Abstract

Gayathri Parivallal, Ranadive Ananth G., *Bijaya Kumar Nayak and Anima Nanda

ABSTRACT

Turbidity makes water unpleasant and becomes the major culprit helping microbes to stay and replicate in water, hence it needs to be treated and removed properly. Treatment methods are available viz., coagulation followed by flocculation, sedimentation and filtration in order to remove the turbidity. Coagulants such as Alum, PAC (Poly Aluminium Chloride), FeCl3 etc, are mostly employed for the turbidity removal from water. Among them, Alum is the most widely used coagulant in water treatment because of its confirmed enactment and cost efficiency. Though alum has a established track best, usage of the same in drinking water system surges the concentration of Aluminium ion which does not fall under the WHO (World Health Organization) norms of drinking water standards. Hence the present study would be an alternate methodology towards turbidity reduction in water by using natural coagulants. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of Moringa oleifera seed extract in the removal of turbidity from the selected water samples. For this work a pre-existing water treatment system of capacity 2 m3/hr from a Residential Apartment named M/s. Ozone Pavillion was selected with an existing scheme of Alum dosing system, Pressure sand filter, Activated Carbon filter and Softener. In this scheme the Alum dosing was replaced with Moringa oleifera seed extract dosing and the softener filter was bypassed. Two different water samples were selected (Bore Well Water and Surface Water) and jar test was performed with the Moringa oleifera extract to arrive the best suited dose for the turbidity reduction. Here the jar test performed with different concentration of Moringa oleifera extract starting from 20 mg/l to 60 mg/l and selected the concentration of 60 mg/l as the best suited dose for turbidity reduction. The selected concentration was used for a pilot plant study in the existing water treatment plant designed by M/s. Green Enviro Polestar. The study showed the turbidity removal efficiency of 40% to 60% and highly emphasized the usage Moringa oleifera seed extract as a natural coagulant in water treatment systems.