Environmental Engineering and Management Journal November 2013, Vol.12, No. 11, 2117-2124 http://omicron.ch.tuiasi.ro/EEMJ/ “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania ADSORPTION OF LEAD AND COPPER FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION USING UNMODIFIED WHEAT STRAW Mehwish Anis  , Sajjad Haydar, Abdul Jabbar Bari University of Engineering & Technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering & Research (IEER), Lahore, Pakistan Abstract Potential of unmodified Wheat Straw as an adsorbent for the removal of lead and copper was studied. Effect of pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial metal concentration on the removal of the metal ions were also investigated. Maximum removal of lead was found to be 43.55% by wheat straw under optimum conditions (pH=5, adsorbent dose=16g/L, contact time= 240 minutes, metal concentration=100 mg/L). Unmodified Wheat straw removed 0.381 mg/g of lead. While 56.36% copper removal was achieved using unmodified wheat straw under optimum conditions (pH=5, adsorbent dose=20g/L, contact time= 120 minutes, metal concentration=100 mg/L). Unmodified Wheat Straw removed 0.587 mg/g of copper. Langmuir isotherm was found to validate the equilibrium data of adsorption while kinetics were described by pseudo second order rate equation for both the metals.Furthermore, competitive adsorption of lead and copper showed that lead had more affinity for Wheat Straw as compared to copper. It was concluded that removal efficiency of unmodified Wheat Straw is much less as compared to modified Wheat Straw. Key words: adsorption, copper, heavy metal, lead, unmodified wheat straw Received: December, 2010; Revised final: March, 2012; Accepted: March, 2012  Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: mehwish@uet.edu.pk; Phone: +92429029248 1. Introduction Rapid industrialization and urbanization has led to the deterioration of surface as well as ground water due to discharge of municipal and industrial wastewater into water bodies. In addition to conventional pollutants, water bodies are also receiving toxic heavy metals which pose serious threats to the human health. They also accumulate in the food web through biomagnifications and pollute the entire food pyramid. According to WHO guidelines for drinking water quality, lead and copper are the heavy metals of most immediate concern (WHO, 1984). Sources of lead include discharges from battery manufacturing industries, paint industry, chemical and construction industries, domestic plumbing and road run off (HE&W, 2012). It also affects the process of brain development in children. Lead is also known to inhibit the anaerobic digestion if present in wastewater (WHO, 2012). Copper enters wastewater through effluent discharges from electroplating industry, paint manufacturing, printed circuit board making, wood preservatives, phosphate fertilizer production and printing process. Immediate effects of copper intake at elevated levels can result in irritation of the nose, mouth and eyes, headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, vomiting and diarrhea. Liver and kidneys can be damaged due to long term copper exposure. Wilson’s disease is also caused due to chronic copper poisoning. Copper reduces the decomposition of organic compounds by negatively affecting the activity of microorganisms (Lenntech, 2012). Conventionally, removal of heavy metals from water and wastewater is carried out by chemical precipitation, extraction, ion exchange, reverse