Comprehensive Analysis for Removal of Contamination in Groundwater by Brick Powder

Abstract

Groundwater contamination by fluoride, heavy metals, arsenic, and other inorganic pollutants remains a significant public health challenge in many developing regions, where groundwater is often the primary source of drinking water. Conventional treatment technologies such as reverse osmosis, ion exchange, and membrane filtration are effective but frequently too costly, energy-intensive, or technically demanding for decentralized or rural application. This has driven sustained interest in low-cost, locally available adsorbents, among which waste brick powder — derived from discarded or broken fired clay bricks, cement bricks, and construction and demolition (C&D) debris — has emerged as a promising material. This review synthesizes findings from studies published between 2021 and 2024 on the use of brick powder and related brick-derived materials (brick sand nanoparticles, cement brick waste, aerated concrete/clay brick blends, and metal-modified brick powder) for the removal of fluoride, heavy metals (lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, iron), and other contaminants from groundwater and aqueous solution. The mechanisms of adsorption, the influence of operating parameters (pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, particle size, and temperature), isotherm and kinetic modelling, comparative performance against other low-cost adsorbents, and the circular-economy rationale of reusing construction waste are discussed. The review concludes that brick powder is a technically viable, economically attractive, and environmentally sustainable adsorbent for point-of-use and community-scale groundwater treatment, though its moderate adsorption capacity relative to engineered adsorbents indicates a need for surface modification (acid activation, iron/metal impregnation) to enhance performance for field deployment.