Abstract
A laboratory experiment studied the adsorption of arsenate on coarse loamy mixed hyperthermic Fluventic Haplustept soil of Punjab to serve as cheap materials for removal of arsenic (As) from water with elevated As concentration. The arsenate adsorptions onto soil and soil + iron fillings are described by a two‐region Langmuir isotherm equation; that is, the plots showed two distinct linear portions. The bonding energy and adsorption maxima for arsenate adsorption by soil increased slightly at higher equilibrium temperature of 305 K relative to 280 K in the Langmuir plot for region I but followed an appreciative decline in both parameters for region II. The addition of iron fillings enhanced the adsorption maxima of arsenic soils by 2.5‐fold because of physical adsorption and 4.44‐fold because of chemisorptions or precipitation at weak and strong As concentrations, respectively, in soil–water equilibrated systems. Thus, the results of the present investigation suggest that water withdrawn from shallow aquifer containing elevated As concentrations should be equilibrated with mixtures of soil and iron fillings for removal of As. After an equilibration period, separation of water by decantation or filtration could be used for drinking purposes for humans and domestic animals.