Sustainable Utilization of Rice Husk Activated Charcoal Through Phytoremediation

The performance of rice husk-based activated carbon prepared by carbonization and chemical activation with zinc chloride was tested with effluent from 7UP Bottling Company, Ngwo, Enugu State, Nigeria, using standard protocols. The result indicated a significant (P<0.05) increase in the pH and temperature of rice husk-based activated carbon treated effluent compared to control with no significant (P>0.05) difference. Overall, the result revealed that there was a general significant (P<0.05) decrease in the total hardness, alkanility, chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, nitrate, total dissolved solid, total suspended solid, total solid, sulphate, nitrate, chloride, and metals in rice husk acivated carbon treated filtrate when compared to the untreated. Although, values of physicochemical parameters obtained in filtrate from rice husk-based activated carbon were generally lower than that of commercial, the difference were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The results showed that waste water treated with rice husk activated carbon met the international standards for maximum limits of effluent discharge to sewage, stream and drinking water. The study therefore recommends the use of rice husk-based activated carbon as an efficient and environmental friendly water treament option.