ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA SEED AS A COAGULANT IN DOMESTIC SEWAGE TREATMENT

Abstract

The effectiveness of Moringa oleifera seed as a natural coagulant for domestic sewage treatment was investigated in this study. A completely randomized design (CRD) was adopted for the treatment process. The treatments included the control culture (no-Moringa seed), 2 g, 4 g, and 6 g of Moringa oleifera. Physical, bacteriological and chemical properties of domestic sewage were investigated before and after treatment. The turbidity, water hardness, suspended solids, dissolved solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) showed reductions while dissolved oxygen (DO) showed some increase indicating that some level of treatment was achieved. There was no significant difference between the pH, BOD and COD obtained for the 2 g, 4 g and 6 g treatments. The study has revealed that Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant shows potential in the treatment of the domestic sewage.