Cleaning of Pesticide-Contaminated Water Using Natural Clays

The primary purpose of this research was the study of two natural clays Dardha (Korçë), which is located at 40°31'16.59'' N and 20°49'33.69'' E and the clay of Brari (Tirana), 41°21'14.49'' N and 19°50'17.74'' E for the removal of dimethoate, in order to clean the waters polluted with this pesticide. During the Clay-water+dimethoate contact time from 0 to 24 hours, there was spontaneous hydrolysis of dimethoate, which also theoretical data accurately explains this phenomenon. Clay-water+dimethoate contact time longer than 120 hours are not of interest for this study, because after this time there is no adsorption of dimethoate. Our experimental study focused on contact times from 24 to 120 hours. The adsorption process of dimethoate with concentrations of 0.2 mg/mL was studied; 0.3 mg/mL and 0.5 mg/mL in the natural clays of Dardhe and Brari. The desorption process of dimethoate from these clays was also studied. The desorption process was fast, where in the first two hours of contact 80 to 95% dimethoate was desorbed.