Eco-Friendly Agricultural Biomass-based Adsorbents for Removing Fluoride from Drinking Water: A Review of their Performance and Real-World Challenges

Removal of fluoride from groundwater remains a serious concern for the environment and health, especially in developing nations where groundwater is the primary source of drinking water. Excess fluoride in groundwater can cause dental and bone disorders, as well as other health problems, which is why there is a need for cost-effective and long-term solutions for the removal of fluoride. This review examines the current developments in the removal of fluoride using low-cost adsorbents prepared from agricultural biomass. Adsorbents such as activated bagasse carbon, sawdust, wheat straw, and rice husk have been found to possess a strong potential for fluoride adsorption, especially in water with a pH close to neutrality, as is found in natural conditions. The efficiency of these adsorbents typically varies between 40% and 94%, depending on several conditions such as pH, contact time, temperature, presence of other ions, and dosage of the adsorbent. Although these methods have been found to be effective in the laboratory, their practicality on a large scale and in the long term is still limited. The review discusses how these regeneration of these adsorbents, their evaluation on a larger scale, and their application in real-life settings.