A comparative study of biocoagulant powers in preparing drinking water: case of Moringa oleifera and Adansonia digitata

Perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in raw and treated tap water from Osaka, Japan

The use of Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant in surface water treatment

Coagulants are essential in purifying raw water for drinking water safety for consumers. Commonly, aluminium sulphate, a chemical coagulant, is used for water treatment. However, for long-term usage, chemical coagulants can be considered toxic and harmful to the environment due to the accumulation of this substance in the pipeline system, which can create severe health issues if consumed. The natural plant-based coagulant can be a substitute for a sustainable solution in the water treatment coagulation process. This research aimed to determine the efficiency of plant-based materials as coagulants in surface water treatment. Moringa oleifera and maize seeds were chosen as natural coagulants in this investigation since they are both locally available plant-based materials. Here, this research aims to study the ability of moringa oleifera seed and maize seed as plant-based coagulants in enhancing the effluent quality of the wastewater treatment plant of UiTM Dengkil Selangor. A jar test experiment was used to assess the capacity of moringa oleifera and maize as natural coagulants. The results comprise turbidity removal by 92% (mixed of moringa oleifera seed and maize seed), the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 95% reduction rate using moringa oleifera seed. The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) for 88% removal by moringa oleifera seed, ammonia-nitrogen removal of 12% (moringa oleifera seed) and total suspended solids (TSS) of 100% reduction rate using mixed moringa oleifera seed and maize seed for the effluent sample. Thus, it can be recognized that moringa oleifera and maize seeds can be an alternative solution to replace the chemical coagulants in the treatment systems.

The Moringa oleifera Lam belongs to Moringaceae family and is native to India and widely cultivated in the tropics all over the world.Their seeds are a good source of oil with an excellent quality and protein that present potential coagulant for water treatment. Studies reported that even after the removal of the oil from the seed, the defatted cake keeps its coagulant properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Moringa seed as coagulant in the treatment of surface water, after the removal of its oil. Saline coagulants were prepared in concentrations range of 3.45 - 75.8 mg / L, using seed (unprocessed) and defatted cake using mechanical and chemical extraction process with the solvents hexane and ethanol. The different coagulants were evaluated in the Jar test to verify their power to treat water with low turbidity. The results showed that both the defatted coagulants and the integral coagulant (unprocessed seeds) obtained similar results in the removal of approximately 83%, 90% and 69% for color, turbidity and UV254nm, respectively. However, the defatted coagulants (hexane and mechanical) that presented the low lipids content showed better results in the removal of dissolved organic carbon present in the raw water. The high efficiency in water treatment and decreased concentration in organic matter in the water, open new perspectives in the use of defatted coagulant of Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant for the treatment of supply water. In addition, it is possible to extract oil from Moringa oleifera seeds that have several applications and use the defatted cake in the water treatment process without losing its ability to coagulate.

ABSTRACTLittle is known about virome changes in raw and drinking water over time, and differences between raw water sources and treatment technologies. This study used metagenomics to assess viruses prevalent in raw and drinking water samples over 1 year from six Swedish drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) with varying treatment barriers and with different raw water sources. Sequences homologous to known viruses in the raw water samples were detected by amplification and next‐generation sequencing and classified into 152 different virus species belonging to 76 virus families/orders. The majority were small bacteriophages. Other viral genomes were homologous to viruses infecting plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, mammals and giant viruses infecting amoeba or algae. Several virus species were simultaneously found in both raw and drinking water, indicating passage through the purification barriers, although reduced by 1–3 log10 after treatment. Most viruses detected in water samples after ultrafiltration were small viruses, and other barriers appeared more effective at removing smaller viruses. To avoid detecting viruses possibly replicating within DWTPs, viruses were separated according to the possibility that the host could be found in the water sources or not. These results underscore the importance of monitoring both raw and drinking water for small viruses, especially when viral contamination of the source water is at risk, to ensure drinking water quality.

Safe drinking water is a top priority in preventing disease outbreaks and is of general concern to everyone. This study examines the occurrence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Hungarian drinking water supplies for the first time. A total of 76 raw and drinking water samples were examined using the U.S. EPA Method 1623. From these 15 of 34 (48.4%) raw water samples tested positive for Giardia and 7 (26.6%) for Cryptosporidium. Twelve of 45 (26.7%) drinking water samples were positive for Giardia and 6 (13.3%) for Cryptosporidium. Overall, Giardia cysts and/or Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 48% of the raw water samples and 35% of the drinking water samples. The highest levels in drinking water were found to be 3 oocysts/100 litres of Cryptosporidium and 63.6 cysts/100 litres for Giardia, enough to cause giardiasis. The highest levels in raw water were 1,030 cysts/100 litres for Giardia and 50 oocysts/100 litres for Cryptosporidium and higher oocyst densities were associated with source water receiving effluents from sewage treatment plants or originating from a forest environment. In addition to this monitoring, riverbank filtrated water and raw water from the River Danube in Budapest were monitored in order to ascertain protozoan removal efficiency of riverbank filtration (RBF). A total of 157 samples, including 87 samples from the River Danube and 70 samples post RBF, were examined. Cryptosporidium and Giardia were detected regularly in the river water but never in riverbank filtered water suggesting the effectiveness of RBF as a purification method. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts in the investigated water supplies may require the water utilities and water authorities in Hungary to apply additional monitoring and treatment and/or watershed controls.

Perfluoroalkyl substances and pharmaceuticals removal in full-scale drinking water treatment plants

Background: Diabetes mellitus, a heterogeneous metabolic disease characterized by altered carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Increased glucose level has a causal correlation with atherosclerotic changes in diabetic patients. Regulating blood glucose may prevent diabetes-related tissue damage and secondary complications associated.
 Methods: In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the Anti-diabetic and Anti-atherosclerotic effect exhibited by Cold and Hot extracts of Trigonella foenum leaves samples.
 Results: It was deduced that the Cold extracts of fenugreek leaves had more of Phenolic compounds, while the Hot extracts had Increased amount of Carbohydrates. In the Anti Atherosclerotic studies, it was observed that the Cold extract (34%) possessed higher Cardioprotective activity than the Hot extract (14%) of T. foenum leaves when compared with the Ascorbic acid (80%) as Standard. Increased glucose level has a causal correlation with atherosclerotic changes in diabetic patients. The Antidiabetic studies of both the extracts Hot and Cold of T. foenum leaves were studied. In the Alpha- amylase inhibition assay, it was seen that both the Cold (70.1±3.5) and Hot extract (69.1±2.5) of T. foenum leaves showed significant results when compared with the Standard Acorbase (72.5±2.0). Similarly, in Glucose diffusion inhibition assay, it was seen that both the Cold (48.54%) and Hot extract (47.51%) of T. foenum leaves, when compared with the standard Metformin (70.84%) showed potent Anti-Diabetic activity.
 Conclusion: From the above results, it can be concluded that T. foenum leaves in both Hot and Cold treated, possesses antioxidant activity, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-diabetic activity.

Lack of access to clean and safe water is prevalent within many rural communities in developing countries in Africa, and the need for household water treatment is enormous. Moringa oleifera plant is a tropical plant known for its nutritional and medicinal properties. Moringa seeds have been widely used in traditional water treatment practices across many countries of Africa and the world. This study examines the physicochemical properties of the stem and the seed of the moringa plant to define its suitability for use in household water treatment. The moringa oleifera seeds and stems were pulverized into powdered forms and divided into two parts. The first parts were left in their raw state, and the second parts were calcined in a kiln at 800oC. The raw and calcined moringa seed and stem samples were subjected to phytochemical analysis and XRF characterization. Aqueous extracts of the raw and calcined moringa seeds and stems were used in laboratory-based coagulation tests; coagulation efficiencies were determined using turbidity reduction in treated water over time. The results show similar elemental constituents in the raw and calcined moringa seed and stem. The necessary phytochemicals present were higher in the moringa seed samples than in the stem samples, both raw and calcined states. The coagulation tests indicated some coagulation efficiency in both raw and calcined samples, with turbidity reduction of up to 25% in 90 minutes. This study revealed that the moringa stems compare favourably with the moringa seeds in their raw or calcined forms as a bio-coagulant in water treatment.

Nitrates, phosphates, and many other anionic chemical species are among the most problematic and widespread contaminants in water sources. Currently, technologies for removing them in water involve biological and physico-chemical processes. In this study, we test the extent to which the cationic protein from Moringa Oleifera (MO) seeds can effectively sequester anionic contaminants in water. The protein was isolated from the MO seed through selective adsorption onto two carbon adsorbents: rice husk ash and commercial activated carbon. This step was designed to eliminate the co-release of soluble organics in MO seeds, which can shorten the storage life of the treated water. The MO-functionalized adsorbents were then tested for their removal efficiency of five anions: chloride, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and sulfate. A semi-factorial experimental design was adopted to evaluate the effect of contact time and adsorbent dose on the anion removal efficiencies. As a control, experiments were also run in parallel using bare carbon adsorbents. The aqueous MO protein concentrations were measured using an optical density meter (280 nm) and ion concentrations were measured using an ion chromatograph. ANOVA analysis was performed to determine the effectiveness of Moringa-functionalized carbon adsorbents compared to bare carbon adsorbents. Results show that MO protein adsorbs well on the carbon adsorbents, and that adsorption is higher in activated carbon than in rice husk. Equilibrium is achieved at 20 minutes of contact time. In all adsorbents (bare and MO-functionalized), the highest anion removal rate was observed for nitrate. Anion removal rates were generally higher in MO-functionalized adsorbents than in bare adsorbents. Phosphate removal was only observed in the MO-functionalized adsorbents, although it is noted that rice husk ash contained large amounts of soluble phosphate that contributed to a net positive increase of phosphate levels in the water. Overall, these findings suggest a strong potential for using MO protein as a low-cost water treatment technology, for example, in removing anionic dyes and surfactants. Further studies are needed to examine the surface interactions among anions, carbon adsorbents, and MO protein.

Obesity is defined as an excessive fat accumulation that causes metabolic syndrome such as diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Adipocytes are a major part of the adipose tissue that grows the abnormal lipid droplets which leads to fat accumulation. In modern drugs, treating obesity without any side effects is challenging. Natural products such as plants and herbs are widely used to cure obesity. Natural products are safer because of their reduced toxicity and infrequent negative effects. This study focuses on examining the potential anti-adipogenesis effects of Elateriospermum tapos on 3T3-L1 cells. The extracts from both seed and shell of the fruit were extracted using hot, cold and ethanol extraction. The extracts were tested for the cytotoxicity on 3T3-L1 cells and on zebrafish embryo in vivo. Zebrafish study on heartbeat, heart rate and scoliosis formation, shell extract show less toxic compared to seed extract. This shell extracts showed a positive correlation determination of R2 = 0.96. Therefore, shell extracts were used to indicate the maximum non-toxic dose (MNTD) of each extraction. The lowest MNTD was observed in ethanol extract at 5.2 ± 0.01 µg/mL, hot extract at 7.6 ± 0.25 µg/mL and cold extract at 8.1 ± 0.31 µg/mL. Oil Red O staining to determine the amount of lipid accumulation showed a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of 70% when compared to adipocytes when treated with ethanol shell extract, and a significant (P < 0.05) decrease of 60% by hot shell extract. With the reduction in lipid accumulation, lipolysis was measured by accounting the amount of glycerol produced. The highest production of glycerol was significant when treated with hot shell extract at 42 mg/L, followed by cold extract at 38 mg/L. This is concluded that the hot shell extract has potential to curb obesity by reducing lipid accumulation through lipolysis at a maximum non-toxic dosage.

Green and black tea is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. Moreover, during the last two decades it has received much attention in regard to its beneficial effects on various human health problems .This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial effect of hot and cold extracts of green tea and black tea separately against E. coli and after infecting the burned skin rat with them, also to screen the effect of both types of tea on rat liver and kidney. Sixteen male rats divided into four Groups (4 animals each), Group 1: untreated rat (control). Group 2: burn rats infected with E.coli(1.5×108 bacteria /ml). Group 3: burn treated by Green tea aqueous extract (1000 µg/ml) for E.coli bacteria. Group 4: burn treated by black tea extract (800 µg/ml) for E.coli bacteria. The tea extracts antimicrobial activity was analyzed by agar diffusion inhibition assay and minimum inhibitory concentration. Results exhibited that E. coli in particular, have high levels of resistance against 13 antimicrobial and response only to Imepeneme and Meropenem . Hot watery green tea extract is more effective against bacterial type than cold once. Based on assessment of inhibition zones. E. coli was more sensitive black tea extraction, according to the inhibitions zone. Depending on MIC, we concluded that hot extract from two types of teas have the best antibacterial effect than cold extract demonstrated that the best MIC against E.coli is hot green tea extract (400 µg/ml) then hot black tea extract (600 µg/ml) followed by cold green tea extract (800 µg/ml) and less activity is cold black tea extract (1000 µg/ml). Infected rats showed inflammation and hemorrhage. While treating rats with tea extracts dermally approximately restored kidney normal histological architecture and liver became nearly normal in histological structure. Black tea extract showed greater effectiveness in tissue recovery than green once.

Moringa oleifera seeds contain cationic proteins that can be used for water and wastewater treatment; furthermore, the oil content of Moringa oleifera seeds is high, and the properties of this oil render it useful for many applications. In this study, it was investigated the effects of oil extraction on the structure, composition, and coagulant activity of Moringa oleifera seeds, and aimed to add value to the seed waste generated after oil extraction. The results revealed that the content of fatty acids and phenolic and aromatic compounds of the seeds decreased after oil extraction. However, the proteins, including those with coagulant properties, were retained in the oil-extracted seeds. Oil extraction increased the operating pH range of the natural flocculant derived from Moringa oleifera seeds from below 4.8 for the flocculant derived from oil-containing Moringa oleifera (M1) seeds to below 9.8 for the flocculant derived from oil-extracted Moringa oleifera (M2) seeds. Furthermore, the performance of the M1 and M2 seeds for water treatment via coagulation followed by dissolved air flotation was not significantly different, and their mean oil and grease removal efficiency was approximately 82.43 ± 0.70%. These results confirmed the promising use of Moringa oleifera seed waste for the removal of oil and grease from wastewater as a more affordable, sustainable, and natural alternative to commercial flocculants. In addition, the concomitant use of both the extracted oil and seed waste generated after oil extraction was facilitated. More studies should be performed to assess whether the performance of the M1 and M2 seed-derived flocculants could be improved at the pH values we determined to be optimal for the purification of the protein of interest, viz. 9.5 and 4.0, respectively.

Background: Microbial biomass is a valuable resource to the development of sustainable energy. However, the challenge of having an effective media for energy production have adversely affected biotechnological development. This study was aimed at comparing algal biomass produced by Chlorella sp. using hot and cold water extracts of poultry droppings.
 Methodology: Fifteen grams (15 g) of poultry droppings was infused into 500 mL (cold and hot water) and allowed to stand for 48 h prior. Algal growth was monitored by cell dry weight and optical density readings taken at 620 nm using a spectrophotometer.
 Results: Physicochemical composition of the poultry droppings for cold water infusion revealed the following: pH, 6.7; conductivity, 3404.1 µs/cm; phosphate, 25.3 ppm; nitrate,1.88 ppm; phosphate, 25.3 ppm; Mg2+, 27.20 ppm; TOC, 38.03 ppm and COD, 53.8 ppm after 48 h. Whereas, the values obtained for hot extractions were: pH, 6.28; conductivity, 3.82 µs/cm; nitrate, 1.24 ppm; phosphate, 28.0 ppm; Mg2+, 19.85 ppm; TOC, 64.03 ppm and COD, 553.3 ppm. The proximate composition of extract revealed crude fibre, 17.69%, ash content, 24.16%; crude fibre, 22.7%; crude protein, 21.02%; crude fat, 3.19% and crude carbohydrate 23.02%. Microflora obtained from the biostability test revealed the presence of Proteus sp, Vibrio sp. and Salmonella sp. in cold extract while hot extract had Bacillus sp. and Serratia sp. The Chlorella sp. was identified using colonial and microscopic features. Biomass yield of 3.1 g/L and 2.8 g/l wet weight of Chlorella biomass was recorded for the cold and hot aqueous extracts of the poultry droppings respectively.
 Conclusion: This study revealed that hot poultry droppings extract (PDE) could offer a better feedstock for biodiesel production.

The in vitro antiplasmodial activities of cold and hot aqueous extracts of Ochna schweinfurthiana leaf was evaluated against Plasmodium falciparum at concentrations 10, 20, 40 and 80 μg/ml. Parasitaemia was observed after 24, 48 and 72 hours under a light microscope at X100 magnification. The antiplasmodial activity of the extracts were compared with a standard Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), artemether/lumefantrine. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of flavonoids (65.97 mg/100g), alkaloids (0.20 mg/100g), saponins (47.39 mg/100g) and tannins (0.53 mg/100g). There was a significant reduction (P< 0.05) in parasitemia of groups treated with the various doses of the extracts when compared to the control group. The reduction in parasitemia was however not as pronounced as that observed for the standard drug-treated groups. The 10, 20, 40 1nd 80 μg/ml doses of the extracts gave a percentage parasite inhibition of 79.77, 81.86, 83.38 and 86.42 (cold extract) and 76.26, 78.54, 82.72 and 85.06 (hot extract) respectively which are lower than 99.71, 99.81, 100.00 and 100.00 respectively observed for the standard drug after 72 hours. However, in vitro assay of plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) activity did not show any significant difference among the extract-treated groups and those treated with artemether/lumefantrine standard. Findings from this study show that hot and cold aqueous extracts of Ochna schweinfurthiana leaf possess high inhibitory activity against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro especially after 72 hours and justifies it folkloric use as an antimalarial.Keywords: Antiplasmodial; Ochna schweinfurthiana; Extracts; Parasitemia; ACT