25Mar 2017

USE OF CACTUS OPUNTIA AS A NATURAL COAGULANT: WATER TREATMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

  • UNEP- Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University Shanghai. 20092, China.
  • UNEP-TONGJI Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, P. R. China.
  • Faculty of Education Science, Biomedical Science. Egerton University.
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Observing the need for clean water and recycling of wastewater through effective treatment to help counter the continued water scarcity facing Kenya, the study sought to explore the possibility of using cactus in the coagulation-flocculation process. The study employed an analytic literature review model, sourcing recent and authoritative studies to investigate the effectiveness of cactus plants as coagulants, and the involved pH implications. The findings indicate that plant-based coagulants such as cactus are being considered as alternatives to conventional synthetic chemical coagulants in aspects such as costs, health effects, non-biodegradability, altered pH in post-treatment water and corrosion and transmission problems. In addition, cactus appears to have no significant effects on the pH of treated water. However, the findings demonstrate a lack of consensus regarding the optimal pH at which cactus is best effective in coagulation.

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[Ayub Karanja, Li Fengting and Wilson Ng’ang’a. (2017); USE OF CACTUS OPUNTIA AS A NATURAL COAGULANT: WATER TREATMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Int. J. of Adv. Res. 5 (Mar). 884-894] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com

Li Fengting
UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for sustainable development. College of Environmental Science and Engineering. 20092, China.

DOI:

Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/3586      
DOI URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/3586

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