Study methods used to treat wastewater from heavy metals

Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 20, Issue 1 reviews the current methods that have been used to treat wastewater.

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most serious environmental problems at present. The treatment of heavy metals is especially worrisome due to its resistance and its persistence in the environment.

In recent years, several methods for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater have been studied extensively. Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters: A review Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 20, Issue 1 reviews the current methods that have been used to treat wastewater from heavy metals and evaluates these techniques.

These technologies include ion exchange, coagulation-flocculation, chemical precipitation, adsorption, membrane filtration, electrochemical and flotation methods. About 185 published studies (1988-2010) are reviewed in this article.

From the bibliography, it is clear that ion exchange, adsorption and membrane filtration are the most studied for the treatment of heavy metal wastewater.