Application of Natural Coagulants for Removal of Physio-Chemical Impurities from River Water

Abstract

Growing population, increased economic activity and industrialization has not only created an increased demand for fresh water but also resulted in severe misuse of this natural resource. Reusing wastewater by effective treatment can contribute to counter the water scarcity. Natural macromolecular coagulants show bright future and are concerned by many researchers because of their abundant source, low price, multifunction and biodegradation. The present study deals with the evaluation of treatment efficiency of natural coagulants Azadiracta indica and Cicer arietinum in removal of turbidity from waste water samples. The experiments were conducted at various proportions of dosages of natural coagulants Azadiracta indica (NC1) and the Cicer arietinum (NC2). The physio-chemical parameters of waste water such as pH, Colour, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids and Total Suspended Solids are measured before and after the treatment to evaluate the removal efficiency on the major pollutants of concerned in waste water treatment. Then, the experimental studies were carried out to find out the optimum dosage of natural coagulants. In this project, the optimum dosage Azadiracta indica and Cicer arietinum was indicated at 90 mg/L, respectively for Chitravathi river water. The Turbidity removal efficiency was 90% to 97% after treatment with NC1 and NC2 for dosage 70 to 100 Mg/L, respectively. From this study, high turbidity removal indicates that Azadiracta indica and Cicer arietinum powders has the potential for wastewater treatment application.

Introduction

Summary

The study investigates the use of natural coagulants—Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Cicer arietinum (Chickpea)—for treating polluted river water, focusing on improving physical, chemical, and biological parameters such as pH, turbidity, TSS (Total Suspended Solids), TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), and color.

Background and Motivation

Due to increased industrialization and urbanization, water demand and pollution have risen globally. Traditional chemical coagulants like aluminum and iron salts are widely used but have environmental and cost concerns. Natural coagulants offer advantages like low cost, biodegradability, and safety, making them a sustainable alternative.

Study Goals

• Collect and analyze water from Chitravathi River (heavily turbid and dark brown in color).

• Prepare Neem and Chickpea powders as coagulants.

• Determine the optimum dosage (70–100 mg/L) for effective treatment using jar tests.

Methodology

Water samples were treated with varying doses of the natural coagulants in a controlled jar test setup. Parameters were measured before and after treatment.

Key Findings

• Neem (Azadirachta indica) showed high effectiveness at 90 mg/L, reducing:

  • Turbidity from 199.5 NTU to 4.08 NTU

  • TSS from 247 mg/L to 44 mg/L

  • TDS from 683 mg/L to 329 mg/L

  • Water color became colorless

• Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) was also effective, especially at 90 mg/L, reducing:

  • Turbidity to 7.98 NTU

  • TSS to 56 mg/L

  • TDS to 433 mg/L

  • Also turned water colorless

Both coagulants maintained the pH within acceptable limits (6.5–8.5).

Conclusion

The main conclusions that can be withdrawn from this study are as follows: 1) The results from this study indicates that powdered Azadiracta indica (NC-1) and Cicer arietinum (NC-2) are very effective in removing Turbidity, TSS, TDS, and Color from the waste water. 2) In the present study, Turbidity removal efficiency was found to be 97% and 90% after treatment with Azadiracta indica (NC-1) and Cicer arietinum (NC-2), Respectively for the Chitravathi river water. 3) TSS removal efficiency was found to be 44 % and 56 %, after treatment with Azadiracta indica (NC-1) and Cicer arietinum (NC-2) Respectively. 4) TDS removal efficiency was found to be 51 % and 36 %, after treatment with Azadiracta indica (NC-1) and Cicer arietinum (NC-2), Respectively. 5) Hence, it can be concluded that Azadiracta indica (NC-1) and Cicer arietinum (NC-2) can be used as coagulants in water treatment.

References

[1] G.RAMMOHAN, An Experimental study on usage of banana pith and orange peels as natural coagulants to treat river water of 2024 april. [2] G.RAMMOHAN, An Experimental Study on Usage of Cactus and Hyacinth Bean Peelsas Natural Coagulants to Treat Lake Water of 2023 april. [3] Nath A, Mishra A, Pande P P 2020 A review natural coagulants in wastewater treatment. [4] Evaluation of Cactus and Hyacinth Bean Peels as Natural Coagulants, by Shilpa Bs in the year of 2012 june. [5] Vikashni Nand, Matakite Maata, Kanayathu Koshy, Subramanium Sotheewaran. “Water Purification using Moringa Oleifera and other Locally Available Seeds in Fiji for Heavy Metal Removal”, [6] Investigation of Coagulation Activity of Cactus Powder in Water Treatment, by Hayelom Dargo Beyene, Tessema Derbe Hailegebrial, Worku Batu Dirersa in the year of 2016. [7] Effective Waste Water Treatment by the Application of Natural Coagulants by Kartika Panwar, Itika Dadhich, Nagaraju Shaik in the year of 2021 June. [8] Evaluation of Cactus and Hyancinth bean peels as natural coagulants to treat Waste water (Municipal water), by B.S. Shilpa, Akanksha, Kavita, p. Girish in the year of 2012. [9] Wastewater (Industrial water)treatment using Bio-coagulant as cactus opuntia ficus indica by Saurabh O. Deshmukh, Dr. M. N. Hedaoo in the year of 2018 .

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 K. Vidhya, R. Nandini, M. Vijay Kumar, N. Blaram, P. Latha, Gavvala Rammohan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.