Drinking water purification using red mud, bentonite and activated carbon blended cementitious composites

The need for clean drinking water is increasing by the day; however, existing treatment processes have difficulties in meeting this need. The use of different filtering materials for a more efficient treatment process is an ongoing quest, and cementitious composites have come to the fore, in terms of their relatively low cost and ease of design. In this study, the water-treatment performance of cementitious composites containing red mud, bentonite and activated charcoal was evaluated, physically, chemically and microbiologically. While plain cementitious composites have been very successful in removing turbidity, manganese, cobalt and iron oxide from raw dam water, and have completely prevented the growth of Enterococcus faecalis for the first two days, red mud and bentonite cementitious composites have also been quite successful in absorbing calcium, manganese, cobalt and barium. In addition, for the first two days after filtration, the growth of microorganisms such as E. faecalis, Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was completely prevented, while the growth of Escherichia coli (fecal), E. coli (coliform), Staphylococcus aureus and total viable microorganisms was significantly reduced of over 95%, by cementitious composites containing red mud and bentonite. Keywords: Activated carbon, Bentonite, Cementitious composites, Red mud, Water treatment.