Performance Evaluation of Moringa oleifera as a Coagulant for Abattoir Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The public's health and surface water are adversely affected by the improper disposal of abattoir wastewater. In this study, 40 litres of abattoir effluent was treated for ten (10) weeks using raw, powdered Moringa oleifera seeds as a coagulant. Processed M. oleifera seeds in loading quantities of 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 g were used in a completely randomised design (CRD) for the treatment. There was also a control (abattoir effluent not treated with M. oleifera). Before and after treatment, the physical and chemical characteristics of abattoir wastewater were examined. The results demonstrated that the treatments significantly lowered the turbidity value, which fell from 15.40 mg/L to 7.63 mg/L for a 16 g dosage in week 7. For the 20 g treatment in the first week, total alkalinity decreased from 216.67 mg/L to the lowest value of 63.67 mg/L. An amount of 14 g of M. oleifera lowered both the total hardness from 116.33 mg/L to 78.40 mg/L and conductivity from 1395.7 mg/L to 520 mg/L within the first week of the experiment. From weeks 2 to 6, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) was discovered to be nil. For the 14 g treatment, the Calcium value decreased from 31.47 mg/L in the first week to 6.23 mg/L in the fifth week. The results generally demonstrated that 16 g/500 mL of M. oleifera was capable of treating abattoir effluent, confirming its capacity to coagulate for the treatment of such waste. The study's extract doses did not affect the colour or smell of the treated wastewater. The results have generally highlighted that the natural coagulants could be successfully used for the removal of turbidity, faecal bacteria and all unwanted concentrations of heavy metals including zinc from abattoir wastewater.