EM-enhancing Activated Carbon from Biological Products for the Treatment of Household Wastewater

Abstract

Water contamination is one of the prominent issues in communities. The majority of water contaminants are from household wastewater. The researchers wanted to utilize bio-based activated carbon from various agricultural residues including corncobs, durian husks, tamarind woods, and coconut shells enhanced with Effective Microorganisms (EM) solution to boost the ability of chemical, color, and odor absorption to clean household wastewater. This study was conducted to develop EM-enhancing activated carbon that is appropriate for treating household wastewater and to investigate the effectiveness of EM-enhancing activated carbon in the treatment of household wastewater. The experiment showed the EM-enhancing activated carbon started to absorb water contaminants after 15 minutes of being soaked in household wastewater. The ability to absorb foul odors of EM and non-EM enhancing activated carbon were not different based on the blind-sensory test. However, the EM-enhancing activated carbon from tamarin wood, and coconut shell showed the highest contaminant absorption abilities displayed on Total Dissolved Solid (TSD) and Electrical Conductivity (EC) due to the greater density and the quantity of porosity in the carbon. The treated water using EM-enhancing activated carbon also displays the slowest duckweed growth in the treated water. The further investigation illustrated the highest densities and porosities on EM-enhancing activated carbon from tamarin wood and coconut shell compare to others materials. This indicates the two materials are the most eligible for producing EM-enhancing activated carbon to clean household wastewater.