A preliminary evaluation of Aloe Vera rind as natural coagulant for water treatment
Annual Conference
❄
Aloe vera is a species of Aloe, native to northern Africa. It is a stemless or very short-stemmed succulent plant. Aloe vera is now widely used in cosmetic and alternative medicine industries. In this study, the coagulation performance of rind from Aloe vera was investigated for the first time. Rind of A. vera was evaluated for turbidity removal from synthetic turbid water samples by using jar test. A. vera rind coagulant was extracted with different concentration of sodium chloride (AvC-SC) from ground rind shows high turbidity removal up to 90%. The effects of coagulant concentration, pH and initial turbidity on coagulation performance were also investigated. The results showed the combination of AvC-SC and alum significantly increased the removal of turbidity and water with 7.7 NTU could produce from 204 NTU of synthetic turbid water. Thus, AvC-SC could be used effectively as aid to alum as well as reduce cost of treatment and use of alum by about 50%. This readily available rind from A. vera plant may offer an appropriate solution for producing potable water in some developing countries.