Chemical Sciences Journal

Development of a Sustainable Green Chemistry Moringa-sand-charcoal Point-of-use Water Treatment System

Abstract

Habauka M. Kwaambwa*, Manoria N. Niingo, Marta A. Elvin, Natalia Shakela, Marius K. Mutorwa, Erold Naomab and Adrian R. Rennie

The quality of water, whether it is used for non-potable purposes such as cooking, cleaning and other domestic activities, and more so when used as drinking water, is essential. The current methods of water treatment may either be costly or the chemicals used may have health problems associated with them. Curiosity-driven research about the water treatment properties of Moringa seed proteins has led to the development of a water treatment system with Moringa seed powder and eliminates the use of expensive chemicals, with their associated health and environmental effects. The water treatment system with three main water treatment compartments, i.e. a settling or coagulation/flocculation tank, a sand filter and a charcoal filter. The system was used to test the removal of turbidity and microbial pollution indicators from water. Preliminary tests show a reduction of turbidity and microbial pollution indicators by at least 96%. The preliminary results have demonstrated the potential and effectiveness of the Moringa seed powder in wastewater treatment. The next stage of the technology development will be based on applied cross-disciplinary research evolving from the lessons learned from the previous prototypes into a single unit as opposed to having separate standalone compartments.