LAUSR

Abstract Pulp and paper industry generates large wastewater volumes containing recalcitrant and toxic compounds in various forms. These compounds are highly toxic and standard primary/secondary treatments are unable to filter heavy metal contaminants besides organic species. An emerging demand of advance level treatment is the motivation of current work that explores possibility of using thick sand of deep aquifers as an adsorbent to remove inorganic and organic contaminants simultaneously from wastewater besides desalination. Popular ultrasonic cavitation is used to accelerate degradation of toxic organic effluent into less toxic open ring structures besides curing heavy metals to form new bonds during adsorption. Because of extreme local environment due to cavitation, heavy metals coagulate in silicon-aluminum atomic meshes and carbon nano tubes for less toxic new crystalline structure. Significant changes in physico-chemical investigations like pH, chemical oxygen demand and colour towards drinkable water standards indicate effective adsorption resulting into wastewater purification.