EVALUATION OF THE EFFICACY OF MORINGA OLEIFERA SEED POWDER IN PURIFICATION OF WATER

Abstract

The high cost of treating water makes most people in the rural communities to resort to readily available source which are normally of low quality exposing them to water borne disease. It is in this light that this study was carried out to confirm the effectiveness of powder extracted from matured dried Moringa oleifera seeds which is commonly available in most rural communities of Africa. The study was carried out using doses of 50g,100g,200g,300g,4000g,500g  of Moringa oleifera seed powder in 1000ml of the water sample (obtained from river Lanzo). And aluminum sulpate ( alum) as a coagulant ,a control ( water from river Lanzo without Moringa and alum treatment)was included. The  500g/ml treatment of Moringa and 60g/ml of alum treatment gave values that are acceptable according to the World Health Organization (WHO)guidelines for  safe drinking water. However the treatment with Moringa seed powder is more effective than the treatment with aluminium sulphate(alum). The control sample gave higher extremes values which are unacceptable. The results from this study agrees with earlier works recommending the use of Moringa for water treatment (Ndabigenegesere, et al 2017). The seed kernels of Moringa oliefera contains lower molecular weight water soluble protein which carry a positive charge, when the seeds are crushed and added to water, the protein produces positive charges acting like magnets and attracting predominately negative charged particles such as clay, silk, and other toxic particles. Under proper agitation these bounded particles grows in size to form the flocculates which are left to settle by gravity. The possibilities of using moringa seed coagulant for water treatment is great, it provides realistic alternatives to the conventional methods using adequate quantity.