Potential use of low-cost herbs against contaminated water for health issues

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify the most suitable herbal plants for removing contaminants to reduce the use of chemicals for water contamination. The microbial studies were performed in the contaminated kitchen and household wastewater treated (with various medicinal plants, i.e., Azardichta Indica, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Pinus roxburghii) using the serial dilution method. Aqueous extracts of the dried powdered plant material were used directly to treat the collected water samples. We examined that the enumeration of bacterial load in the treated water was reduced as compared to contaminated water. Enumeration of Bacterial load in the kitchen wastewater were ranging from 80x104 to 17x1010, However, the Cfu (colony forming unit) in treated kitchen water with Ocimum tenuiflorum were ranging from 13x103 to 2x1010. Bacterial load in the household sewage wastewater were ranging from 105 x 107 to 19 x 1010. However, the Cfu in treated household sewage wastewater with Pinus roxburghii were ranging from 75 x 104 to 4 x 1010. We found that Ocimum tenuiflorum was more effective against kitchen runoff compared to other selected medicinal plants.