Using zeolitic adsorbents to cleanup special wastewater streams: A review

• Treatment of special wastewater streams with zeolite are discussed.
• Acid mine drainage, landfill leachate, nuclear fallout, urban runoff are discussed.
• Modified zeolite are multifunctional adsorbents for cations, anions and molecules.
• Natural zeolites are eco-friendly adsorbents for treating the special wastewaters.

Extensive mining, massive urban waste landfills, nuclear accidents and urban runoff discharge huge volume of special wastewater streams to the water bodies. Appropriate measures should be considered for treating these high volume contaminated water streams in order to maintain water quality as safe as possible. Natural zeolites are abundant and inexpensive inorganic adsorbents are outstanding candidates for water and wastewater treatment. Zeolites and their modified forms are introduced as inexpensive, ubiquitous and green adsorbents that exhibit high performance for removing cations, anions and organic molecules from aqueous medium. This paper reviews the latest achievements on zeolite-based processes for treating these special wastewaters and discusses advantages and disadvantages of using zeolites for wastewater remediation processes.

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