Water Clarification Using Moringa Oleifera Seeds and Leaves

ABSTRACT This study evaluates the effectiveness of Moringa oleifera seeds and leaves as natural coagulants for surface water treatment, with the objective of improving key water quality parameters, including turbidity, total hardness, total suspended solids, pH, and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The coagulation process was conducted using 15 g each of Moringa seeds and leaves per liter of surface water to assess their performance in water clarification. Experimental results demonstrated that while Moringa treatment led to slight stabilization of pH and an increase in dissolved oxygen levels, the treated water exhibited significantly elevated turbidity (261.49 NTU for leaves and 55.11 NTU for seeds) and COD levels, both exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of ≤ 5 NTU for turbidity. The coagulation efficiencies of Moringa seeds and leaves were determined to be 11.97% and 9.75%, respectively, indicating suboptimal performance under the conditions employed in this study. A comparative analysis with recent literature suggests that while Moringa oleifera has demonstrated potential as a natural coagulant, its efficacy is highly dependent on optimized treatment parameters. The findings indicate that although Moringa-based treatment can serve as an alternative or supplementary approach for water clarification, further optimization is required to enhance its efficiency in removing suspended solids and organic matter.