Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.ucu.ac.ug/handle/20.500.12311/100

Browse

Browsing Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering by Author "Aryatunga Eugene"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Assessing the Use of Pumice in Water Treatment Case of the Shuuku- Masyoro Gravity Flow Scheme
    (Uganda Christian University, 2025-04-14) Aryatunga Eugene
    Access to clean and safe drinking water remains a key public health priority, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas where surface water sources often contain elevated concentrations of iron of 0.93±0.17 mg/L in the wet season and 1.03±0.16 mg/L during the dry season including other contaminants. This study was to evaluate the efficiency of activated pumice as a natural, low-cost adsorbent for the removal of dissolved iron from water. Pumice, a highly porous volcanic rock was thermally activated to enhance its surface area and active adsorption sites. Laboratory-scale column experiments were conducted to assess removal performance under varying conditions of contact time and pumice dosage. The treated samples were analysed for residual irons concentrations using standard spectrophotometric techniques. Results revealed that activated pumice achieved significant removal efficiencies with peak removal values of 71.4% and 75.4% for wet and dry season samples respectively. The adsorption data were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model indicating monolayer adsorption with maximum adsorption capacity of 26.5 mg/g. these findings highlight the potential pf activated pumice as a sustainable and cost-effective material for improving drinking water quality particularly into regeneration potential, long term application infield conditions and comparative performance with other natural adsorbents.