REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER BY COCONUT HUSK AS NATURAL ADSORBENT

High fluoride concentration is a worldwide problem in drinking water due its health effects.  In India large population is mainly belong to rural areas which depend on ground water for their drinking purpose. The fluoride concentration in ground water varies from place to place. The data show that the fluoride distribution in ground water varies from 0.01mg/l to 48 mg/l [2]. The fluoride comes into ground water by various ways, for example, weathering of rocks, industrial effluents and geochemical reactions. Traces of fluoride in minute amounts is an essential component for bones and for the formation of dental enamel in animals and human but its high concentration more than 1.5 mg/l causes irreversible demineralization of bones and tooth tissues i.e. skeletal and dental fluorsis, damage to the brain, harmful effects on kidney and liver, headache, skin rashes, bone cancer and even death in extreme cases. Various treatment technologies for removing fluoride from groundwater have been investigated. Adsorption process for defluoridation has favoured for the most part in developing countries as it is techno-economical viable method, environmental friendly and straight forwardness in operation. Therefore it is require to observe defluoridation by cheap and easy method. This paper review about the defluoridation by a natural absorbent i.e. coconut husk which is cheap and effective and gives perfect removal of fluoride in drinking water upto 86%. For higher removal percentage efficiency of fluoride, optimal dose of adsorbent was also determined. From the results obtained it can be concluded that Coconut husk can become a cheap alternative for defluoridation of water.