Comparative Studies Between Aluminium Sulphate, Moringa Seed and Green Plantain Peel as Coagulants

Aluminium sulphate (alum) is the most commonly and widely used coagulant in water treatment plants however, literatures have revealed that it has certain setbacks that needs to be addressed including imparting acidity and hardness to water. Hence, the coagulation capacities of the seeds of moringa (Moringa oleifera) and peels of unripe or green plantain (Musa paradisiaca) which are abundantly available and currently considered as waste in most developing countries, were investigated in comparison with alum. This was achieved by using standard methods to treat raw water at different dosages of coagulants (100-600mg/l) prepared from moringa seed and plantain peel, and comparing the performances of these coagulants with that of aluminium sulphate (alum) used in treating same raw water at same dosages. Parameters checked are turbidity, pH and hardness. Results showed that alum performed best in terms of turbidity removal followed by moringa seed solution and then plantain peel solution. This is because alum reduced the water turbidity by 99.94% at an optimum dosage of 100mg/l while moringa seed and plantain peel solutions reduced the turbidity by 80.27% at 300mg/l and 63.99% at 500mg/l respectively. Nevertheless, it was noted that at optimum dosage of alum, the water pH was reduced from 6.7 to 6.2 as against the WHO permissible limits (6.5 – 8.5), and the harness level was increased by 22.43%. On the contrary, at the optimum dosages of moringa seed and plantain peel solutions, the pH were raised to 7.3 and 7.5 respectively, which is within the permissible limits and also, the hardness levels were reduced by 13.41% and 8.52% respectively. It was concluded that moringa seed solution could replace alum successfully but plantain peel solution needs modifications in order to improve the turbidity removal capacity before replacing alum although, it could be used in the absence of other conventional coagulants. Cite as: Ogbozige FJ, Nwobu HU. Comparative studies between aluminium sulphate, moringa seed and green plantain peel as coagulants. Alger. J. Eng. Technol. 2021, 5:9-13.  http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5526253 References Nystrom F, Nordqvist K, Herrmann I, Hedstrom A, Viklander M. Laboratory scale evaluation of coagulants for treatment of stormwater. Journal of Water Process Engineering. 2020; 36: 1012-10126. Miranda R, Latour I, Blanco A. Understanding the efficiency of aluminum coagulants used in dissolved air flotation (DAF). Frontiers in Chemistry. 2020; 8: 1-14. Krupinska I. Aluminium drinking water treatment residuals and their toxic impact on human health. MDPI Molecules. 2020; 25(3): 1-13. Beyene HD, Hailegebrial TD, Dirersa WB. Investigation of coagulation activity of cactus powder in water treatment. Journal of Applied Chemistry. 2016; 1-10. Olumba CC, Onunka CN. Banana and plantain in West Africa: Production and marketing. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development. 2020; (20)2: 15474-15489. Ibrahim NH, Jin OJ, Muhamad NJ, Ishak WR. Physicochemical properties and stability of Moringa oleifera seed oil-in-water emulsions as affected by different types of polysaccharide and emulsifier. Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences. 2019; 324-329. Oyawaluja AA, Oiseoghaedec JO, Odukoya OA, Aluko TE. Extraction and estimation of pectins from unripe, ripe and overripe banana (Musa acuminata l.) and plantain (Musa paradisiaca l.) peels and their antioxidant activities. J. Pharm. Res. 2020; 16(1): 87-96. Uzukwu PU, Leton TG, Jamabo NA. Seasonal variations in some physico-chemical parameters of the upper reach of the new Calabar river. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 2014; 3(1): 8-11. Okoya AA, Olaiya OO, Akinyele AB, Ochor NO. Efficacy of Moringa oleifera seed husk as adsorptive agent for trihalomethanes from a water treatment plant in southwestern, Nigeria. Journal of Chemistry (Hindawi), 2020; 1-11. Emenike PC, Omole DO, Ngene BU, Tenebe IT. Assessment of KOH-activated unripe Musa paradisiaca peel for adsorption of copper from aqueous solution. Cogent Engineering (Taylor & Francis). 2017; 4:1-13. Aziz NA, Jayasuriya N, Fan L. Adsorption study on Moringa oleifera seeds and Musa cavendish as natural water purification agents for removal of lead, nickel and cadmium from drinking water. A paper presented at Soft IOP Soil Engineering International Conference (SEIC2015). 2015; 1-9