Abstract

• Hardness is one of the common water quality problems throughout the world. Luffa sponge can be used as a sorbent material to reduce dissolved calcium and magnesium in hard water. This paper deals with removal of calcium ions from water by using luffa sponge as a sorbent. The luffa sponge sample was collected from Taunggyi Township, Shan State. In order to find out the types of organic constituents present in luffa sponge sample, preliminary phytochemical investigation was carried out by test tube method. Some physicochemical parameters such as ash, moisture and fibre contents of luffa sponge were determined by AOAC methods. The alkali modified luffa sponge sample was prepared by treating with NaOH solution. The feasibility of alkali modified luffa sponge as metal ions adsorbent for Ca2+ ions from aqueous solution was studied in bath experiments at room temperature. Sorption efficiency of alkali modified luffa sponge for calcium ions was investigated by varying pH, initial metal concentration, contact time and sorbent dose. The residual metal ions in aqueous solution will be determined by complexometric titration. Alkali modified luffa sponge and metal loaded alkali modified luffa sponge were characterized by EDXRF and FT IR analyses. It was inferred that alkali modified luffa sponge can be considered as an effective sorbent in the treatment of hard water.