Treatment of Underground Water for the Removal of Heavy Metals Using Activated Carbon from Stem of Moringa Oleifera

This research work involves the treatment of underground water for the removal of heavy metals using activated carbon from stem of Moringa oleifera. The chemical route is employed with NaOH as an activating agent. The Activated carbon was characterized by BET, Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and BJH method. The BET surface area was recorded as 1079.620m2 /g. The FTIR chart showed the presence of many hydroxyl functional groups on the surface of the activated carbon of Moringa oleifera which made it function as a good coagulant. The BJH method also gave a surface area value of 1194.925m2 /g and 0.586cc/g respectively, indicating that higher surface area in Moringa oleifera stem enhances better coagulation as the proteins in the seed help to bind fine particles in the water which facilitates their removal. Furthermore, lower pore size helps in selective filtrations whereby smaller particles and contaminants can be easily captured by the Moringa oleifera. The data obtained fitted very well to the Langmuir isotherm which also shows a high surface area of 7522.168 m2 /g. Overall, the results show that the treatment of borehole water using Moringa Oleifera stem is generally safe to drink, as all of the parameters tested are within the recommended limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO).