Investigation of the efficiency of ecosystem services in removal of pollutant elements from wastewaters

Water pollution is an important component of environmental pollution. Today, a wide variety of methods are used to eliminate water pollution. The use of biomass is a method that has been used quite frequently recently. Recently, studies on creating indentations and protrusions on the surface by treating it with various chemicals to create more area on the biomass have become widespread. However, the chemicals used often impose additional burdens on the ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, tea pulp, which is a completely waste biomass and not used elsewhere, was preferred as biomass. Two very important ecosystem services, decomposition and decay processes, were used to modify this biomass as well. The tea pulps in the form of waste material obtained in the study were subjected to decomposition and decay processes by keeping them under the ground and in water for certain periods. Chemically modified biomass was also studied as a positive control group. Afterwards, it was mixed with Bor (B) with different concentrations (0.1-0.5 g), kinetic (15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 4 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours) and pH values (3, 5, 7 and 9). The performances of polluted waters (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 ppm) were investigated. As a result of the statistical evaluation of the studies obtained, it was determined that 0.2 g biomass, pH 7 and 2 hours application gave the best results, and purification rates reaching 70% at some concentrations in B treatment applications made under these conditions. We believe that this method, which has been applied for the first time in its current form, may be a promising application for the future in terms of clean environment. Keywords: Waste tea pulp, Boron, Wastewater treatment, Ecology, Ecosystem services