Efficiency Evaluation of Some Plant seeds as Natural Coagulants in Reduction of Water Turbidity

Abstract

The problem of water turbidity is a big issue facing environmentalists because of the need for clean water. Water with high levels of turbidity is usually treated with coagulation/flocculation process. Alum is widely uses as a coagulant. However, there is many health risks on the human body. Therefore, there was great interest in using plant seeds as coagulation or coagulation aids with alum. The aims of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of three plant seeds: Trigonella foenum-graceum, Phaseolus vulgaris and Cicer arietinum in the removal of the turbidity of water samples that were artificially muddling by Kaolin. Plant seeds was extracted by distilled water 1%(W/V) and coagulation test were performed using  Jar-test equipment. The results showed that the highest values in the removal of turbidity were 97.5%, 94.7%, and 95.5% for each of the seeds of T. foenum-graceum, P.vulgaris and C. arietinum respectively, which were close to the effectiveness of alum. The addition of natural coagulants with alum resulted in increased in the removal of turbidity, where the highest coagulation efficiency reached 99.1% for all tested seeds. The results showed that all types of plant seeds studied were significantly effective in coagulation and could be used as an alternative to alum in removing water turbidity

Keywords: water treatment, Turbidity, Alum, Natural coagulant