The Potential of Moringa oleifera Seed in Water Coagulation-Flocculation Technique to Reduce Water Turbidity

Abstract

Using a safe and easy-to-apply economic flocculant to replace alum is necessary to expand and enhance the water quality in rural regions where traditional water treatment is unavailable. The seed of Moringa oleifera is locally available in large volumes and is feasibly economical. A compatibility and applicability research of the easily accessible local Moringa oleifera seed extract (MOSE) was conducted to examine its potential utilization to lessen various degrees of water turbidity at 30 ± 2 °C. The study concerns the optimum dosage of MOSE to give high turbidity removal efficiency in the water. Experiments were carried out for nine turbidity samples: 5, 10, 15, 30, 50, 70, 100, 200, and 300 NTU. The turbidity removal efficiency of up to 89% was achieved for high initial turbid water 300 NTU. However, for low turbid water, its potential efficiency declined. The results demonstrate that the de-oiled extract is substantially more efficient than the crude extract in agglomerating colloidal particles of low initial turbidity samples and achieved up to 76% removal rate. The results of the ANOVA confirmed that the regression model was significant at (p < 0.05) for residual turbidity after the treatment process. The study also demonstrates that a pseudo-first-order kinetic model matched well the nature of the removal of colloidal particles with MOSE in water to form flocs. The study also indicates that the characteristics of water treated with crude MOSE produce little change in electrical conductivity and salinity. However, the hardness and alkalinity of water decreased significantly depending on the initial hardness and the amount of MOSE applied (p < 0.05).