REMOVAL OF ORGANIC MATTERS, NUTRIENTS, AND SUSPENDED SOLIDS USING COCKLE SHELL (Cerastoderma Edule) FROM CONTAMINATED WATER

High production and consumption of cockle shells (CS) have raised severe environmental concerns due to the improper waste management of shells. In this study, the feasibility of CS in treating chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), Ammoniacal Nitrogen (AN), and total suspended solids (TSS) from naturally contaminated water were explored by using a fabricated model. The optimum dosage of CS was firstly determined from the jar test. Then, each pollutant’s removal efficiency and adsorption capacity were monitored and circulated in the fabricated model using the optimum CS dosage for five consecutive days, respectively. The jar test results displayed that the optimal CS dosage was 3g/L with a maximum of 42.86% removal of COD. The dynamic adsorption test in the fabricated model further identified the adsorption potential of the CS in removing 98.39% of AN, 52.78% of COD, 66.67% of BOD, and 31.25% of TSS. The adsorption isotherm analysis demonstrated that the Langmuir isotherm yielded the best fit for COD, BOD, AN, and TSS. Besides, the AN and BOD fitted well in the pseudo-first-order reaction, while COD fitted well in the pseudo-second-order reaction. In short, it produces encouraging results to be utilized as a low-cost green adsorbent in treating water pollution and as a protection of our ecosystem.