Pravara Journal of Science & Technology 2017; 1(1)

Natural Coagulants for Wastewater treatment: Review

V. D. Talnikar*
Chemical Engineering Department
Sir Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Chincholi, Nashik.
Abstract
The natural coagulants can treat water from high to low turbid water and having remarkable
removal efficiency that can be used for drinking purposes. Natural coagulants are usually
supposed safe in human health point of view. These natural coagulants are usually used as
coagulant in tanning Industry, dairy industry waste water treatment. A number of seed extracts,
Maize, Chitosan, Palm oil and vegetable oil, Bentonite etc. are the promising natural coagulants
for treatment of waste water. These treatments are also proved to be economical. A review of
natural coagulants its effectiveness, and its applications has been presented.

Key words: Polluting industry, seed extracts, Maize, Chitosan, treatment.

Introduction
At present, in order to decrease waste
hazards and to restrict the resulted effects on
the environment, investigators studying the
possibility of using new methods and
materials to treat wastewater. Coagulation
and flocculation process are physical-
chemical methods that widely used in the
treatment of wastewater. The key concern
of the environmental engineers is how to
lower the coagulants and flocculants cost
and to improve the characteristics of the
produced sludge for safe utilizing.
Flocculation and coagulation constitute the
backbone process in most waste water and
water treatment plants. Their aim is to
increase the separation of particulate species
in down-stream processes such as filtration
and sedimentation and (Kaladevi and
Preetha, 2013). The increasing
industrialization and urbanization with
considerably increasing the rate of water
pollution. Curtail in supplies of natural
resources of water have made this a serious
limitation for industrial growth and for a
reasonable standard of urban living (Baisali
et al. 2006).
In order to decrease waste hazards and to
restrict the resulted effects on the
environment, research for the wastewater
treatment is necessary. The applicability and
possibility of using new methods and
materials to treat wastewater is the demand.
Coagulation and flocculation process are
physical and chemical methods that are
extensively used in the treatment of waste
water. Presently, the prime concern of the
environmental engineers is how to lower
down the coagulants and flocculants cost
and to improve the characteristics of the
produced waste for safe utilization.
Scope for the Treatment
Tanning Industry is one of industries, which
is considered as highly polluting industry
(APPCB Information Bulletin. 2005).
Tanneries generate wastewater in the range
of 30 - 35 l/kg skin or hide processed with
variable pH and high concentrations of
suspended solids, BOD, COD. Major
problems are due to wastewater containing
heavy metals, toxic chemicals, chloride,
lime with high dissolved and suspended salts
and other pollutants (Durai et al. 2011).
Tanning industry is one of the highest
polluting industry which is highly complex
and is characterized by high BOD, COD,

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 Pravara Journal of Science & Technology 2017; 1(1)
suspended solids, settleable solids, sulfide,
chloride and chromium. Untreated tannery
effluents when discharged directly into the
water bodies or into the open lands cause
irreversible damage to the environment.
Coagulationflocculation is one of the most
important physicochemical treatment steps
employed in industrial wastewater treatment
to reduce the suspended and colloidal
materials responsible for turbidity of the
wastewater. During the last decade, more
interest has been given on the use of natural
coagulants in treating industrial wastewater
(Tasneembano and Arjun, 2013).
The dairy industry is generally considered to
be largest source of food processing. These
industries wastewater is characterized by
high COD, BOD, nutrients etc. Such
wastewater is to be treated natural
coagulants and then tests are to be carried to
check the water characteristics like BOD,
COD, pH and turbidity, etc. The initial pH,
Turbidity, COD are 7.41. 289.5 NTU, 10000
mg/l respectively (Chidanand and Manika
2015). An important concern of the
environmental industries, is to lower the
coagulants and flocculants cost and at the
same time to improve the characteristics of
the produced sludge to be safely utilized. To
overcome this problem the use of natural
coagulants are attempted to treat such kinds
of wastewater.
Natural Coagulants
Choy et al. indicated turbidity in general is a
measure of water cloudiness induced by
suspended and colloidal matters and is also
one of the major criteria in raw water
monitoring to meet the stipulated water
quality guidelines. Reduction of turbidity is
often achieved using chemical coagulants
such as alum. The use of alum is widely
associated with potential development of
health issues and generation of voluminous
sludge. Natural coagulants that are available
in abundance can certainly be considered in
addressing the drawbacks associated with
39
the use of chemical coagulants (Choy,
2014).
A coagulant is a substance which in
solution, furnishes ionic charges opposite to
those of the colloidal turbid particles present
in water. Coagulants neutralize repelling the
charges on the colloidal particles and
produce a jelly- like spongy mass called a
flock. Flocculation causes considerable
increase in the density and size of
coagulated particles resulting in an effective
rate of settling of the particles in a solution
or in the wastewater (Ellis, 1988). In order
to treat water the natural coagulants proved
to be effective one. Surjana Seed is a seed of
tropical plant of Moringa oleifera from
family of Moringaceae. Moringa oleifera
commonly known as drum stick is the
known species which grows quickly even at
low altitudes, generally used as medicine,
vegetable and sources of vegetable oil. In
Indian region the Surjana is easily available
(Patel, 2013).
A number of seed extracts have been known
to flocculate particles resin water and the
following procedure has been used and
which if developed may yield divides. It
include; 1) Extract the seeds from the plant
fruit. 2) Dry seeds for up to three days. 3)
Grind the seeds to a fine powder. 4) Prepare
a mixture of water and ground seed material
(the volume of water depend on the type of
seed material used) in case of Moringa
oleifera , add 100 cm3of water for each seed;
for peach or bean seeds, add water to each
0.3 to 0.5 g of ground material. 5) Mix this
solution for 5 to 10 minutes: the faster it is
stirred, the less time is required. 6) Finally,
after the sediments settle, decant the treated
water, testing it for pH, color and turbidity.
But with wetland system, water hyacinth is
the most popular plant used in
phytoremediation (Yongabi, 2010). It has
been reported that Moringa oleifera seeds
reduces bacterial count in wastewater by at
least 99% Wetland treatment system using
 Pravara Journal of Science & Technology 2017; 1(1)
totora have been observed as efficient at
removing nutrients and oxygen demanding
substances from effluent. It has been seen to
remove parasites, total and faecal coliforms
from inflows by 88-99% (Yongabi, 2010).
Maize (scientific name: Zea mays) is
commonly known as corn in many
countries. The Maize seeds are easily and
abundantly available in Indian region. The
seed of maize plant may be washed with
water to remove dust and were dried in an
oven at 60 2C. The dried seed were
crushed and powdered and sieved through
200 m nylon sieves and used as coagulant.
Researchers had tried to utilize maize seeds
as coagulant aid (Patel, 2013).
Chitosan is cellulose like biopolymer widely
distributed in nature, especially in marine
invertebrates, insects, fungi, and yeasts. Its
deacetylation of chitin [poly--(1 4) -N-
acetyl-Dglucosamine, is readily soluble in
acidic solutions, which makes it more
available for applications. Chitosan is a
yellow colored powder, non-toxic,
biodegradable, linear cationic polymer of
high molecular weight with a number of
applications including chromatography,
water treatment, additives for cosmetics,
textile treatment for antimicrobial activity,
novel fibers for textiles, photographic
papers, biodegradable films, biomedical
devices, improvement of quality and shelf -
life of food and microcapsule implants for
controlled release in drug delivery. Also, it
is utilized for recovery of suspended solids
in processing wastes from poultry, eggs,
cheese and vegetable operations (Patel,
2013). For the textile industry effluent
treatment the Surjana Seed Powder, Maize
Seed Powder and Chitosan showed
prominent results. Table 1 shows that there
was continuous removal with increases in
coagulant doses up to 30.0 g l-1, which may
be due to increases of substantially. Natural
40
seed have been found to act as coagulant
because natural seeds are naturally occurring
polyelectrolytes (bio colloids).
Palm oil is one of the most important
vegetable oil. The extraction and
purification process create a lot of waste and
is known as palm oil mill effluent (POME).
Kaladevi and Preetha et al. showed the
efficiency of natural coagulants for the
treatment of POME with cacti species and
zeamaize. Temperature, initial pH, mixing
time, mixing speed and coagulant dose were
the constant parameters throughout the
experiment. Further treatment efficiency
was determined by pH, conductivity,
alkalinity, Turbidity, hardness, TDS, TSS,
oil and grease, BOD and COD of the sample
are estimated by standard method. The work
indicated that both these traditional plants
may contribute the treatment efficiency with
respect to their potential characteristics
(Kaladevi and Preetha, 2013).
Bentonite is a natural material that contains
essential compounds such as aluminium,
iron and clay materials which are useful for
the treatment of wastewater. Moreover,
bentonite is cheaper than several other
chemicals and it fulfils the economic
benefits of the operators as well as
environmental concerns (Syafalni et al.
2013).
Muthuraman and Sasikala investigated the
ability of three plant materials, seeds such
as Moringa oleifera, Strychnos
potatorum and Phaseolus vulgaris, to act as
natural coagulants was tested using synthetic
turbid water formulated to resemble the
drinking water. An improved and alternative
method for the extraction of the active
coagulant agent M. oleifera, S.
potatorum, P. vulgaris seeds was developed
and compared with the conventional water
extraction method. In the new method the
seeds were extracted using different solvents
of NaCl and NaOH to extract the active
coagulant agent from natural coagulants. In
 Pravara Journal of Science & Technology 2017; 1(1)

addition, ultrasound was investigated as a 500 NTU was investigated (Muthuraman

potential method to assist the extraction
process. Batch coagulation experiments
were conducted to evaluate the performance
of the extracted coagulant achieved through
various schemes. The optimum turbidity
removal at different values of initial
synthetic wastewater turbidity from 100 to
The applicability of extracts from fava bean
seeds (Vicia faba L.), as natural coagulants,
was investigated. Coagulants were obtained
by extraction, with distilled water or NaCl
solutions, from grinded seeds and were
applied as coagulants, in various doses, in
synthetic water having different initial
turbidities and pH values. Presence of NaCl
in water showed that increasing the ionic
strength results in greater amount of
extracted compounds, but it does not affect
coagulation activity. Appling different doses
of coagulant in water showed that the best
coagulation activity is achieved by adding
dose of 0.125 ml/l. The conducted
experiments confirm positive coagulation
properties of these extracts, therefore it can
be concluded that they have great potential
as natural coagulants. (Kulkic et al. 2015)
Table 1. Influence of different doses of SSP, MSP and Chitosan for removal COD and color
from textile wastewater (Patel, 2013).
and Sasikala, 2014). Moringa oleifera (MO)
seed is a natural plant with active bio-
coagulate compounds that can be used for
water clarification since it reduces the use of
chemical-based coagulants (Camacho et al.
2017).
Concluding Remarks
1. The use of natural coagulants from plant
based sources represents a vital
development in sustainable
environmental technology as it focuses
mainly on the improvement of quality of
life for underdeveloped communities.
2. The Coagulation process becomes more
efficient and the cost of treatment is
reduced.
3. It is helpful in turbid, color and heavy
metals removal from wastewater.
4. Moringa oleifera is an effective natural
coagulant.
5. The study related to natural coagulants
are limited and many researchers studied
the Chitosan and Moringa oleifera for
studying various parameters, a detail
study with other natural and easily
available coagulants is required.

Surjana Seed
Coagulant Maize Seed Powder Chitosan
Powder
Dose (g/ l)
COD Color COD Color COD Color
5 26.62 9.99 20.73 8.00 13.24 5.14

10 37.59 21.70 31.79 16.85 25.42 13.71

15 48.53 37.12 50.54 24.27 40.09 19.99

20 61.94 49.77 54.62 33.32 50.38 28.56

25 74.11 58.51 62.53 44.49 56.43 38.49

30 70.34 62.82 68.82 47.03 64.68 42.83

35 69.42 67.73 45.69 63.53 67.73 42.83

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 Pravara Journal of Science & Technology 2017; 1(1)
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