Activated carbon is normally produced from various carbonaceous materials of both plant and animal origin. This work was focused on the preparation of activated carbon from periwinkle shells gotten from kenyetta market in Enugu, and its use as an adsorbent for water treatment in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. The activated carbon, (AC) is prepared by acid activation method at temperature of 6000C. The effects of carbonization and acid impregnation time on the adsorption potential of the activated carbons on adsorption of nickel and lead from inyaba river water in Amagunze, in Nkanu East L.G.A, was examined. The results show that the concentrations of nickel and lead before purification are 1.86mg/l and 0.08 mg/l respectively. After purification, lead was not detected in any of the samples while the concentrations of nickel reduced from 1.86 mg/l to 0.30 mg/l. Thus, this study showed that activated carbon produced from periwinkle shell is suitable for the adsorption of Ni+2 and Pb+2 ions and as such could be used as a costeffective and locally accessed adsorbent in the treatment of contaminated river water.
Keywords: Activated carbon, Heavy Metals, Periwinkle Shell, preparation, water treatment
