Fluoride removal from ground water sample by Pistia stratiotes

Fluoride in ground water is a well recognized problem in different parts of the earth including India. Various physiochemical separation processes are available which are to be considered as environmental friendly. Phytoremediation technology reported in the literature as a sustainable and cost effective green technology and its availability is ubiquitous in India. An investigation was undertaken in Environmental Engineering laboratory, Jadavpur University Kolkata to examine the potential of Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) for removal of fluoride from a real life groundwater samples collected from fluoride affected tubewell. The initial concentration of fluoride in ground water sample was found to be 8.12 ± 1.26 mg/l. The experimental result showed that for a biomass (Pistia stratiotes)of 80 g/L, 29.37% fluoride was removed after an10 days of exposure time following the pseudo first order reaction kinetics.