Reply to the discussion by A. Demirbas of the paper “The removal of phosphate ions from aqueous solution by fly ash, slag, ordinary Portland cement and related blends”

The authors would like to thank Prof. Demirbas for his interesting comments on our paper. In our work, especially the batch experiments referred to, phosphate removal was studied at a pH of 9. At this pH value, the phosphate ions are predominantly HPO42-. Due to the nature of the adsorbent materials used, removal most probably occurs through tricalcium phosphate precipitation.