Assessment of Biological Removal of Fe as a Heavy Metal in Wastewater Treatment: Comparison of Active Sludge and Aquatic Fern Usage

The worldwide concerns have been raised for removal of heavy metals via environmentally friendly approaches. In this study biological removal of Fe metal ions from effluent was studied and individual effects of operating factors investigated in laboratory. Moreover effectiveness of non-living aquatic plants and activated sludge that used as bio-adsorbents was evaluated. Removal of heavy metal ions in batch reactors containing the laboratory and real effluent was carried out according to the results of pilot-scale optimization. Acidic environment with pH-value of 3.5 with 6 g/l Aquatic ferns had a removal efficiency of 81.2% while 5 g/l active sludge showed 78.2% performance. Also residence time of 90 and 120 minutes represented the best results for active sludge and aquatic ferns usage in removal of 50 ppm pollutant, respectively.