REMOVAL OF SELECTED HEAVY-METALS FROM AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS USING PROCESSED SOLID RESIDUE OF OLIVE MILL PRODUCTS

The potential use of processed solid residue of olive mill products (S ROOMP) to treat drinking water containing several heavy metals in trac e concentrations, namely Cr(III), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Zn(II), was explored. Different experimental approaches including equilibrium batch mode experiments, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) were used to explore the feasibility of this materi al as an adsorbent far the removal of these heavy metals from aqueous solutions. Results indicate that SROOMP can be used to remove Pb(II) a nd Zn(II) from aqueous solutions by adsorption (data best fit Fruenlic h isotherm) but does not remove the other heavy metals investigated in this study. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.