Fluoride Contamination in Drinking Water in Sri Lanka and Fluoride Removal by Using Chicken Bone Char

Groundwater is indispensable source of drinking water for the residents of the central north province of Sri Lanka such as Anuradhapura region. Many residents suffer from dental fluorosis and skeleton fluorosis due to high concentration of fluoride in drinking and cooking water. Spatial distribution of the fluoride concentration was investigated in 8 regions in Sri Lanka. The fluoride concentration was found to be quite different even between adjacent wells. This fact indicates that the residents can select wells for drinking water according to the fluoride concentration to reduce adverse effects of fluoride on their health. However, when the residents are not able to access wells with low concentration of fluoride nearby, fluoride should be removed. We propose fluoride removal by chicken bone char since it is a low cost material, and it would be acceptable from a religios point of view. It was found that the optimum carbonization temperature was 600°C to remove fluoride.