IntroductionThe human health and ecological systems are threatened to getworse because abundant and harmful heavy metals can be found inthe water sources due to the rapid industrial and agricultural devel-opment together with the population growth [1]. One of the mosttoxicological relevance presented by the industrial and agriculturaleffluents is the heavy metals. The pollution of water resources dueto the disposal of heavy metals has been an increasing worldwideconcern for the last few decades [2]. Their presence in streamsand lakes has been responsible for several health problems in ani-mals, plants, and human beings. Toxic metal compounds comingto the earth¡¯s surface not only contaminate earth¡¯s water (seas,lakes, ponds and reservoirs), but can also contaminate undergroundwater in trace amounts by leaking from the soil after rain and snow.Therefore, the earth¡¯s water may contain various toxic metals [3].Thus, it is important to remove heavy metal ions from waters andwastewaters before they are released to the environment.Several technologies have been developed for the removal ofheavy metal pollutants from liquid wastes where they are presentin high concentrations. These include methods such as precipita-tion, electroplating, ion exchange and membrane processes. These.Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 0 222 321 3550x6504; fax: +90 0 222 323 9501.E-mail address: aeputun@anadolu.edu.tr (A.E. Putun).processes are difficult to implement on large scale due to expen-siveness and other shortcomings such as ineffectiveness at lowconcentration (