Defluoridation of Drinking Water Using Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica) Fruit Shell by Dip–In–Technique

Anagha Agrawal; Shanmukha G; Manish K

Volume : V, Issue : IV, April - 2015

Defluoridation of Drinking Water Using Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica) Fruit Shell by Dip–In–Technique

Anagha Agrawal, Shanmukha G, Manish K

Abstract :

Aim:– The aim of the study is to examine and determine the potential application of tamarind fruit shell

in its virgin form in removing fluoride ion from aqueous medium by dip in technique. MethodologyDrinking water from two different places (Faridpur and C. B. Ganj) was collected and their fluoride concentration was

checked. The tamarind fruit shell is cleaned with distilled water and then sun dried and ground to a fine powder. From

each site 50 samples each of 100ml water were tested. Then dip–in–bags were made using cloth containing 25mg of

this powder. These bags were then dipped in 100ml of each sample and kept overnight. Then the bags were removed

and the fluoride concentration of the water was checked using SPADNS technique. Results:– The baseline fluoride concentration of the two drinking water samples were found to be 1.53ppm and 1.83ppm respectively. The mean fluoride

concentration of water treated by tamarind fruit shell powder were found to be 0.76ppm (SD 0.3) and 0.91ppm (SD

0.4) respectively. Wilcoxon signed rank test showed the difference in the fluoride concentration of samples between

pretest and posttest to be statistically significant at a p value <0.001. Conclusion:–The present study showed that the

tamarind fruit shell in its natural form using dip–in–technique could be used as a potential biosorbing agent for the removal of fluoride ions from drinking water.