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.

Challenges and Opportunities of Biocoagulant/Bioflocculant Application for Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment and Its Potential for Sludge Recovery

“…Local resources are normally abundant in amount and usually have no potential utilization discovered yet. Current research is also implementing the utilization of waste, including food, agricultural, and industrial waste, in exploring the potential of biocoagulants/bioflocculants [ 105 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 ]. Such research is beneficial for waste reduction and finding the potential of waste to be used as biocoagulants/bioflocculants.…”

“…Most research has already implemented the utilization of local resources (native plants) or isolation from the indigenous environment (for microorganisms). However, research that utilizes waste or by-products to seek their potential as biocoagulants/bioflocculants is still limited [ 105 , 127 , 128 ]; further study on this particular theme could be a future direction. Most of the animal-based biocoagulants/bioflocculants come from crustacean studies [ 127 , 149 ] because the composition of the chitosan of crustaceans is beneficial for coagulation/flocculation.…”

“…Biocoagulants/bioflocculants are suggested to be obtained from local resources, and the abundance of raw materials is considered sufficient for further utilization [ 134 ]. Raw materials for biocoagulants/bioflocculants are suggested to be sourced from waste or biomass; hence, the development of this technology might help in reducing the amount of waste or biomass [ 105 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 ]. The extraction processes for biocoagulants/bioflocculants are considered complex and undeveloped yet, thus making the availability of these ready-to-use compounds limited.…”

“…The produced sludge from drinking water treatment typically has the characteristics of high suspended solids, COD, BOD, nutrients, minerals, and contents of some metals [ 24 , 104 , 128 , 161 ]. For wastewater treatment, it depends on the type of wastewater but mostly has the characteristics of high suspended solids, BOD, COD, nutrients, and contents of some minerals [ 119 , 144 , 162 ].…”

A Novel Natural Active Coagulant Agent Extracted from the Sugarcane Bagasse for Wastewater Treatment

“…It has been evidenced that the use of metal salts coagulant produces a large volume of toxic sludge, which can sometimes sufficiently be classified as scheduled waste. According to Zaidi et al [4], it was estimated that the coagulation using chemical coagulant for big treatment plants produces around 60,000 tonnes of toxic sludge per year that requires high sludge treatment cost and proper treatment to ensure it did not cause further pollution. Besides, the use of the chemical coagulant without properly optimised dosing can chemically affect the treated water, where the residual chemical is remained in the treated water [4].…”