Remediation of Drinking Water from Pesticides

Effect of handy household techniques for water treatment like boiling, treatment with KMnO4 (1.5 mg L−1) or iodine (tincture iodine, 0.4mL L−1) on the decontamination of endosulfan (alpha and beta), chlorpyrifos and lindane is reported. At 0.01 μg mL−1 boiling for 1min removed alpha and beta endosulfan upto 97.2 and 67.7%, respectively, lindane upto 66% and chlorpyrifos upto 40%. Iodine removed 100% of alpha and 84% of beta endosulfan but only 17.9% of chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos was removed maximum (64.8%) by KMnO4. The removal was relatively less at higher concentrations of pesticides suggesting a need for more contact time or a higher concentration of the reagent.