pb(II) 164 mg/g
Sulfured orange peel Zn(II) 80 mg/g
Orange peel As(III) 1.18 mg/g
Pomelo peel Cu(II) 19.7 mg/g
Depectinated pomelo peel Cu(II) 21.1 mg/g
ZnCl2 activated grapefruit peel Pb(II) 12.73 mg/g
Grapefruit peel Uranium(VI) 140.79 mg/g
Grapefruit peel Uranium(VI) 104.1 mg/g
Banana peel Cd(II) 5.71 mg/g
Banana peel Pb(II) 2.18 mg/g
Activated carbon from cassava peels Cu(II) 8.00 mg/g
Activated carbon from cassava peels Pb(II) 5.80 mg/g
Pomegranate peel Ni(II) 52 mg/g
Pomegranate peel carbon Fe(II) 18.52 mg/g
(Continued)
Tables 6.11 Uptake capacities of various peel-based adsorbents for metals

removal. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015). (Continued)
Amount
Peel/adsorbent type Metal adsorbed
Mercerized garlic peel Pb(II) 109.05 mg/g
Egyptian mandarin peel (raw) Hg(II) 19.01 mg/g
Egyptian mandarin peel (NaOH treated) Hg(II) 23.26 mg/g
Egyptian mandarin peel (carbonised) Hg(II) 34.84 mg/g
Potato peels Cu(II) 0.3877 mg/g
Ponkan peel Pb(II) 112.1 mg/g
Mosambi (Citrus limetta) peel Cr(VI) 250 mg/g
Mango peel waste Cu2+ 46.09 mg/g
Mango peel waste Ni2+ 39.75 mg/g
Mango peel waste Zn2+ 28.21 mg/g
Litchi peel waste Cr(VI) 101.10 mg/g
Modified Cucumis sativa peel Cd(II) 58.14 mg/g
Zirconium loaded apple peels AsO2− 15.64 mg/g
Zirconium loaded apple peels AsO43− 15.68 mg/g
Zirconium loaded apple peels Cr2O72− 25.28 mg/g
Muskmelon peel Pb(II) 0.81 mol/kg
Ash gourd peel powder Cr(VI) 18.7 mg/g
This process is a significant improvement over an existing US patent.

The improvements are in the following areas:
–– CO2 source is exhaust of a power plant (negative cost)

–– NH3 source is sewage water (negative cost + the advantage
of organic origin)
–– Addition of plant growth in solar aquarium (emulating
the world’s first and the biggest solar aquarium in New
Brunswick, Canada).
Table 6.12 Uptake capacities of various peel-based adsorbents for organic

pollutants removal. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
Amount
Peel/adsorbent type Organic pollutants adsorbed
Orange peel Congo red 22.4 mg/g
Orange peel Procion orange 1.3 mg/g
Orange peel Rhodamine-B 3.22 mg/g
Orange peel Acid violet 17 19.88 mg/g
Orange peel Direct Red 23 10.72 mg/g
Orange peel Direct Red 80 21.05 mg/g
Activated carbon prepared from Direct blue-86 33.78 mg/g
orange peel
Activated carbon prepared from Direct Yellow 12 75.76 mg/g
orange peel
Activated carbon prepared from Direct Navy Blue 106 107.53 mg/g
orange peel
Orange peel waste Toluidine blue 314.3 mg/g
Pomelo peel Methylene blue 133 mg/g
Pomelo peel Reactive Blue 114 16 mg/g
Activated carbon from pomelo Malachite green 178.43 mg/g
peels
Grapefruit peel Crystal violet 254.16 mg/g
Activated banana peel Methylene blue 19.671 mg/g
Natural banana peel Methylene blue 18.647 mg/g
NaOH-activated cassava peels Methyl red 206.08 mg/g
carbon
Jackfruit peel Methylene blue 285.713 mg/g
Garlic peel Direct Red 12B 37.96 mg/g
Garlic peel Phenol 14.49 mg/g
(Continued)
Table 6.12 Uptake capacities of various peel-based adsorbents for organic

pollutants removal. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015). (Continued)
Amount
Peel/adsorbent type Organic pollutants adsorbed
Orange peel Carbofuran 84.49 mg/g
Orange peel Furadan 161.29 mg/g
Banana peel Atrazine 14 mg/g
Banana peel Phenolic compounds 689 mg/g
Jack fruit peel Phenol 144.9 mg/g
Jack fruit peel 2-chlorophenol 243.9 mg/g
Jack fruit peel 4-chlorophenol 277.7 mg/g
Jack fruit peel 2,4-dichlorophenol 400.0 mg/g
Potato peels Methylene blue 33.55 mg/g
Melon peel Methylene blue 333.33 mg/g
Yellow passion fruit peel Methylene blue 0.0068 mmol/g
Lychee peel waste Acid Blue 25 200 mg/g
Cucumis sativa fruit peel Malachite green 36.23 mg/g
Cucumber peel Methylene blue 111.11 mg/g
Cucumis sativa peel Crystal violet 32.24 mg/g
Unactivated guava fruit peel Congo dye 61.12 mg/g
KOH + microwave heated guava Congo dye 120.62 mg/g
fruit peel
Breadnut skin chemically Malachite green 353.0 mg/g
modified with NaOH
Yam peels Ultramarine blue dye 0.940 mg/g
Rambutan peel Acid yellow 17 215.05 mg/g
Durian peel Basic blue 3 49.50 mg/g
Table 6.13 Adsorption isotherm studies of different pollutants onto agricultural waste peel-based sorbents. (From Bhatnagar et al., 2015).
Langmuir constants
Adsorbent Adsorbate qm b or KL
Crude orange peel (OP) Cd(II) 0.49 mol kg−1 0.82
OP washed with iso-propyl alcohol Cd(II) 0.64 mol kg−1 0.54
OP modified with citric acid Cd(II) 0.66 mol kg−1 0.90
OP modified with alkali saponification Cd(II) 0.85 mol kg−1 0.81
0.6SCA80 (Modified with citric acid after alkali Cd(II) 1.00 mol kg−1 0.76
saponification)
OP Cd(II) 0.49 mol kg−1 0.82
SNa (modification after saponification with NaOH) Cd(II) 0.85 mol kg−1 0.81
SAm Cd(II) 0.81 mol kg−1 0.87
SCa Cd(II) 0.80 mol kg−1 0.79
SCA Cd(II) 1.00 mol kg−1 0.76
SOA (orange peel modified with oxalic acid after SNa) Cd(II) 1.13 mol kg−1 0.61
SPA (orange peel modified with phosphoric acid after SNa) Cd(II) 0.91 mol kg−1 0.99
OP Zn(II) 0.76 mol kg−1 0.72
(Continued)
Table 6.13 Adsorption isotherm studies of different pollutants onto agricultural waste peel-based sorbents. (From Bhatnagar et al.,
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
SNa Zn(II) 1.17 mol kg−1 0.65
SAm Zn(II) 0.97 mol kg−1 1.49
SCa Zn(II) 0.96 mol kg−1 1.13
SCA Zn(II) 1.21 mol kg−1 1.00
SOA Zn(II) 1.05 mol kg−1 0.83
SPA Zn(II) 1.02 mol kg−1 0.89
OP Ni(II) 0.46 mol kg−1 0.62
SNa Ni(II) 0.73 mol kg−1 6.89
SAm Ni(II) 0.70 mol kg−1 1.48
SCa Ni(II) 0.69 mol kg−1 1.09
SCA (orange peel modified with citric acid after SNa) Ni(II) 1.11 mol kg−1 4.34
SOA (orange peel modified with oxalic acid after SNa) Ni(II) 1.05 mol kg−1 4.90
−1
SPA Ni(II) 1.28 mol kg 2.01
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
−1
OP Co(II) 0.63 mol kg 0.43
SNa Co(II) 0.82 mol kg−1 1.19
SAm Co(II) 0.81 mol kg−1 0.45
SCa Co(II) 0.78 mol kg−1 0.46
SCA Co(II) 0.84 mol kg−1 0.76
SOA Co(II) 0.80 mol kg−1 1.25

SPA Co(II) 1.23 mol kg−1 0.37
OP Cu(II) 44.28 mg/g 0.019 L/mg
OPAA Cu(II) 289.0 mg/g 0.033 L/mg
OP Cu(II) 50.94 mg/g 0.0161 L/mg
MOP (sulfur modified orange peel) Cu(II) 70.67 mg/g 0.0549 L/mg
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
OP Cd(II) 47.60 mg/g 0.0126 L/mg
MOP Cd(II) 136.05 mg/g 0.0742 L/mg
MgOP Cu(II) 40.37 mg/g 0.095 L/mg
KOP Cu(II) 59.77 mg/g 0.067 L/mg
MOP (Sulfur modified orange peel) Pb(II) 164 mg/g 0.066 L/mg
OP Pb(II) 90 mg/g 0.035 L/mg
MOP Zn(II) 80 mg/g 0.010 L/mg
OP Zn(II) 25 mg/g 0.022 L/mg
Zr(VI)-SOW Mo(VI) 1.35 mmol/g 1.06 (m−3 kmol−1)
La(III)-SOW Mo(VI) 1.22 mmol/g 1.15 (m−3 kmol−1)
Fe(III)-SOW Mo(VI) 1.10 mmol/g 0.59 (m−3 kmol−1)
Ce(III)-SOW Mo(VI) 0.99 mmol/g 1.80 (m−3 kmol−1)
OP Carbofuran 84.49 mg/g 0.0124 L/mg
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
ZCOP (zirconium(IV)-loaded carboxylated orange peel) Fluoride 2.7020 mg/g 1.555 L/mg
Pomelo peel Reactive Blue 114 283 K 14.6 mg/g 0.029 L/mg
303 K 16.3 mg/g 0.166 L/mg
323 K 13.8 mg/g 0.045 L/mg
PPAC Malachite green 303 K 145.78 mg/g 0.0056 L/mg
318 K 164.91 mg/g 0.0062 L/mg

333 K 178.43 mg/g 0.0068 L/mg
Grapefruit peel Crystal violet 249.68 mg/g 0.131 L/mg
Lemon peel Methyl orange 25 °C 61.7 mg/g 8.1 × 103 (L mol−1)
45 °C 42.0 mg/g 7.8 × 103 (L mol−1)
Lemon peel Congo red 25 °C 42.3 mg/g 9.2 × 103 (L mol−1)
45 °C 27.1 mg/g 7.9 × 103 (L mol−1)
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
Lemon peel Cobalt 25 °C 25.64 mg/g 6.68 × 104 (L
mol−1)
45 °C 14.97 mg/g 3.90 × 103 (L
mol−1)
Banana peels Pb(II) 2.18 mg/g 0.11 L/mg
Banana peels Cd(II) 5.71 mg/g 0.04 L/mg
Untreated banana peels Cr(VI) 3.3557 mg/g 0.8533 L/mg
Alkali-hydrolyzed banana peels Cr(VI) 5.1098 mg/g 0.9466 L/mg
Acid-hydrolyzed banana peels Cr(VI) 4.4889 mg/g 0.9429 L/mg
Bleached banana peels Cr(VI) 2.4644 mg/g 0.7505 L/mg
Untreated banana peels Mn(II) 2.8636 mg/g 0.9397 L/mg
Alkali-hydrolyzed banana peels Mn(II) 3.6010 mg/g 0.9573 L/mg
Acid-hydrolyzed banana peels Mn(II) 4.1516 mg/g 0.9940 L/mg
Bleached banana peels Mn(II) 2.7359 mg/g 0.9359 L/mg
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
Cassava peels Pb(II) 5.80 mg/g 0.30 L/mg
Cassava peels Cu(II) 8.00 mg/g 0.34 L/mg
Jackfruit peel Methylene blue 285.713 mg/g 0.0172 L/mg
Jackfruit peel carbon Phenol 144.9 mg/g 0.0029 L/mg
Jackfruit peel carbon 2-chlorophenol 243.9 mg/g 0.0027 L/mg
Jackfruit peel carbon 4-chlorophenol 277.7 mg/g 0.0025 L/mg

Jackfruit peel carbon 2,4-dichloro-phenol 400.0 mg/g 0.0024 L/mg
Pomegranate peel Ni(II) 25 °C 51.8 mg/g 19.3 × 103 L/mol
45 °C 69.4 mg/g 24.0 × 103 L/mol
Pomegranate peel 2,4-di-chlorophenol 25 °C 75.8 mg/g 6.8 × 103 L/mol
45 °C 96.2 mg/g 8.3 × 103 L/mol
(Continued)
2015). (Continued)
Langmuir constants
Garlic peel Pb(II) 209 mg/g 0.112 L/mg
Garlic peel Cu(II) 37 mg/g 0.129 L/mg
Garlic peel Ni(II) 32 mg/g 0.564 L/mg
Native garlic peel Pb(II) 51.73 mg/g 0.1303 L/mg
Mercerized garlic peel Pb(II) 109.05 mg/g 0.2320 L/mg
Garlic peel Methylene blue 82.64–142.86 mg/g 0.044–0.085 L/mg
Raw Egyptian mandarin peel Mercury 19.01 0.028
Chemically treated Egyptian mandarin peel Mercury 23.26 0.059
Carbonized Egyptian mandarin peel Mercury 34.84 0.176
Mosambi peel Cr(VI) 166.66–250 mg/g 0.5–1 L/mg
Lychee peel Acid Blue 25 204.3 mg/g 1.57 × 103 L/mol
Kemangsi skin (KS) Malachite green 177.4 mg/g 0.0036 L/mg
Base-modified KS Malachite green 227.0 mg/g 0.0333 L/mg
Low/zero
emission C
Reactor
Recovered
CO2
Fresh water Ammonia

from sewage
Useful chemicals
Ammonium chloride
Sodum carbonate Salt water
Irrigation water
Figure 6.19 Desalination with maximum economic benefit.
A schematic of the process is shown in Figure 6.19.

This process works very well for general desalination involving sea
water. However, for produced water from petroleum formations, it is com-
mon to encounter salt concentration much higher than sea water. For this,
water plant growth (Stage 3 above) is not possible because the salt con-
centration is too high for plant growth. In addition, even Stage 1 does not
function properly because chemical reactions slow down at high salt con-
centrations. This process can be enhanced by adding an additional stage.
The new process should function as:
(1)Saline water + ethyl alcohol (2) saline water + CO2 +

NH3 (3) precipitates (valuable chemicals) + desali-
nated water (4) plant growth in solar aquarium
(5) further desalination
Care must be taken, however, to avoid using non-organic ethyl alcohol.

Further value addition can be performed if the ethyl alcohol is extracted
from fermented waste organic materials.
6.5.6 A Novel Separation Technique

Chaalal and Islam (2001) developed a fully sustainable water purification
technique that can be used to purify water from heavy metals, including
radioactive elements. The setup is shown in Figure 6.1. The technique

involves treating the effluent in an algae-packed column. The permeabil-
ity of the packed column is high enough to allow continuous flow with
only hydrostatic pressure of the line connected to the source trough. The
selection of algae depends on the type of contaminant to be removed. For
instance, for the case of Strontium, C. vulgaris was chosen by Chaalal and
Islam (2001). The packed column is connected to the air-curtain driven
fluidized bed/membrane system. This reactor is a very successful air cur-
tain driven fluidized bed reactor (Backhurst et al., 1988), coupled with a
membrane system (see Figure 6.1). The membrane system was an addition
to the design of Backhurst et al. (1988). Compressed air is injected into the
reactor through a series of perforations in a transverse tube in order to cre-
ate fluid circulation with an air curtain. The effluent then moves through
to fluidized bed, packed with resins.
7
Summary and Conclusions
7.1 Summary
For over a century of the plastic era, the current civilization has been syn-
onymous with synthetic chemicals. At present, between 25,000 to 84,000
synthetic chemicals are used to drive corporate greed, which has become
synonymous with capitalism. The number of synthetic chemicals has mul-
tiplied 25 times since 1970, with a rise in economic dividend from $171
billion to over $4 trillion today. As these chemicals have created numerous
problems in all aspects of civilization, another line of industry has cropped
up – the so-called waste management and cleanup industry, which ironi-
cally has introduced a new line of synthetic chemicals to ‘purify’ the cur-
rent contamination. In this scheme, water is the most important victim.
There are numerous techniques available today to purify water – the most
potent purifier on Earth. Ironically, all techniques use chemicals to replace
the contaminants of the water under treatment. These chemicals are all
toxic to the environment although they are all certified to be used. It is no
surprise that all techniques used for water purification today are unsustain-
able. This dichotomy arises from the fact that today’s civilization is driven
by science that is in capable of identifying the causes, let alone remedying
them, of inherent unsustainability of the purification techniques. In this
book, the source of contaminations is identified as synthetic chemicals,
which should not have entered the ecosystem to begin with. Any purifica-
tion technique must use sustainable techniques. Sustainability lies within
adoption of a zero-waste scheme, rather than struggling to minimize waste.
This is establishes that the currently used technologies, which are claimed
to be sustainable of varying degrees, are not sustainable. A sustainability
analysis, performed on each of these technologies, shows that while each
technology is suitable to some extent, none is wholly sustainable. When
details of the health risks and overall environmental insults of today’s prev-
alent. This book finally presents a series of truly sustainable techniques that
are environmentally appealing and economically attractive, often fetching
299
double dividends due to value addition to waste materials. In this book,

sustainable purification techniques that are applicable to municipal, agri-
cultural and industrial sectors are presented. The contaminants range from
organic contaminants to radioactive waste. It is shown how value addition
and conversion of waste can turn a zero-waste process into an economi-
cally successful endeavor. Specific recommendations are made for drink-
ing, agricultural and industrial waste water.
7.2 Conclusions
Based on the discussion presented in this book, the following conclusions
can be made.
7.2.1 Chapter 1: Introduction

• Current water purification techniques are deemed to be
inadequate and counter-productive to the principle of water
purification
• Zero waste water management is the key to true sustainability
• No existing technology can be declared acceptable, and to
build a new one, a paradigm shift is needed
7.2.2 Chapter 2: Water Science

• The role of water in sustaining life and proper functioning of
all creations was well understood in every epoch outside the
modern Eurocentric era
• Water science cannot be understood with New Science,
which focuses on tangible and short-term phenomena with
a myopic approach
• A comprehensive delinearized history unravels how envi-
ronmental integrity is linked to water
• A comprehensive purification scheme for water can lead to
foundational change in environmental restoration
• Every environmental insult with synthetic, unnatural chem-
icals ruptures the water cycle and creates obstacle to global
environmental integrity
• Even a slightest disturbance with unnatural chemicals can
trigger a snowball effect making any technology environ-
mentally unsustainable
Summary and Conclusions 301
7.2.3 Chapter 3: Sustainability of Current Water Purification

Techniques
• There are numerous technologies in place for water purifi-
cation and all new technologies claim to have overcome the
shortcoming of the previous ones
• None of the currently used technologies is effective in truly
purifying water
• Each of the currently used technologies replace contam-
inants with equally if not worse chemicals, although each
meet the regulatory requirement
• The regularity requirements did not lead to positive change.
Instead, more costly and less effective technologies have
emerged
• While some techniques are more effective than others, when
sustainability criteria are considered, none meets the envi-
ronmental or economical sustainability thresholds
7.2.4 Chapter 4: Sustainable Drinking Water Purification

Techniques
• The current superflux of unsustainable technologies is
inspired by an overall lifestyle that focuses on tangible,
external and corporate profiteering
• Natural lifestyle must be restored before aspiring to purify
water sustainably
• Natural minerals were effective for water purification in
every ancient civilization and that art should be restored
• Each mineral application for water purification produces
more effective, most cost-efficient than any currently used
technique while being totally sustainable
• Each purification technique can benefit from an addition of
biological component
• Natural sunlight for UV and natural catalysts for ozonation
can result in a new array of sustainable water purification
techniques
• Overall, groundwater is the most suitable for drinking and
all purification measures should come only if direct access to
groundwater is not an option

for Agricultural Wastes
• Many sustainable options for purifying agricultural waste
are available
• Wood dust and fish scales, along with farming waste can be
used to purify agricultural waste
• The use of biological material enhances the quality of water
for agricultural applications
• An overall zero waste scheme can be created if various water
applications are considered holistically
• Solar UV application is very attractive considering its appeal
in developing countries, where sunlight is in abundance

for Industrial Wastes
• Sustainable purification technique is available even for most
difficult to process radionuclides
• Heavy metals and precious metals can be removed sustain-
ably and minerals can be extracted to turn waste liability to
asset, creating double dividend
• A series of sustainable technologies for water purification
are discussed each of which merits full considerations for
commercial applications
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Index
Absolute mass, 36 Avalanche model/theory, 37

Absolute time, 36 Avicenna, 144, 247
Absolute void, 37
Absorption, 74, 101, 209, 211, 239, 244 Biochemical, 42, 255
Acetic acid, 231, 284 Biofuel, 158
Acid violet, 286 Biological activity, 42, 80, 255
Activated carbon, 96, 108, 109, 111, Biological mechanism, 17
112, 113, 115, 120, 123, 124, 180, Biological process, 39, 78–80, 148, 304
207, 208, 224, 229, 230 Biological solvent, 275
Adaptation, 155, 172 Biological treatment, 78, 79, 81
Additive, 11, 12, 38, 43, 44, 235, 238, Biomass, 5, 79, 80, 86, 181, 186, 191,
248, 283 193, 196, 221, 225, 230–3, 276,
Adsorption, 10, 67, 80, 81, 107, 117, 279, 305, 308, 314, 320
119, 121, 123 Bones, 42, 44, 143, 144
Adsorption capacity, 110, 111, 113,
114, 116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 188, Carbon, 115, 120, 123–5, 129, 149,
195–7, 200, 203, 205, 207, 276–9, 152, 170, 180, 188–90, 2006, 207,
282, 283 224, 229, 230, 234, 238, 245, 247,
Aerosol, 8, 246 281, 286, 294
Agricultural practice, 155, 161 Carbon dioxide, 20, 74, 100, 103, 134,
Agricultural process, 5, 166 149, 170, 252
Agricultural soil, 227 Carbon footprint, 268
Agricultural waste, 109, 111, 118, 122, Carcinogen, 38–42, 44
180, 256, 276, 278, 288 Catalyst, 17, 40, 152, 179, 181, 226, 227,
Algae, 9, 10, 43, 88, 110, 150, 222, 224, 231, 235, 248–50, 268, 301, 303
255, 296 Catalytic ozonation/oxidation, 152
Amino acid, 1, 115, 147 Catalytic process, 224
Aphenomenal, 23, 33, 35, 68, 168, Catalytic reaction, 250
170, 174 Charcoal, 10, 42, 111, 149, 151,
Aquinas, Thomas, 37, 260 229, 232
Aristotle, 31, 75, 251 Chloride,
Atomic theory, 1, 21, 27 ammonium, 244, 257
Atomic number, 246 cobalt, 217
Atomism, 37 magnesium, 245
325
326 Index
sodium, 171, 245 Fertilizer, 12, 43, 46, 55, 56, 71, 79, 116,
zinc, 277 150, 159, 163, 165, 170, 172, 179,
Cholesterol, 41 181, 220, 227, 244
Chrystal violet, 286, 287, 292 Fluorescent, 49, 239
Clean energy, 171 Freezing, 28, 30, 167
Climate change, 5, 73, 74, 76, 131,
134, 155, 158, 317 Gamma ray, 23, 24, 176
Coal, 44–46, 124, 234, 238, 244, Gaseous, 3, 8, 9, 17, 18, 27, 28, 33, 37
245, 256 Gas-solid crystal, 19
Coal distillation, 245, 256 Gas solubility, 20
Coke, 71, 116, 238 Gastroenteritis, 51–4
Corrosion, 39, 40 Galaxy model, 3, 20, 21, 240, 247
Criteria, 131, 301 GDP, 59, 135, 264, 265, 267
Crop, 74, 158, 162–6, 170, 318 GNP (Gross national product),
Crude oil, 48, 234, 248, 306 264, 265
Green revolution, 163–5, 311
Diffusion, 87, 95, 110, 210, 310 Greenhouse gas, 134, 179
DNA, 106, 216, 217, 255 Groundwater, 37, 40–9, 55, 56, 62, 77,
86, 92, 124, 150, 151, 161, 220,
Efficiency, 79, 95, 99, 111, 119, 120, 224, 254, 301, 308, 312
152, 153, 191, 194, 196, 207,
224, 263, 264, 266, 267, 270–3, Health effect, 47, 254
279–2, 308 Heart, 140–43, 145–7, 240, 314
energy, 263 Heart disease, 135–8, 140, 146,
separation, 275 305, 318
Einstein, Albert, 157, 168, 260 Heat loss, 272
Electricity, 71, 170, 223, 238, 254, Heat transfer, 271, 272, 314
270, 274 Heavy metal, 275, 276, 282, 296,
Electromagnetic, 9 302–307, 309, 310
Energy balance, 23, 134, 240 Helium, 246
Energy consumption, 126, 127, 261–6 Holistic approach, 12, 140, 145
Energy demand, 20, 169, 185, 187, 266 Honey→Sugar →Saccharine
Enhanced oil recovery, 270 →Aspartame (HSSA) syndrome,
Environmental impact, 68, 132, 270 169–71
Environmental integrity, 16, 300 Hydrochloric acid, 209, 244, 245
Equilibrium, 21, 110–2, 115, 167, 171,
191, 193, 197–200, 202, 205, 206, Ibn Sina, 144, 247
210, 214, 279, 282, 320 Infra red, 24
Eurocentric, 300 Irreversible, 6, 34, 72, 77, 134, 198, 202
European union, 268 Intangibles, 3, 35, 36, 72, 126, 140,
142, 143, 145, 235, 237, 248,
Fatty acid, 176 249, 250
Fermentation, 234 Intangible components/elements, 145
Index 327
Jackfruit, 287 OECD, 268

Jaundice, 51 Oxidation, 57, 101, 103, 148, 151, 152,
Jewelry, 38, 225, 226 208, 303
Joints, 44 Ozone, 103, 104, 152, 217, 309,
Judicial order, 126 313, 318
Kelvin, Lord, 36 Pathway (natural), 6, 72, 256

Ketones, 110, 113, 118, 276 Peak oil, 258
Permeability, 88, 222, 296
Life force, 4 Porosity, 95, 108, 115
Lifestyle, 12, 62, 63, 65, 123, 126, 128, 131,
135, 147, 149, 171, 231, 232, 301 Quantum theory, 16
Liquid phase, 18, 108, 197, 198, 223, 244
Liquid waste, 226–8 Radioactive, 49, 79, 151, 221, 296, 300,
306, 312
Mental, 44, 141, 144, 240, 312 Radiation, 273
Mesophilic, 223
Methylene, 110 SEM (Electron scanning microscopy),
Methylene blue, 283, 286, 287, 295 182, 185–8, 206, 283
Monitoring, 39, 61, 66 Solar, 23, 134, 217, 219
Montmorillonite, 120, 121 Solar cooker, 216
Monte Carlo simulation, 29 Solar disinfection, 216–9
Solar electricity, 71
Natural biomass, 232 Solar radiation, 23, 134, 217, 219
Natural biopolymer, 276 Solar UV, 151, 216
Natural chemical, 171, 234, 238, 244, Solar water distillation, 326, 328
246, 300 Solid waste, 116, 117, 191, 225, 226,
Natural decay, 176 280, 312
Natural fat, 176 Steam, 8, 28, 37, 99, 100
Natural frequency, 22 Steam distillation, 234
Natural gas, 37 Steam injection, 270
Natural glucose, 175 Steam power plant, 270
Natural healing, 248 Subatomic, 240
Natural insulin, 175 Sustainable growth, 5
Natural light, 24 Sustainable technology, 13, 68–70, 74,
Natural order, 23, 167, 170, 174 270, 312
Natural processing, 238 Synthetic chemicals, 9, 10, 59, 76,
Newton, Sir Isaac, 168, 253 123, 124, 173, 232, 244, 249,
Newtonian, 16, 235, 253 256, 299
Nobel laureate, 60, 147, 157, 164, 171 Synthetic exchanger, 221
Nuclear, 42, 170
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Titanium, 221, 274
221 Titanium oxide, 114
328 Index
Thermal disinfection, 216 Vaccine, 164, 167, 211, 212, 214, 215,
Thermal fluid, 270, 271, 274 239, 272, 273
Thermal loss, 271, 272 Violet, 217
Water quality, 5, 53, 59, 60, 65, 66, 91,

Ultraviolet (UV), 101, 102, 104–107,
146, 147, 150, 155, 219, 316
132, 151, 153, 216, 217, 239, 240,
Wetting, 29
301, 302
Ultrasonic, 141 X-ray, 23, 24, 141, 185, 187, 206, 277, 283
Unstable, 68–70, 238, 301
Uranium, 49, 50, 284, 320 Yin-yang, 3, 4, 15, 19, 20, 241, 248

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3.4 Biological Processes 77

5.3.1.1 Composition, Structure and Morphology

6.5.4.3 Grapefruit Peel 278

Every civilization in human history recognized the importance of water

They range from organic contaminants to radioactive wastes. For each

1.1 Opening Remarks

premise is: creation is made in two stages, namely 1) fundamental element

produced without energy and no energy is produced without matter. Water is

masses, independent of other factors, such as history, or current state of

1.2 Climate-Water-Food Nexus

Figure 1.2 The Water-Food-Energy Nexus (Modified from Lal, 2013).

society everything is denatured and the artificial version is constructed and

Figure 1.3 The water-soil-atmosphere nexus.

The production of food relies on water, soil, and atmosphere. There is no

1.4 Insufficiency in Water Purification Processes

Although the above processes reduce the concentration of suspended

Polluted Water Dyes

Figure 1.4 Water purification process.

for many. The properties offered by composites include specific strength,

1.5 Introduction to Zero Waste Engineering

artificial agents, such as chemical fertilizer, pesticide, etc. These artificial

1.6 Scope of the Book

1.7 Organization and Introduction of the Chapters

This is following by the presentation of an array of sustainable technolo-

by scientists (Jha, 2015). Islam et al. (2010) deconstructed currently used

2.2 Unique Features of Water

density liquid phase could not be sustained

(O2) has sufficient solubility in water. Marine plants require carbon

Figure 2.2 Water carbon yin-yang.

Figure 2.3 Energy at various temperatures.

depends little on temperature. The enthalpy and entropy depend more

Figure 2.5 Number of particles vs particle size.

(physical or chemical), the resulting products have a frequency that is dif-

Visible Light Spectrum 400 Nm to 700 Nm

Figure 2.6 Colors and wave lengths of visible light.

1/frequency of characteristic wavelength

Figure 2.10 Water is structured differently around two hydrophobes at different

Simple Material Water

Figure 2.11 Energy–volume relationship of water, vs simpler materials. (left) Simple

Time of freezing, min

Figure 2.12 Paradoxical behavior of water (from Woijciechowski et al.).

Figure 2.13 shows the temperature dependence of thermal conduc-

Table 2.3 Thermal properties of ice (Website 1).

2.3 Natural State of Matter

Table 2.5 Typical features of natural processes as compared to the claims of

Table 2.5 Typical features of natural processes as compared to the claims of

Table 2.6 True difference between sustainable and unsustainable processes.

Table 2.7 Features of external entity (from Islam, 2014).

an external entity is necessary condition in order to eliminate the notion

2.4 Source of Water and Its Role in Sustaining Life

2.4.1 Inorganic Minerals

Cadmium: Cadmium is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust, but is

limestone or discharges from operating or

fungicides, rodenticides, and algicides. gastrointestinal disturbance, numbness,

Zinc: The concentration of zinc in tap water can be considerably higher

2.4.2 Organic Contaminants

2.4.3 Radioactive Minerals

2000. Additional revisions to these MCLs may be proposed by 2005-2006. The

Test name Radiation type EPA Standards