Pollution of surface water by heavy metals is a major environmental problem worldwide.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of natural adsorbents (bentonites from
the Kopernica deposit) with commercial types (zeolites of different quality) in removing selected
heavy metals from the polluted surface stream in the monitored area. The adsorption process of the
monitored metals was evaluated in terms of adsorption capacity and percentage of metal ion removal
efficiency. The surface flow in the monitored area is significantly polluted and does not achieve
the necessary water quality. The results of the research point to the high adsorption capacity of bentonites
for Hg, while zeolites showed this ability less and were suitable only for some of the monitored heavy
metals. The adsorption of zeolite of the type ZeoCem Eco Micro 200 (type C) is suitable for metals
in the direction from the most adsorbed heavy metal to the least adsorbed as follows: Sb > Hg > Cr > Cd
> Cu > Zn. As showed no affinity for adsorption onto zeolite C. The research confirmed the suitability
of low-cost adsorbents for the remediation of polluted water in the monitored area.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.