Ground water samples from residential homes in three Regions of Ghana: Central, Greater Accra and Ashanti, were analyzed for iron and manganese contamination. The samples were exposed to characterized zeolite Y by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transformed-infrared spectroscopy and thermos gravimetric-differential thermal analysis. Zeolite Y is able to remove 98% of iron and 97% of manganese within an hour. The adsorption of both iron and manganese followed the Freundlich model, suggesting that the ions were transported onto the zeolite Y surface and subsequently diffused into the zeolite Y framework. The kinetic studies showed that pseudo-first order and intra particle and film diffusion models provided the best fit. The adsorption at 0.2 mg L⁻¹ Fe ( $Q_{0.2}$ ) is calculated to be 0.023 mg g⁻¹ for the Freundlich adsorption model, whilst that of manganese at 0.05 mg L⁻¹ Mn ( $Q_{0.05}$ ) is evaluated to be 0.015 mg g⁻¹. The zeolite retains its adsorption properties when retrieved from the first exposure water sample, washed copiously with distilled water and added to fresh water samples. The results suggest that zeolite Y can be used as a potential adsorbent for the removal of iron and manganese from groundwater.

This study investigated the pore characterization of polyurethane (PU) foam as a necessary step in water filtration membrane fabrication. Porous material characterization is essential for predicting membrane performance, strength, durability, surface feel, and to understand the transport mechanisms using modeling and simulations. Most existing pore characterization techniques are relatively costly, time-consuming, subjective, and have cumbersome sample preparations. This study focused on using three relatively inexpensive imaging systems: a black box, Canon camera (EOS760D), and LaserJet scanner (M1132 MFP). Two standard, state-of-the-art imaging systems were used for comparison: a stereomicroscope and a scanning electron microscope. Digital images produced by the imaging systems were used with a MATLAB algorithm to determine the surface porosity, pore area, and shape factor of the polyurethane foam in an efficient manner. The results obtained established the compatibility of the image analysis algorithm with the imaging systems. The black box results were found to be more comparable to both the stereomicroscope and SEM systems than those of the Canon camera and scanner imaging systems. Indeed, the current research effort demonstrates the possibility of substrate characterization with inexpensive imaging systems.

In groundwater, dissolved organic matter (DOM), a complex material, is a contaminant of concern owing to its ability to influence water quality and stimulate microbial metabolism. Using a 445-nm diode laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy, DOM contamination levels have been investigated of well water samples fetched from ten privately owned hand-dug wells during dry and wet seasons of 2016, 2017 and 2018, in Ghana. The results showed spatio-temporal heterogeneities in the LIF spectra, and the fluorescence intensity peaks were generally higher and broader during the wet season than the dry season. In this study, DOM fluorescence spectra at an emission wavelength band of 460–650 nm showed two distinct broad peak shoulders within 480–500 nm and 550–570 nm, engulfing the water Raman peak at 527 ± 2 nm for all the water samples studied. Furthermore, principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to differentiate the 2016 water samples based on their DOM contamination levels. In each case, three groups or clusters were identified based on their similarities and dissimilarities. The study revealed humic DOM substances as the most typical well water fluorophores. Applying the K-nearest neighbour algorithm as a classifier method for the classification of 30 water samples studied in 2016, 16.7% (5/30) were classified as very good drinking water, 46.7% (14/30) as good, 26.7% (8/30) as fairly good, and 10% (3/30) as bad drinking water samples. In general, levels of dissolved organic matter contamination increased over the study period during the rainy seasons for wells situated in close proximity to septic tanks, refuse dumps, public toilets and in wetlands. Thus, in the study the fluorescence intensity depends on the sampling site and the season, and indicates the DOM contamination level.

Rice husk was used to synthesize zeolite (ZSM-11). FTIR and X-ray diffraction methods were used to characterize the product. The synthesized zeolite was used to treat underground water from some communities in Cape Coast considering parameters such as total dissolved solids, total hardness, conductivity, nitrate, and phosphate. The percentage reduction in was 96.1% in Ebubonko and 92.5% in Apewosika. Similarly, the levels also decreased significantly in Kwaprow. The adsorption capability was also determined by using it to remove Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺ from laboratory prepared solutions with varying masses. The percentage reduction recorded 90.57% and 86.61% for the 1.0 g whilst the 1.5 g showed 93.26% and 89.36%, respectively. It was also realized that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-first-order rather than the pseudo-second-order process with their R² values of 0.9929 and 0.8503 for the pseudo-first-order and 0.9662 and 0.6912 for the second-order for Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺, respectively. The adsorption capacity also favored the Freundlich isotherm with R² values of 0.7578 and 0.642 rather than Langmuir isotherm with R² values of 0.1742 and 0.3856 for Pb²⁺ and Zn²⁺, respectively. The photodegradation ability of the synthesized zeolite was analyzed using rhodamine blue (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). The process was realized to favor the pseudo-second-order with R² values of 0.9986 and 0.0007 and a constant K₂ of 0.035 and 0.021 for RhB and MO, respectively, whereas the pseudo-first-order showed an R² value of 0.9376 and 0.9757 with K₁ values of 0.03 and 0.02.