ABSTRACT
The quality and accessibility of
drinking water are of paramount importance to human health. Drinking water may
contain disease causing agents and toxic chemicals and to control the risks to
public health, systematic water quality monitoring and surveillance are
required. Thousands of chemicals have been identified in drinking water
supplies around the world and are considered potentially hazardous to human
health at relatively high concentrations. Heavy metals are the most harmful of
the chemical pollutants and are of particular concern due to their toxicities
to humans. Moringa oleifera seed acts as a natural coagulant, adsorbent
and antimicrobial agent while commercial activated carbon is known for its
excellent heavy metal removal. It is believed that Moringa oleifera seed
is an organic natural polymer. The coagulation mechanism of the Moringa
oleifera coagulant protein has been described as adsorption, charge
neutralization and interparticle bridging. It is mainly characteristic of high
molecular weight polyelectrolyte. Analysis of the heavy metals Lead, Nickel,
Iron, and zinc were performed before and after treatment of water with Moringa
oleifera seed coagulant, CAC and the mixture of both. The results showed that Moringa
oleifera seeds and CAC were capable of adsorbing the heavy metals tested in
some water samples. The optimum dosage of Moringa oleifera seed powder
for water sample was 4g/L which gave 100%, and 88% removal efficiencies of Pb
and Ni respectively, while the optimum dosage of CAC for water sample was 6g/L
which gave 100%, 100% and 92% removal efficiencies of Pb, Zn and Ni
respectively. Also the optimum dosage of mixture of Moringa oleifera seed
powder and commercial activated for water sample was 4g/L which gave 100%, and
86% removal efficiencies of Pb and Ni respectively. Fitting in of Langmuir
isotherm and Freundlich shows that Langmuir fits in more than Freundlich. Also
it was verified in this work that Moringa oleifera serves as an
antimicrobial agent as it reduced the colonies to Zero on the dosage of 6g/L.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Potable water accessibility has always
been a major problem encountered in the developing countries (Eman et al., 2009;
Yarahmadi et al., 2009; Kawo and Daneji, 2011; Mohammed et al., 2013).
Many have encountered diseases, sicknesses, stunted growth, deformity, death,
etc. from the consumption of bad water (whether from raw or treated sources)
(Olowoyo and Garuba, 2012). The fact is, some of the claimed treated water are
even worse than the untreated ones because of the poor method or excessive
chemicals used. Many people believe that any ground water (such as well and
bore hole) which is well managed without treatment is very good for consumption.
But the case is different some times, because some of these ground waters are
located where there had been earlier deposition of toxic materials (such as
refuse, waste batteries, industrial waste, faeces, urine, dead animals, etc.).
However, while transferring the water from the depth, to the receiving end
(i.e. storage), there is tendency of it getting contaminated by microorganisms.
Water below pH of 6.0 tend to attack and dissolves heavy metals from its cache
hence, depending on the type of cache (metal, concrete or polymer made
storage).
With water covering more than
two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, it is hard to imagine that potable water is
a scarce resource. The problem is that less than 1% of the water on the planet
is readily available for drinking or agriculture. Most of the water on Earth
(97%), is salt water stored in the oceans; only 3% is freshwater. Of all of the
freshwater on Earth, 68% is locked up in the icecaps of Antarctica and
Greenland, 30% is in the ground, and only 0.3% is contained in surface waters
such as lakes and rivers (Shakhashiri, 2011). Over one billion people lack
access to safe drinking water worldwide (Shakhashiri, 2011) and water-related
disease mortality ranges from 2.2 to 5 million annually (Peter, 2002). This
death is as a result of wide range of water problems facing nations and
individuals around the world. These problems include international and regional
disputes over water, water scarcity and contamination, unsustainable use of
groundwater, ecological degradation, and the threat of climate change (Peter,
2002).
The contamination of water is largely
as a result of turbidity, presence of dangerous microbes (micro-organisms) and
presence of excess and unwanted heavy metals. Turbidity which is the amount of
particulate matter present in water occurs in surface water majorly as a result
of intake of large water which usually come from rain fall, discharge from
industries and houses, rivers and streams etc. Turbidity also occurs in ground
water (well) when flood flows in or enters through an opening in the ground.
Also, the presence of microbes (such as E. coli, Samonella Enterica,
Klebsiella, etc.) which are accumulated through exposure to the atmosphere.
Surface water bodies and some ground water are always exposed to the atmosphere
and organisms do move with air. Other ways of accumulating microbes are
contaminations from humans, animals, agricultural wastes, and discharges from
various sources.
Heavy metals get to both surface and
ground water bodies through industrial activities (such as paints and pigments,
glass production, metal plating, and battery manufacturing process), mining
operations (Olowoyo and Garuba, 2012; Bernard et al., 2013). Heavy
metals are present in the soil, natural water and air in various forms. Some of
them are constituents of herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers applications
(Olowoyo and Garuba, 2012). Heavy metals such as lead (Pb), chromium (Cr),
copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), uranium (U), selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As),
cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) etc. are very toxic and are emitted into
water through the stated processes in quantities that expose human health to
risks (Bernard et al., 2013). Heavy metals are natural components of the
earth crust (Chimezie et al., 2011), and are not biodegradable (Bernard et
al., 2013). These metals enter into living organisms through food or
proximity to emission sources. They tend to bioaccumulate and are stored faster
than excreted. Industrial exposure accounts for a common route of contact in
adults and ingestion for children (Chimezie et al., 2011). This
bioaccumulation leads to several health problems in animal and human being such
as cancer, kidney failure, metabolic acidosis, oral ulcer, renal failure and
damage (Bernard et al., 2013). Potable water essentiality to lives
cannot be over emphasised as it is a basic requirement for living creatures and
human being specifically. Water from all sources must have some form of
purification before consumption and various methods used in making water safe
for consumer depend on the character or nature of the water (Eman et al., 2009).
The objectives of treating water are
basically to remove particulate matters (turbidity), disinfection, and removal
of excess and unwanted heavy metals. Hence every method that has been employed
in water treatment is just to achieve these objectives. Ultra-violet ray,
reverse osmosis, alum, chlorine, nontoxic organic acid, neutralizing chemicals,
ion exchange, filtration, aeration, ozone etc. have been the common methods
used in water treatment. Some of these methods are very expensive as they
require high maintenance, skilled labour, capital, energy, etc. also, the
chemicals used are imported thereby raising its scarcity as it takes a longer
time to get them to the country and at a cost. Likewise, accumulation of
chemicals such as chlorine, alum, lime, etc. are very injurious to health hence
those that take in treated waters through these chemicals are prone to health
hazards. Hence, nontoxic natural occurring products are better for the
treatment of water.
Products from natural sources like
agricultural products (like Moringa, palm kernel shell etc.), are good to be
used in place of the chemicals used. This is because of their low cost,
availability and low or no negative health effect. Moringa oleifera is
one of the most wide spread plant species that grows quickly at low altitudes
in the whole tropical belt, including arid zones. It can grow on medium soils
having relatively low humidity. Moringa Oleifera seeds are organic
natural polymer (Eman et al., 2009). Moringa oleifera tree is
known as clarifier tree around the Nile River. This is the species belonging to
the north of India which is the most famous one among all species. This tree is
resistant to dryness and grows in arid and semiarid areas, so it is called
miracle tree. One type of this tree, i.e. Moringa Pergenia, belongs to
Iran and grows in the deserts of Sistan-and-Balochestan. (Yarahmadi et al., 2009).
Compared to the commonly used coagulant
chemicals, Moringa oleifera has a number of advantages which include low
cost production of biodegradable sludge, lower sludge volume (Nwaiwu et al.,
2011), it is readily available, requires low or no skilled labour,
environmental friendly, low cost equipment, low maintenance, doesn’t release
toxic materials into the treated water, bears antimicrobial properties against S.
typhi, V. cholerae and E. coli and it could be a promising natural
antimicrobial agent with potential application in controlling bacteria that
cause water borne diseases. And the most advantageous effect over chemical
coagulants is the stability of the pH during the coagulation and flocculation
process (Mohammed et al., 2013).
The unwanted heavy metals could be
eliminated via adsorption using activated carbon from agricultural material.
Adsorption is a surface phenomenon that occurs when a gas or liquid solute
accumulate on the surface of a solid or liquid forming a molecular or atomic
film, adsorption has been described as an effective separation process for
treating industrial and domestic effluents (Okeola and Odebunmi, 2010). It is
widely used as effective physical method of separation in order to eliminate or
lower the concentration of a wide range of dissolved pollutants (organics or
inorganics) in the effluent. It is also known that adsorption is one of the
most efficient methods for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater (Kumar and
Chinnaiya, 2009; Babatunde et al., 2009; Olowoyo and Garuba, 2012;
Onundi et al., 2010).
Activated carbon is the most widely
used adsorbent due to its excellent adsorption capability for heavy metals
(Emmanuel et al., 2012). Activated carbon is an industrial raw material
obtained by carbonization of carbonaceous biomass materials within a
temperature range of 300 to 600°C in the absence of oxygen. It aims at removing
most volatiles leaving behind carbon rich char whose surface area is larger
than the original substance. Activated carbon can be produced in different ways
such as steam (heat) activation and acid activation (Okoroigwe et al., 2013).
The advantages in using activated carbon in the treatment of water is as
follows. It is readily available, it requires low or no skilled labour,
environmental friendly, requires low maintenance, and lastly, application of
activated carbon as an adsorbent offers highly effective technological means in
dealing with pollution of heavy metals and solving agricultural waste disposal
problems, with minimum investment required (Onundi et al., 2010).
Therefore, this research is focused on the treatment of water from Afe Babalola
University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) bore hole using Moringa Oleifera and
commercial activated carbon.
1.1 Research Problem
Production of drinkable water has
increasingly become a major concern as the population increases and the
available sources for drinkable water remain the same. Maintenance and
increment of production of potable water is however very expensive.
Imported chemicals for treatment of
water is expensive and have been shown to have harmful effects on human health
with prolonged consumption. Also the conventional methods and technologies for
the treatment of water used are way expensive. Studies have therefore showed
that agricultural products and by-products can be used for the treatment of
water. Moringa oleifera is readily available in Nigeria. Although there
have been several researches in recent years on utilization of Moringa
Oleifera for environmental and health purposes, there is however need for
its further utilization in water treatment.
There is also, a dearth of information
on the utilization of both Moringa Oleifera and activated carbon for the
treatment of water.
1.2 Aim and Objectives
The aim of this research is to study
the effectiveness of Moringa oleifera seed as a disinfectant and
adsorbent and activated carbon as an adsorbent to provide alternatives to
treatment of water from ABUAD bore hole. The objectives of this work are:
1. Characterization of water sample in
order to determine its physicochemical properties.
2. Study of the disinfectant potential
/ performance of Moringa oleifera seed.
3. Study of the adsorption potential
/performance of the commercial activated carbon.
4. Investigation of the effect
disinfectant dosage on the disinfection capacity.
5. Investigation of the effect of
adsorbent dosage on the adsorption capacity.
6. Characterization of final water
sample in order to determine its physicochemical properties and comparing it
with the standard.
TOPIC: TREATMENT OF WATER FROM BORE HOLE USING MORINGA OLEIFERA SEED AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVATED CARBON
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 73
Price: 3000 NGN
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