SainsMalaysiana39(1)(2010):5155

RemovalofAluminiumfromDrinkingWater
(PenyingkiranAluminiumdaripadaAirMinum)

MOHAMADNASIROTHMAN*,MD.PAUZIABDULLAH
&YANGFARINAAbd.Aziz

ABSTRACT
Aluminiumindrinkingwatercomesfromnaturalsourcesandthealumusedascoagulantinthewatertreatment
process. Exposure to aluminium has been implicated in dialysis dementia, Parkinson and Alzheimers disease.
DrinkingwatercontainingaluminiumwasconsideredtobeoneofthemainsourcesofAlintakeintohumanbody .
Forthisreason,theremovalofaluminiumfromdrinkingwaterisvitaltoourhealth.Inthisstudy,removalof
aluminiumwascarriedoutbyusingachelatingresin.Toachievethepurpose,twochelatingresiniontosorboxin (IO)
andpolyhydroxamicacid (PHA) wereused.Theeffectsofconcentration,pH,stirringtimeandresinamountwas
investigated.Theconcentrationrangevariedbetween10and500ppb,pHrangewasbetween2and12,stirringtime
between5and60minutes,andresinamountbetween100and1500mg.Theoptimumconditionsoftheseresinswere
determinedinabatchsystem.Theresultsobtainedshowedthattheoptimumconditiontoremovealuminiumfor
polyhydroxamicacidandiontosorbwaspH58andpH49;concentrationrangebetween50500ppb,and150500
ppb,resinamount200mgandthestirringtimewas20minutes,respectively.
Keywords:Aluminium;drinkingwater;iontosorboxin(IO);polyhydroxamicacid

ABSTRAK
Aluminiumdidalamairminumberpuncadaripadasumbersemulajadidanalumyangdigunakansebagaipengentaldalam
proses rawatan air. Pendedahan kepada aluminium boleh mengakibatkan penyakit dialisis dementia, Parkinson dan
Alzheimer. Air minuman yang mengandungi aluminium telah dikenalpasti sebagai salah satu sumber utama bagi
pengambilanaluminiumkedalamtubuhmanusia.Atasalasanini,penyingkiranaluminiumdaripadaairminummestilah
dilakukanuntukmenjagakesihatankita.Dalamkajianini,penyingkiranaluminiumtelahdilakukandenganmenggunakan
resin pengkelat. Untuk itu, dua jenis resin pengkelat iaitu iontosorb oxin (IO) and asid polihidroksamik (PHA) telah
digunakan.Kajianterhadapkesankepekatan,pH,masapengacauandanjumlahresintelahdilakukan.Julatkepekatan
yangdigunakandiubahantara10hingga500ppb,julatpHantara2hingga12,masapengacauanantara5hingga60
minitdanjumlahresinantara100hingga1500mg.Penentuankeadaanoptimumbagiresinresininitelahditentukandi
dalamsistem batch.Keputusanyangdiperolehmenunjukkanbahawakeadaanoptimumuntukmenyingkirkanaluminium
untukPHAdanIOadalahpH58danpH49;julatkepekatanantara50500ppbbagi PHA,dan150500ppbbagiIO,jumlah
resin200mgdanmasapengacauanadalah20minitbagisetiapsatunya.

Katakunci:Airminum;aluminium;asidpolihidroksamik
water) and treated water.
Thishasrisenmainly
INTRODUCTION for two reasons.
Albasedcoagulantsuchasaluminiumsulphate(Al (SO ) ) 2 4 3 First,acidrainhas
(betterknownasalum)orpolyaluminiumchloride(PACl)are caused the
commonlyusedindrinkingwatertreatmenttoenhancethe aluminiumlevelin
removalofparticulate,collodialanddissolvedsubstancesvia many freshwater
coagulationprocesses. The treatment of surface water with sources toincrease
aluminiumsulphatehasbeeninoperationforoverahundred (Schecher &
yearsallovertheworld.Theuseofalumasacoagulantfor Driscoll 1988). A
water treatment often leads to higher concentrations of high(3.6to6mg/l)
aluminiuminthetreatedwaterthanintherawwateritself concentration of
(Srinivisanetal.1999). aluminium in
Thereisconsiderableconcernthroughouttheworldover treatedwatergives
rise to turbidity,
thelevelsofaluminiumfoundindrinkingwatersources(raw
reduces
disinfectionefficiency,3andduringthecourseof Remov cation exchange
distribution(Rahman1992).Secondly, al of resin, reverse
thepossibilityofanassociationbetween
aluminium osmosis and
aluminium and dementia, Parkinson and
Alzheimers disease is frequently can be electrodialysis.
hypothesised (Crapper & Boni 1980; carried out Treatment
Davidson et al. 1982; Gardner & Gunn by several methods namely
1991; Jekel 1991; Martyn et al. 1989; methods aeration/
Schecher&Driscoll1988).
such as
 52

stripping,chemicaloxidation/disinfectionandanion GeneralProcedure
exchangeareineffectiveforAlremoval.Processessuch Aluminiumsolution(50ml)waspipetteintoa250ml
ascoagulation,sedimentationand conicalflaskfiltrationand
(com certain

aswellaslimesofteningaremoderatelyeffectiveinAl Thesolutionwasstirredwithamagneticstirrerat
removal(Srinivisanetal.1999).Inthepresentwork, roomtemperatureforacertainperiod.Atappropriate
preliminaryremovalofaluminiumbychelatingion intervals,stirringwasstopp
exchangeresinnamelyIontosorb(IO)andPolyhydroxamic centrifugationanaliquotofthesupernatantwasremoved
acid(PHA)willbeexamined. andtheconcentrationofAlwasdeterminedbyICPOES.
TheconcentrationoftheremovedAlwascalculatedas
EXPERIMENTAL thedifferencebetweentheinitial(beforethesorption)a
final(afterthesorption)co
(Matus&
Kubova2005).
Instruments
AnInductivelyCouplePlasmaOpticalEmissionSpectroscopy (ICP
OES) Optima Perkin Elmer 4300 DV was used for Al analysis. A
RESULTS
AND
digital pH meter (Fisher ScientificAB15)wasModelusedtodetermine
DISCUSSION
thepHoftestsolutions.ThebuffersolutionsatpHvaluesof4,7and
9wereusedtostandardizedthepHmeterused.
EffectofpHontherecovery
ofAluminium
Reagents
The studied pH range was
Astandard1000ppmaluminiumsolutionof BDH LaboratorySupplieswas
between2and12,amountof
used as a stock solution for Al(III). The working solutions of lower
resin is used 200 mg and
concentrationswerepreparedbysuitabledilutions.IontosorbOxin200 (IO)
stirring time is 20 minutes.
200wassuppliedbytheOldrichTokar,RepublicofChez.(2007),cellulose
TheeffectsofpHonmetal
resins containing covalently bound 8hydroxyquinoline functional group
uptake as determined in
(Figure1)withthecapacity0.20mmolofactivegroupper1gofdryresin,
batchexperimentsareshown
thewatercontent80%andmaximalsorptioncapacityforAlis10.750.92
inFigure3.ThepHofthe
mg/g (Polakovic2003).Polyhydroxamicacidresinwasprepared basedon
solutionwasadjustedinthe
Vernon(1982),WanYunusandAhmad(1988),andLeeandHong(1994)
rangeof212bynitricacid
methods, poly(ethyl acrylatedivinyl benzene) resins containing covalently
andammoniumhydroxide.
boundhydroxamicacidfunctionalgroup(Figure2)withthecapacityof1.19
Figure3showsthatthe
mmol/gofdryresin,thewatercontent30%andmaximalsorptioncapacityfor
removalofAlisabout20%
Alis9.150.65mg/g.Allreagentsusedwereofanalyticalreagentgrade. at pH2anditincreasedto
about100%atpH4andpH
5 for IO and PHA
respectively. This
percentage of removal was
maintained until pH 8 for
PHA and pH 9 for IO and
after that it decreased. This
pH range, especially pH
Figure1.Functionalgroupof8hydroxyquinolinecovalentlyboundon rangefrom5.0to8.5isvery
celluloseresinIontosorbOxin suitable for the water
treatment (Delphos &
Wesner 2005) and removal
of Al from the drinking
water.
Themostimportantforms
of dissolved aluminium are
Al3+, [Al(OH)2]+, and

Figure2.Functionalgroupofhydroxamicacidcovalentlyboundon [Al(OH)4] . Each species
predominatesoveracertainpH
poly(ethylacrylatedivinylbenzene)
range.ThecationAl3+ predominateswhenpH<4.AtpHvaluesaround56, water from Sungai determined by the World
[Al(OH)2] + predominates. Around pH 6, aluminium solubility reaches a Semenyih Treatment Plant, Health Organization (WHO).
minimum, and Al(OH)3 will formed. Above neutral pH, the predominantPutrajaya.Theconcentration Based on the concentration
dissolvedformofaluminiumisthecomplexanion[Al(OH) 4] (Bodeketal.ofAlinthedrinkingwater ofAlatthetreatmentplant,
1988).FromFigure3,itisshownthatthePHAandIOcanremoveallofthis produced by this treatment theworkingrangefortheAl
forms of aluminium Al3+, [Al(OH)2]+, [Al(OH)4] and Al(OH)3 ) from theplant is not more than 200 concentration in this study
syntheticsolutionofwater. ppb. This level is in waschosenbetween10ppb
compliance with the to500ppb.Theamountof
EffectofconcentrationontheremovalofAl acceptable level of Al in resinis200mgandstirring
Inthispreliminarystudy,themethodwillbeappliedtothedrinking drinkingwater(200ppb)as timeis20minutes.
 53
RemovalAl%

pH
Figure3.EffectofpHontheremovalofAl(concentrationofaluminium(III):50ppb,

samplevolume:50ml,stirringtime:20minutesandresinamount:200mg)

FromFigure4,wecanseethattheremovalofAlat
optimumpHforIOandPHAat10ppbwas89%and96%
respectively.Theremovalincreasedtoabout100%at50
ppbforPHAand150ppbforIO.After150ppb,theremoval
ofAlbyPHAandIO fluctuatedbetween95%to100%.
EffectofresinamountontheremovalofAl
TheinfluencesPHAresinofontheamountsremovalstudiedofconcentrationis50ppbAl,pH6.5andresin
ofAlwasalsoinvestigatedintherange1001500mg.
RemovalAl%
Figure5showsthattheoptimumamountofresinforthe
removalofAlattheoptimumcondition(pH6.5,stirring
times20minutesandconcentrationofAlis50ppb)is
200mg.
EffectofstirringtimeontheremovalofAl
Stirringtimerangewasbetween5and60minutes.The
amount200mg.TheresultsaregiveninFigure6.Itis

Concentration(ug/l)
Figure4.EffectofconcentrationontheremovalofAl(pH6.5,samplevolume:50ml,

stirringtimes:20minutesandresinamount:200mg)
RemovalAl%
 Reasinamount(mg)
Figure5.EffectofresinamountontheremovalofAl(pH6.5,concentrationofAluminium(III):50ppb,

stirringtimes:20minutesandsamplevolume:50ml)
54 RemovalAl%

Stirringtime(min)
Figure6.EffectofstirringtimeontheremovalofAl(pH6.5,concentrationofAluminium(III):50ppb,

samplevolume:50ml,resinamount:200mg)

shownthat90%and70%ofthealuminiumwastakenup Jekel,M.R.1991.Aluminuminwater:Howitcanberemoved?
byIOandPHAinthefirst510minutesrespectively.
Useofaluminumsaltsintreatment.Proc.oftheIntWater Both

chelatingresinachieved93%and98%ofaluminium SupplyAss.,Copenhagen,Denmark,May2531.
removalat20minutesand60minutes,respectively.The Lee,T.S.&Hong,S.1994.Synthesisofporouspoly(hydroxamic
acid)frompoly(ethylacrylatedivinylbenzene).Polymer
optimumstirringtimeof20minuteswaschosenforboth
Bulletin32:273279.
chelatingresinsbecausetherewasnotmuchdifference Martyn,C.N.,Osmand,C.,Edwardson,J.A.,Barker,D.J.P.,
betweenremovalAlvalueonresinsafterthisperiod. Harris,E.C.&Lacey,R.F.C.1989.Geographicalrelation
betweenAlzheimersdiseaseandaluminumindrinkingwater.
TheLancet.I(8629):5962.
CONCLUSION Matus,P.&Kubova,J.2005.Complexationoflabilealuminium
Theremovalofaluminiumwascarriedoutbyusingtwo speciesbychelatingresinsIontosorbanewmethodfor
chelatingresin,IontosorbOxin(IO)andpolyhydroxamic Alenvironmentalriskassessment.JournalofInorganic
Biochemistry99:17691778.
acid(PHA).Theeffectsofconcentration,pH,stirring
OldrichTokar&RepublicofChez.2007.Iontosorb.http://www.
timeandresinamountwereinvestigated.Theoptimum iontosorb.cz[9April2007]
conditionsoftheseresinsweredeterminedinabatch Polakovic,J.,Polakovicova,J.&Kubova,J.2003.Application
system.Theresultsobtainedshowedthattheoptimum ofthermodynamicsinaspecifi
conditiontoremovealuminiumforIontosorb(IO)and ofAl3+ionsonthechelatingresinsOstsorbOxin,Ostsorb
polyhydroxamicacid(PHA)waspH49andpH58; Salicyl,SpheronOxin,andSpheronSalicylMathematical
concentrationrangebetween50500ppband150500 analysisofsorptionisothermsusingnonlinearmeansquare
ppb,resinamount200mgandthestirringtimewas20 software.Anal.Chim.Acta 488:123132.
minutesrespectively.Percentageremovalofaluminium Rahman,A.1992.Residualaluminiumintreatedwater.M.Sc.
Thesis,StateUniversityofNewYork.
forbothresinsaremorethan95%attheoptimum
Schecher,W.D.&Driscoll,C.T.1988.Anevaluationof
condition.ThepHrange49forIOand58forPHAis equilibrium calculationswithi
verysuitablefortheremovalofaluminiumfromthe effectofuncertaintyinmeasuredchemicalcomponents.
drinkingwater. WaterResour.Res.24:533542.
Srinivisan,P.T.,Viraraghavan,T.&Subramanian,K.S.1999.
Aluminiumindrinkingwater:Anoverview.WaterSA25(1):
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Baruth,E.E.NewYork:McGrawHill. SchoolofChemicalSciencesandFoodTechnology
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TableSeries:AlzheimersDiseasesandtheEnvironment. 43600UKMBangi,SelangorD.E.
London,UK. Malaysia
 55

Md.PauziAbdullah&YangFarinaAbd.Aziz
Centre for Water Research and Analysis
(ALIR)UniversitiKebangsaanMalaysia
43600UKMBangi,Selangor
D.E.Malaysia
*Correspondingauthor;email:nasirothman@yahoo.com

Received:17February2009
Accepted:14May2009