Purification of river water using Moringa Oleifera seed and copper for point-of-use household application

Abstract

Supply of clean drinking water is still a major problem in most developing countries especially in rural areas. Although many water purification methods exist, they are far beyond the reach of common people because of unaffordable cost or lack of technical how-how for operation. A new simple and cost-effective method for purification of river water for use by rural communities has been developed and tested. It involves use of moringa seed powder as a natural coagulant and flocculent to clarify turbid water and copper as an antibacterial agent to destroy pathogens like E. coli to produce clean drinking water. Raw water samples from nearby rivers were collected in glass beakers and moringa seed powder was prepared from locally obtained seeds. Seed powder was mixed with water and copper wire mesh was immersed in it. After about 4 h the supernatant was decanted through a closely woven cotton cloth and tested for turbidity and E. coli counts. Turbidity level was in the range 3 NTU–5 NTU and E. coli count was Non- Detected (N.D) in all treated samples, which were within the accepted levels for drinking water. The technique is reproducible, cost effective and capable of producing clean drinking water for domestic use, without any power source or technical assistance. It can be practiced with little effort in rural community households. Being a Point–of–Use (PoU) method, it is exceptionally useful in providing drinking water as an immediate solution in disaster areas affected by cyclone or floods.