Effectiveness of local waste materials as organic-based coagulant in treating water

Abstract

The adequacy of chemicals as coagulants such as alum is all around perceived. Nevertheless, there are numerous drawbacks related with the use including high operational costs, impeding impacts on human wellbeing and generation of huge sludge volumes. In this manner, it is crucial to supplant these chemical coagulants with organic-based coagulants to minimize the downsides. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify the suitability of selected local wastes in becoming organic-based coagulant as to treat raw water. Regarding choice of organic-based coagulants, this study focused on the local waste materials, which are chestnut peels, bagasse and maize cobs. These waste materials were prepared by washing, drying, grinding lastly sieving in obtaining powder of coagulants ready to be used. A jar test was then performed to decide the effect of individual characteristic coagulants on the effectiveness of turbidity removal under different working variables of pH and coagulant dosage. Based on the findings, bagasse contributed to the highest yield of 79.5% followed by chestnut and maize cob. From the jar test experiments, the optimum dosage of 90 mg/L and pH 7.5 was obtained. At these optimizations, highest turbidity removal of 97.3% was recorded by bagasse compared to the other tested natural coagulants. This showing that bagasse as one of the representatives of organic wastes has the potential to physically treat the water. Keywords: Organic-based coagulant; Organic wastes; Coagulant dosage; Turbidity removal.