Study of natural minerals as sorbents for drinking water treatment

Tap water usually meets the requirements for its quality. However, the water passing through pipelines is treated with chlorine-containing substances. It can be hard and contents of increased level of heavy metals (Zn, Ni, Pb, etc.). Therefore, many people buy drinking water that has undergone multi-stage purification. However, distilled, filtered water is no less dangerous for the body, since beneficial trace elements have been removed from it. One of the most effective methods for post-treatment of drinking water is the sorption method. It is expedient to use natural sorbents due to its availability, inexpensiveness, regeneration capability and utilizationeasiness. They are not only able to purify the solution they contact with from undesirable elements, but alsothey saturate it with useful macro- and microelements. In this study, an assessment was made of the possibility of improving the quality of drinking water as a result of contact with natural minerals. The object of the study is a kit for water treatment at home, produced by the “Natural Healer” Trading Company (Moscow), provided by “The first private clinic” in Tomsk, which plans to recommend it for use by patients with gastrointestinal diseases. The set includes minerals: mountain quartz, pink sand, silica, jadeite and shungite. In the study, using the methods of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma, and IR spectroscopy, minerals were identified and their chemical composition was established. It was not possible to identify the mineral shungite as akit component. In a number of minerals an increased content of As, Ni, Cu, Cr was noted. The ability of minerals to saturate water with essential elements (Si, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, etc.) and their sorption capacity with respect to ions of heavy and toxic metals (Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) was studied by the method of arc atomic emission spectroscopy. Contribution of the authors: the authors contributed equally to this article. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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