Abstract

• In this research, the paddy growing surrounding area in Patheingyi Township Mandalay Region was chosen to study the environmental contamination by water from agricultural sites. Some physicochemical parameters such as pH, temperature, conductivity and turbidity were directly measured by respective apparatus. The alkalinity of each water sample was determined by acidbase titration. The total hardness of water samples was determined by EDTA titrimetric method. Nitrogen content, phosphate content, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved oxygen were also determined. The compositions of the metals such as iron, lead, cadmium and copper which can cause pollution to water were investigated by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. To reduce the pollutants in water samples by adsorption, corn cob powder was chosen as adsorbent. In addition, corn cob sample was activated with H3PO4. The elemental compositions of adsorbent samples were examined by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) analysis and the surface morphology of adsorbents was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The collected water samples were treated by filtration using the prepared adsorbents to reduce the extent of contamination of water from agricultural sites.