Engineering Commons^™

Impact Of Artisanal And Small-Scale Mining On Water Bodies And Treatment: The Case Of Birim River Basin In Ghana, Adwoa Boadua Yirenkyi Fianko

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Water bodies, the source of drinking water for many rural households in mining areas are at risk of contamination due to artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities. Water quality, therefore, remains a topical issue for policymakers and researchers.

This research sought to achieve three objectives: firstly, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and regulations about ASM in protecting waterbodies. Secondly, to determine the impact of ASM on waterbodies, health and livelihood of inhabitants in mining communities and thirdly, to remove heavy metals from water using locally available bio-adsorbents such as moringa seeds, coconut and corn husks.

A survey of …

Removal And Recovery Of Heavy Metals By Nickel Smelter Slag, Maame Kyeiwaa Addai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The research was performed to assess the potential of nickel smelter slag, an industrial waste, as an adsorbent in the removal of heavy metals from solution. Results from batch studies on the effect of pH, metal-slag contact time, particle size, competition by other ions and slag dose were used to estimate the optimum adsorption conditions of the slag as an adsorbent for Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni and Zn. Adsorption of Cu and Pb were akin to the pseudo second order kinetic model and followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The calculated k₂ values were 0.18 mg g^-1min …