PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL FROM IRAQI TREATED WASTEWATER USING ALUM SLUDGE
Phosphorus is one of the most important nutrients affecting the eutrophication, so its treatment is the most important thing that must be taken before wastewater is dumped into water bodies. This paper presents a study on phosphorous removal by adsorption with oven-dried-alum-sludge (ODAS) that was collected from Baqubah treatment plant (Iraq) and preheat at 105 ° C, cool down at room temperature, and crushed into small particles of (0.8-5) mm. The effect of ODAS studied with doses of 1.25-20 g/l and found that the higher the dose of adsorbent, the higher the percentage of phosphorous removal. Contact time also studied its effect on phosphorous removal and found that it has a clear effect on the adsorption process, as the percentage of phosphorous removal efficiency increased with increasing contact time. The optimum dosage of ODAS was 10 g/l and contact time 180 min with phosphorous removal efficiency (98%, 99%, 97%, and 97%) for initial concentration of (5, 10, 15, and 20) mg/l of phosphorus.