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Abstract

The present work was carried out in order to investigate the physical and chemical quality of the Libyan Asbi'ah groundwater and the degree of its contamination. The achieved results were compared with international quality standards for drinking water. The sampleswere collected from five water wells of the Asbi'ah region. Several parameters were examined including Colour, Taste, smell, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Calcium and Magnesium Hardness, Total Hardness, Iron, Fluoride, Ammonia, Phosphate and Chloride. The results showed that the groundwater of Asbi'ah area were within the limitations of WHO Standards. For instance, the maximum values of Fe, PO4, F, NH3 and Cl were (0.92, 0.16, 1.2, 0.05)mg/L respectively. However, some samples had a bit high of concentrations for TDS (590mg/L) and Total Hardness (702mg/L). The most of the water wells shared the high concentration of Total Hardness which might be due to the earth geology of the studied area. This makes the water taste unacceptable and therefore, the water might not be used as drinking water.

Keywords: Natural Groundwater, Chemical & Physical Properties, Contamination, Asbi'ah -Libya.

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ABSTRACT

Massive amounts of solid olive mill residues (olive-waste cake) generated

every year and disposed of in the environment. Thus, the present work aims

to study the preparation of activated carbon (AC) from Libyan Olive-Waste

Cakes as a natural source. The solid olive mill residue was carbonized at

200 C0 and chemically activated with 25% Zncl2 and 25% Zncl2 + 25%

H2SO4 . The prepared AC was used to reduce total hardness in groundwater.

The results showed that the addition of H2SO4 increased the treatment

efficiency of AC leading to decrease the total hardness concentration.

Several parameters affecting the efficiency of AC were investigated

including pH, initial concentration of AC, and contact time. The achieved

results showed that the optimum values were at pH: 3, AC initial

concentration: 2.5 g/L, and contact time 120 min. At these conditions the

maximum reduction of hardness was 75%. According to these results the

olive- waste cake can be considered as an effective natural source of

activated Carbon.