WASTEWATER TREATMENT WITH CHITOSAN NANO-PARTICLES MARAM T. H. ABOU KANA 1 , MOHAMMED RADI 2 & MAHER Z ELSABEE 3 1,2 National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt 3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo, Egypt ABSTRACT Chitosan interact with polyphosphate ions to form nanoparticles with different diameters depending on the mutual ratio among them. Three nanoparticles have been prepared and were characterized by spectral and X-ray diffraction tools. TEM analysis revealed there diameters. The nanoparticles were thoroughly studied for wastewater treatment such as the removal of Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and removal of six heavy metal cations (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) from wastewater. These investigations were carried out to minimize the cost and obtain the optimum performance in wastewater treatment. The result showed that the dosage of nanoparticles increases the % efficiency of wastewater treatment, and the smaller the size of the nano chitosan the higher is its activity. KEYWORDS: Chitosan Nanoparticles, Characterization, Wastewater Treatment INTRODUCTION Society’s rapid evolution has increased the demand for water in every sector. At the same time, the continual production of great quantities of wastewater has led to the view that this should be considered as alternative water resource. Nevertheless, wastewater reuse poses a risk for public health and for this reason specific levels of quality are required. Conventional treatments do not reach the minimum quality standards, since effluents from such treatments continue to present a high number of pathogenic micro-organisms [Koivunen et al., 2003]. Consequently, there is a need for tertiary treatments such as water disinfection technologies. Development of new technologies has extended the possibilities of wastewater reuse [Sonune and Ghate, 2004], and this may now be applied to agriculture at all levels, as well as to irrigation of sports grounds, urban uses, industrial uses, aquifer recharge, etc. At the same time, norms regarding the quality of water to be reused have become increasingly stringent, while tertiary treatments have in turn become increasingly sophisticated as they strive to obtain effluents of high quality. Population explosion, haphazard rapid urbanization, industrial and technological expansion, energy utilization and waste generation from domestic and industrial sources have rendered many waters unwholesome and hazardous to man and other living resources. There are little or no stringent laws guiding environmental pollution. Hence, many industries discharge untreated or inadequately treated wastewater into water ways. A number of technologies have been developed over the years to remove organic matter (expressed as chemical oxygen demand, COD) from industrial wastewater. The most important technologies include coagulation/flocculation process [Amuda et al., 2006; Bromley et al., 2002], membrane filtration [Galambos et al., 2004], oxidation process [Martinez et al., 2003; Peres et al., 2004]. These methods are generally expensive, complicated, time consuming and requires skilled personnel. The high cost of coal-based activated arbons has stimulated the search for cheaper alternatives. Low cost and non-conventional adsorbent include agricultural by products such as nut shells, wood, bone, peat processed into activated carbons [Ahmedna et al. , 2000a; Ahmedna et al., International Journal of Nanotechnology and Application (IJNA) ISSN 2277-4777 Vol. 3, Issue 2, Jun 2013, 39-50 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.