A study of Sorghum Distillery Residue Activated Carbon for water purification

This study used fermentation waste-Sorghum Distillery Residue (SDR) as a precursor to prepare different kinds of Sorghum Distillery Residue Activated Carbon (SDRAC) by physical activation with steam, in order to evaluate the water purification and the preliminary safety of water quality before and after purification. The turbidity, total hardness, nitrite nitrogen, total bacterial count, and coliform of the water purified by prepared SDRAC were 0.12 NTU, 55.6mg/L, 0.00mg/L, 1 CFU/mL, and below 1.0 CFU/mL, respectively, meeting the quality standard for drinking water in Taiwan. The total organic carbon in water was reduced by 34.5%, at most. The cytotoxicity test results of the Ames Tests for the water specimens before and after filtration by SDRAC showed that the bacterial survival rate was higher than 80 % of control group, meaning that there is no cytotoxicity. The mutagenicity results showed that the spontaneous revertants were not exceeded by over two times, suggesting no mutagenicity. The SDRAC; therefore, has functional value of water purification, and can be preliminarily regarded as a safe natural water purifying material.