CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The rapid development of industrial activities over the past few years had an immense contribution to the growing dilemma water pollution. Heavy toxic metals which constitute most of the contaminated water have inevitably resulted in a substantial increase in level of metallic substances in water system. Water pollution alters the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water which in turn, affects man’s activity concerning water system. Lead is widely used in many industrial applications such as storage battery manufacturing, printing, pigments, fuels, photographic materials and explosive manufacturing. Lead is highly toxic as its presence in drinking water above the permissible limit (5 mg/mL) causes adverse health effects such as anemia, encephalopathy, hepatitis and nephritic syndrome. In recent years, technological advancement have seen the development of effective methods of isolating and removing toxic metals from industrial effluents. The most important technologies include chemical precipitation, electro flotation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis and adsorption using activated carbon. However, these methods have limitation on selective separation and high cost of investment and operation of equipment. Bearing in mind the need to develop a cheaper substitute, the proponents explored the possibility of using banana peel in the removal lead (II) ions in aqueous solution. Banana peel is the protective covering of Banana fruit. In many countries including the Philippines where Banana is a staple food, peel are usually free either on the farm ao from the dumps in our surrounding. In facts, a number of banana producing countries are currently conducting research on other potential application of banana peel.

Statement of the Problem
The study aims to answer the following questions: