Would you say that wastewater treatment is peanuts? You would not state that, right? Everyone knows that without wastewater treatment, we are polluting the environment with organic matter (proteins, carbohydrates, fats etc.) and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus compounds) that are a food source for microorganisms & algae that deplete the oxygen level causing fish and other aquatic species to die. Wastewater can also contain pathogenic bacteria directly causing epidemics, and inorganic compounds that are often harmful byproducts of commercial and industrial activities. So, treating the wastewater is definitely not peanuts. Or is it?
A group of researchers in Guinea showed that wastewater can be treated by Double Filtration on Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) Prepared from Peanut Shells. According to their article published in Green and Sustainable Chemistry in 2023, peanut shells could be a renewable and locally available source for wastewater treatment especially in developing countries. They proved that the filtration with Granular activated carbons (GAC) were very effective for the treatment of turbidity, suspended solids, iron, COD (chemical oxygen demand), BOD5 (biological oxygen demand over 5 days), pH and conductivity; but the best results were observed with nitrite, nitrate and phosphate. Using peanut shells, the researchers could increase the dissolved oxygen by more than 50.16% at the exit of the first filter and more than 105.36% at the exit of the second filter.
And what is Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and how to make it from peanut shells? Why peanut shells? Would you like to learn more about various wastewater and treatment forms with a glimpse into their history? Why chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand are important? If you do not know the answer to the aforementioned questions, then I highly recommend you read into this pioneer work.