Aquatic environmental monitoring and removal efficiency of detergents

In this study, the detergent's concentrations in aquatic environment principally drinking and surface water along River Nile and near rural village were determined to report the influence of different physicochemical characteristics on the distribution of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) that lead to toxicity in human beings. The removal efficiency of LAS using zeolite and granular activated carbon technique was assessed.The results showed wide variations observed between surface (0.07–0.38 mg LAS/l) and bottom water (0.05–0.17 mg LAS/l) due to increase in population density and human activities that recorded highest concentration along rural area (surface: 1.24–2.45 and bottom: 0.93–1.083 mg LAS/l). Low concentration of surfactants was found in drinking water (0.005–0.007 mg LAS/l) compared to the concentration of the corresponding water samples along the River Nile. In conclusion, the study indicated that the treatment processes for drinking water production were insufficient for the complete removal of surfactants and adsorption process by using zeolite as low cost, most beneficial, economically feasible method as well as easy to operate for producing high quality of water.