Available online at www.sciencedirect.

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Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860

COD and BOD reduction from coffee processing wastewater

using Avacado peel carbon
a,*
Rani Devi , Vijender Singh b, Ashok Kumar c

a
Department of Energy and Environmental Science, Ch. Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana, India
b
District Science Specialist, Hisar, Haryana, India
c
District Food and Supplies Officer, Sirsa, Haryana, India

Received 22 February 2007; received in revised form 8 March 2007; accepted 19 March 2007
Available online 9 May 2007

Abstract

The aim of this study was the assessment of reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) of
wastewater from coffee processing plant using activated carbon made up of Avacado Peels. The complete study was done in batch mode
to investigate the effect of operating parameters. The results of the COD and BOD concentration reduction with avocado peel carbon
(APC) and commercial activated carbon (CAC) were compared and optimum operating conditions were determined for maximum
reduction. Adsorption isotherm was also studied besides the calculation of optimum treatment parameters for maximum reduction of
COD and BOD concentration from effluent of the coffee processing plant. The maximum percentage reduction of COD and BOD con-
centration under optimum operating conditions using APC was 98.20% and 99.18% respectively and with CAC this reduction was
99.02% and 99.35% respectively. As the adsorption capacity of APC is comparable with that of CAC for reduction of COD and
BOD concentration, it could be a lucrative technique for treatment of domestic wastewater generated in decentralized sectors.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Adsorption; Avacado; BOD; COD; Coffee processing wastewater/effluent

1. Introduction (Adams and Dougan, 1987; Enden, 2002 and Murthy

Ethiopia had been the origin of coffee because first coffee
plant was initially found and cultivated by Oromo people
in the Kafa province of Ethiopia from which it got its name
(ITC, 2002). Ethiopia is world’s third largest coffee expor-
ter after Burundi and El Salvador (ITC, 2002). Jimma zone
is one of the areas in Ethiopia where coffee processing
plants are cultivated in large numbers.
In this zone, wet coffee processing method has been
adopted. Wet coffee processing procedure requires mechan-
ical removal of pulp with the help of water as a result of
which it produces considerable amount of wastewater
*
Corresponding author. Address: H. No. 1357, Sector 15, Faridabad,
Haryana 121007, India. Tel.: +91 1294006166; fax: +91 1294006167.
E-mail address: rani_sahu@yahoo.com (R. Devi).
et al., 2003, 2004). The water used for de-pulping of the
coffee cherries is known as pulping water (GTZ-PPP,
2002) and it accounts for over half of the water used in this
process (Fresner and Schnitzer, 1996 and Enden and Cal-
vert, 2002).
The wastewater generated from coffee processing has
high concentration of organic pollutants (Chapman,
1996; Matos et al., 2001; INEP, 2001; MoEF, 2003) like
pectin, proteins and sugars (Adams, 1980; Calvert, 1997;
Mendoza and Rivera, 1998; Deepa et al., 2002). Due to
high pollutant concentration, its disposal without treat-
ment in water bodies has became undesirable (Rolz,
1982; Betram and Balance, 1996; Tomar, 1999) because if
done so, it will be very dangerous for the water bodies
and human health. So, before its final disposal in water
bodies, it needs a proper treatment.

0960-8524/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2007.03.039
1854 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860
The conventional wastewater treatment technologies
being adopted in industrialized nations are quite expensive
to build, operate and maintain (Piet et al., 1994; Mazumder
and Kumar, 1999; Mazumder and Roy, 2000). Moreover,
to comply with stringent environmental regulations and
for restoration of safe environment, it has become impera-
tive to find less costly and easily adaptable treatment tech-
nologies for the wastewater.
Research efforts are going on (Mohammed et al., 1998;
Wang et al., 2005) for development of such type of waste-
water treatment technologies. Fly ash can be used as a
promising adsorbent for removal of various types of pollu-
tants from wastewater (Patnaik et al., 1996; Wang and Wu,
2006). Low cost adsorbents of different origins like Indus-
trial waste material, bagasse fly ash and jute-processing
waste can also be used for removal of organic matter from
wastewater (Manju et al., 1998; Banerje and Dastidar,
2005; Srivastava et al., 2005; Bhatnagar, 2007). Removal
of organic matter from wastewaters with the help of acti-
vated carbons prepared from waste materials has also been
reported in the literature (Pala and Tokat, 2002). Various
low cost adsorbents like chitin, chitosan, corn stalks, peat,
rice husk and wood have been used for removal of organic
matter from industrial effluent (Hall, 1975; Poots et al.,
1976; George, 1982; Mckay et al., 1980; Annadurai and
Krishan, 1996; Sharma and Sharma, 1994).
Adsorption-based innovative technology (Devi et al.,
2002; Devi and Dahiya, 2006) developed with low cost car-
bonaceous materials showed good potential, more so for
COD removal from such wastewater. Such adsorption
approach can offer an easy and economic solution to these
environmental challenges. Moreover, activated carbon is
considered very effective in reduction of color, absorbable
organic halides (AOX) and non-biodegradable pollutants
of such wastewater (Mall and Prasad, 1998; Mall and
Upadhyay, 1998) but this process has some additional costs
associated with the production of activated carbon
(Shawwa et al., 2001).
The aim of this study was to assess the potential of Ava-
cado peel carbon in reduction of COD and BOD concen-
tration from coffee processing wastewater. For this
purpose, activated carbon prepared from Avacado peel
has been used in the present study to see the feasibility of
adsorbent under batch operation and accordingly, opti-
mum operating conditions have been worked out for the
treatment of coffee processing wastewater.
2. Methods
2.1. Materials
The wastewater generated in this coffee processing plant
was discharged without treatment to the nearby stream.
For the river, it became a source of pollution as the decom-
position of this waste required much of the available oxy-
gen from water which created a high BOD and COD
load in water bodies. It created a lot of health problems
also due to discharge of effluents with large volumes of
organic waste. Wastewater samples were taken from this
coffee processing plant and these samples were stored at
2–3 C to avoid any change in their physico-chemical
characteristics.
Adsorbent used in the present study was prepared from
peels of Avacado fruits. The peels of these fruits were ini-
tially scraped with a knife to remove all fibers present at
surface and then these were crushed using a crushing mill
(Model-BB 100 Rosrfrei, Retsch Germany). The resulting
product was washed several times with distilled water to
eliminate water soluble impurities and then oven-dried at
105 C for 24 h. 250 g small pieces of this oven-dried Ava-
cado peels were mixed with 30 mL of concentrated sulphu-
ric acid (H2SO4). The mixture was carbonized at 600 C for
12 h. Then sample was withdrawn from furnace and cooled
in a desiccator. After cooling, this sample was rinsed sev-
eral times with distilled water till its pH became 6–7. The
wet sample was dried at 105 C for 24 h. It was further
crushed and filtered. The particles of size ranging from
0.75 mm to 0.25 mm were recovered and were used
throughout the study. Properties of activated carbon pre-
pared in this way were; surface area of 750 m2/kg, bulk
density 165 kg/m3, porosity 75%, moisture content 8.5%
and carbon content 88%.
Since the raw discarded material was available free of
cost but its transportation and processing costs were to
be taken into account and thus the resulting adsorbent
was expected to be economically viable for the wastewater
treatment. This method was specifically effective for remov-
ing the organic substances from wastewater. For standard-
ization of the results, same types of experiments were
conducted with commercial activated carbon also. The
commercial activated carbon (Calgon Co-Filtrasorb 400)
was purchased from a local chemical supplier. Some of
its important characteristics prescribed by the manufac-
turer were; surface area 1000 m2/kg, bulk density 175 kg/
m3, porosity 90%, moisture content 5.8% and carbon con-
tent was 85%.
2.2. Methods
The pH and temperature of the wastewater samples
were measured on collection site. Electrical conductance,
turbidity, total solids, total suspended solids, total dis-
solved solids, BOD, COD and most probable number
(MPN) were analyzed in laboratory according to the meth-
ods prescribed by APHA (American Public Health Associ-
ation, 1998) handbook. In this paper, we have studied the
removal of COD and BOD only. The COD and BOD of
the wastewater samples were measured in laboratory
before and after its treatment with adsorbents.
2.2.1. Batch mode treatment of wastewater samples
All the experiments were carried out at ambient temper-
ature (25 C) in batch mode. The batch experiments were
 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860 1855

conducted in different flasks of 250 ml capacity using an 3. Results and discussions

average speed shaker. Adsorption experiments were con-
ducted in different batches for all the experimental condi- The physico-chemical analysis of the wastewater col-
tions like adsorbent treatment time, adsorbent dose, pH lected from the coffee processing plant was done as shown
of the solution, initial COD and BOD concentrations, agi- in Table 1. It was evident that this wastewater was polluted
tation speed and adsorbent particle size. with organic load besides dissolved and suspended matter.
The influence of various operating parameters were Organic load was presented in terms of COD, BOD and
studied by varying one parameter and keeping others con- most probable number (MPN). In this paper, study was
stant. Stirring speed of the shaker was kept constant for done only for reduction of COD and BOD concentrations
each run throughout the experiment thus ensuring equal using discarded material-based carbon made up of Ava-
mixing, except for those, which were meant for investigat- cado peel.
ing the effect of agitation speed. The desired pH was main- The COD and BOD concentrations were very high com-
tained using dilute NaOH (0.1 N)/HCl (0.1 N) solutions. pared to their permissible limits to discharge for irrigation
Each flask was filled with a known volume of sample hav- and horticultural uses as prescribed by WHO as shown in
ing desired pH and stirring was initiated. The sample was Table 1. The wastewater was treated at 25 C under batch
withdrawn from the shaker at predetermined time inter- mode operation with APC and its COD and BOD concen-
vals, filtered through Whatmann No. 44 filter paper and trations were measured before and after treatment with
analysed for COD and BOD concentrations. adsorbent. The important operating parameters taken
Effect of contact time of the adsorbents with wastewater under consideration for the present study were; adsorbent
sample was investigated by agitating 100 ml sample and treatment time, adsorbent dose, pH of the medium, initial
adding 2 g adsorbent for different time-periods varying COD/BOD concentration of the wastewater, agitation
from 10 to 100 min. Initial COD and BOD concentration speed and adsorbent particle size.
of the sample was 22,000 mg/l and 12,000 mg/l respec-
tively, ph of 7.2, agitation speed 600 rpm and adsorbent
particle size: 60.75 mm. The treated samples were with-
drawn from shaker at predetermined time intervals, filtered 3.1. Adsorbent treatment time
and the residual COD and BOD concentrations were
measured. The percentage COD and BOD reduction as a function
To determine contribution of the adsorbent dose on of treatment time with APC was shown in Fig. 1. Commer-
COD and BOD reduction, 100 ml of sample was treated cial activated carbon (CAC) was taken for comparing the
with different doses of adsorbent ranging from 0.1 to results. The percentage reduction of COD and BOD with
10 g/100 ml, the other conditions were; treatment time of APC was 83.82% and 85.95% after a treatment time of
70 min, ph 7.2, initial COD and BOD concentration of 70 min whereas the maximum reduction of COD and
the sample was 22,000 mg/l and 12,000 mg/l respectively, BOD concentrations with commercial activated carbon
agitation speed 600 rpm and adsorbent particle size: was 88.5% and 92.52% respectively after a treatment time
60.75 mm. The samples were agitated for specific time of 70 min. As the treatment time progressed, the adsorbent
intervals, filtered and then analyzed for the residual COD sites had the tendency towards saturation. Difference
and BOD concentration. between the adsorption capacities could be attributed due
The effect of pH was studied with constant initial con-
centration, adsorbent dose, and contact time but varying Table 1
the pH values from 1 to 12 using dilute NaOH or HCl solu- Physical–chemical properties of effluent of coffee processing plant along
tion. The samples were agitated for specific time, filtered with WHO permissible limits (1995) for the discharge of treated effluent to
irrigation channel
and then analyzed for residual COD and BOD concentra-
tion and data was fitted into Freundlich adsorption iso- Parameters Characteristics of WHO permissible
effluent limits
therm (Faust and Aly, 1986).
The effect of initial COD and BOD concentration was pH 4.5 6.8  8.5
Electrical conductance (mho/ 3.1 · 104 1 · 103
studied by keeping all other conditions constant except
cm)
changing the initial COD and BOD concentration ranging Temperature (C) 25 20
from 15,000 mg/l to 30,000 mg/l and 3000 mg/l to Turbidity (Nephalometer 430 5–10
18,000 mg/l respectively. Turbidity Unit)
The effect of agitation speed and adsorbent particle size Total solids (mg/l) 2050 650
Total suspended solids (mg/l) 700 200
on the COD and BOD reduction was also studied. As
Total dissolved solids (mg/l) 1350 450
usual, one parameter is varied for one set of experiments. Chemical oxygen demand 22,000 300
Discrete values of the agitation speed kept from 100 rpm (mg/l)
(revolution per min) to 1000 rpm and adsorbent particle Biochemical oxygen demand 12,000 100
size as category A (60.75 mm), B (60.55 mm), C (mg/l)
MPN (coliform cells/100 ml) 1 · 109 1.5 · 107
(60.35 mm) and D (60.25 mm) respectively.
1856 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860

100 110

95 100

90 90

85 80
% reduction

% reduction
80 70

75 60
% COD by CAC % BOD by CAC
% COD by APC % BOD by APC
70 50
% COD by CAC % BOD by CAC
65 % COD by APC % BOD by APC
40

60
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 30
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Treatment Time (min) Adsorbent dose (g/l)
Fig. 1. Effect of treatment time on % COD and BOD reduction using Fig. 2. Effect of adsorbent dose on % COD and BOD reduction using
APC and CAC adsorbents. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/ APC and CAC adsorbents. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/
12,000 mg/l, adsorbent dose: 2 g/100 ml of wastewater, pH: 7, agitation 12,000 mg/l, treatment time: 70 min, pH: 7, agitation speed: 600 rpm and
speed: 600 rpm and particle size of adsorbent: 60.75 mm. particle size of adsorbent: 60.75 mm.

to the difference in number of carbonaceous adsorption

sites in the different adsorbents. Freundlich adsorption isotherm for COD concentration reduction by APC
5.5

5
3.2. Adsorbent dose
4.5 y = -0.2401x + 4.7786
log x/m

2
R = 0.8636
The effect of adsorbent dose on percent reduction of 4
COD and BOD concentrations with APC and CAC was
3.5
shown in Fig. 2. Here the treatment time was kept constant COD by APC

at 70 min. Equilibrium was reached corresponding to 4 g/ 3 Linear (COD by APC)

100 ml of adsorbent dose for both APC as well as CAC. 2.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Percent reduction of BOD concentration was greater than log Ce
that of COD concentration for all the adsorbent doses and
Freundlich adsorption isotherm for BOD concentration reduction by ApC
was also comparable to CAC. 5
The adsorption studies conducted at fixed initial COD 4.5
y = -0.2497x + 4.5886
4
and BOD concentration and varying adsorbent dose were 3.5
2
R = 0.8645
log x/m

fitted to Freundlich isotherm (Faust and Aly, 1986) of 3

2.5
the form: 2 BOD by APC

x 1.5 Linear (BOD by APC)

¼ kC 1=n
e
m 0.5
where, x/m (mg/g) was the amount of COD and BOD re-
moved (x) per unit mass of adsorbent (m), Ce (mg/l) was
residual COD and BOD concentration of aqueous solu-
tion, k and 1/n were Freundlich constants and measure
of adsorption capacity and adsorption intensity
respectively.
The Freundlich isotherm corresponding to the experi-
mental measurements for APC and CAC were plotted on
log scales as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. Values
of regression coefficient (r2) had been calculated from the
linear fit and based on the fit, the respective values of the
slope 1/n and intercept on y-axis taken as k were also cal-
culated. Values of 1/n, k and regression coefficient r2 for
APC were 0.2401, 4.7786 and 0.8636 corresponding to
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log Ce
Fig. 3. Freundlich plot for COD and BOD reduction using APC
adsorbent. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/12,000 mg/l,
treatment time: 70 min, pH: 7, agitation speed: 600 rpm and adsorbent
particle size: 60.75 mm.
COD concentration reduction and 0.2497, 4.5886 and
0.8645 corresponding to BOD concentration reduction
respectively and those for CAC were 0.02658, 4.9472
and 0.8435 corresponding to COD concentration reduction
and 0.2698, 4.7302 and 0.8599 corresponding to BOD
concentration reduction respectively. CAC and APC had
the comparable values of 1/n and k. So APC showed the
 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860 1857

Freundlich adsorption isotherm of COD concentration reduction by CAC

5
4.5 y = -0.2658x + 4.9472
2
R = 0.8435
4
log x /m

90
3.5
3 COD by CAC

% reduction
Linear (COD by CAC)
2.5
70
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log Ce

Freundlich adsorption isotherm of BOD concentration reduction by CAC

5 % COD by CAC % BOD by CAC
50
% COD by APC % BOD by APC
4.5 y = - 0.2698x + 4.7302
2
4 R = 0. 8599
log x /m

3.5
3 30
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
2.5 pH
BOD by CAC
Linear (BOD by CAC)
2
Fig. 5. Effect of pH on % COD and BOD reduction using APC and CAC
1.5 adsorbents. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/12,000 mg/l,
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
log Ce treatment time: 70 min, adsorbent dose 4 g/100 ml, agitation speed:
600 rpm and particle size of adsorbent: 60.75 mm.
Fig. 4. Freundlich plot for COD and BOD reduction using CAC
adsorbent. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/12,000 mg/l,
treatment time: 70 min, pH: 7, agitation speed: 600 rpm and particle size
of adsorbent: 60.75 mm.
100

comparable adsorption capacity and adsorption intensity 90

with CAC.
The constant 1/n and k are of definite importance in 80
determining the adsorption capacity of organic pollutants
% reduction

from wastewater and reduction of COD and BOD concen- 70

trations by adsorbents. The slope 1/n is dependent on the
order of the change of reduction in COD and BOD concen- 60
trations with the adsorbent dose, while k is dependent on
the extent of removal of COD by the adsorbents. 50

% COD by CAC % BOD by CAC

40 % COD by APC % BOD by APC
3.3. pH
30
The effect of pH on the adsorption capacity of CAC and 2000 7000 12000 17000 22000 27000 32000
APC and hence COD concentration and BOD concentra- Initial COD and BOD Concentration
tion reduction from wastewater was shown in Fig. 5. The Fig. 6. Effect of initial COD and BOD concentration on % COD and
optimum pH for maximum adsorption of organic impuri- BOD reduction using APC and CAC adsorbents. Treatment time: 70 min,
ties and COD concentration and BOD concentration adsorbent dose 4 g/100 ml, pH: 7, agitation speed: 600 rpm and particle
reduction from wastewater of coffee processing plant by size of adsorbent: 60.75 mm.
CAC and APC was 7.
COD concentration and 12,000 mg/l of initial BOD con-
3.4. Initial COD concentration and BOD concentration centration, the curves reached their saturation points. It
was because of saturation of adsorbent sites and hence
The effect of initial COD and BOD concentration of the the ratios of the initial number of adsorbate molecules to
wastewater solution on the percent COD and BOD reduc- the available adsorption sites of the adsorbent diminished
tion by CAC and APC was shown in Fig. 6. The percent accordingly.
COD concentration and BOD concentration reduction
with APC and CAC was found to increase with increase 3.5. Agitation speed
in the initial COD concentration and BOD concentration
and after reaching to saturation levels, it started decreas- To investigate the effect of agitation speed on % COD
ing. The rate of adsorption increased because of the and BOD reduction with APC and CAC, the agitation
increasing driving force. But at 24,000 mg/l of initial speed was kept from 100 rpm to 1000 rpm. Fig. 7 showed
1858 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860

110 Table 2
Effect of adsorbent particle size on % COD and BOD reduction by APC
and CAC
100 Adsorbent APC CAC
particle size
% COD % BOD % COD % BOD
reduction reduction reduction reduction
90
A (60.75 mm) 50.34 58.22 57.89 63.78
% reduction

B (60.55 mm) 67.89 73.76 72.54 79.89

80
C (60.35 mm) 89.25 91.45 93.56 94.05
D (60.25 mm) 98.20 99.18 99.02 99.35

70

% COD by CAC % BOD by CAC

% COD by APC % BOD by APC

Table 3
60 Residual COD and BOD concentration after treatment with APC and
CAC under batch mode operation
Adsorbents Residual COD Residual BOD
50
50 250 450 650 850 1050 concentration concentration
Agitation speed (rpm) APC 296 98.4
CAC 215.6 78.0
Fig. 7. Effect of agitation speed on % COD and BOD concentration using
APC and CAC adsorbents. Initial COD and BOD concentrations: 22,000/ The optimum operating conditions were; treatment time: 70 min, adsor-
12,000 mg/l, Treatment time: 70 min, adsorbent dose 4 g/100 ml, pH: 7 bent dose: 4 g/100 ml of effluent, pH: 7, Initial COD and BOD concen-
and particle size of adsorbent: 60.75 mm. trations: 24,000/12,000, agitation speed: 600 rpm and adsorbent particle
size: 60.25 mm.

that there was a good trend for the percent COD and BOD
concentration reduction with the agitation speed for CAC
and APC. Maximum COD concentration and BOD con-
centration reduction were observed around 600 rpm for
both the adsorbents. But at higher agitation speeds, the
loosely attached molecules might re-enter into the adsor-
bate, hence lowering the % COD concentration and %
BOD concentration reduction. Therefore, we kept the agi-
tation speed at 600 rpm to see the effect of percent COD
and BOD concentration reduction by both the adsorbents.
3.6. Adsorbent particle size
For observing the effect of adsorbent particle size on %
COD concentration and % BOD concentration reduction
of wastewater, they have been segregated in four categories
starting with A as A (60.75 mm), B (60.55 mm), C
(60.35 mm) and D (60.25 mm). From the study, it was
found that adsorbent particle size had significant influence
on percent reduction of COD and BOD concentration with
APC and CAC. The percent COD and BOD concentration
reduction for both the adsorbents were maximum for par-
ticle size of category D and the minimum reductions in
COD and BOD was obtained corresponding to particles
of category A for both the adsorbents as shown in Table
2. The values for maximum % COD concentration and %
BOD concentration reduction with APC and CAC were
98.20% and 99.18% and 99.02% and 99.35% respectively
corresponding to category D. It was observed that smaller
particles showed better adsorption than the larger ones
because surface area is directly related with adsorption
capacity. This could be explained on the basis of net sur-
face area as smaller particles in a given quantity of powder
would have larger surface area than the case when bigger
particles are taken.
3.7. Optimum operating conditions for maximum COD and
BOD reduction
We tried to obtain conditions for the maximum reduc-
tion of COD and BOD concentration for both the adsor-
bents. The optimum operating conditions for getting
maximum COD/BOD concentration reduction from coffee
processing effluent with APC and CAC were same and
these conditions were; treatment time: 70 min, adsorbent
dose: 4 g/l00 ml, pH: 7, initial COD/BOD concentration:
22,000/12,000 mg/l, agitation speed: 600 rpm and adsor-
bent particle size: 60.25 mm. It could be inferred from
the experimental results presented in this paper that resid-
ual concentrations of COD and BOD after treatment with
APC under optimum operating conditions were 396 mg/l
and 98.4 mg/l respectively and were well within the permis-
sible limits of WHO standards as shown in Table 3. These
results could be utilized for working out the design param-
eters of an adsorption based industrial wastewater treat-
ment system. Moreover, if APC was added in secondary
treatment tank for the effluent treatment, there would be
a good saving of energy, which otherwise could hence been
consumed in aeration process.
4. Conclusion
Present study showed that APC is effective for reduction
of COD and BOD concentration from effluent of coffee
processing plant. Adsorption of COD and BOD was found
 R. Devi et al. / Bioresource Technology 99 (2008) 1853–1860
to be dependent on treatment time, adsorbent dose, pH,
initial COD and BOD concentration, agitation speed and
adsorbent particle size. The studied adsorption data fitted
well to Freundlich Adsorption Model. This adsorbent
made up of Avacado peel could be a good alternative to
expensive activated carbon and hence wastewater treat-
ment process can become very economical. The quality of
water after treatment was found to be suitable for irriga-
tion use and for direct discharge into the streams.
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