Abstract

Apart from its health benefits and coagulant properties, Moringa Oleifera has the possibility to be a sustainable and green alternative to chlorine water disinfection, however, there are limited scientific documented research findings on the disinfection properties of Moringa Oleifera, The objective of this study was to prove that Moringa Oleifera leaf powder has the ability to disinfect sewerage. The Moringa Oleifera used in the study was collected from Kgobokwane village in Mpumalanga province (South Africa). The study was conducted experimentally by dosing a sewerage analogue with Moringa Oleifera leaf powder at 600rpm for one minute, then allowing it and the sludge to settle and the change in Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the samples was then analyzed. A decrease of 40% COD attributed to bacteria was measured and a bone charcoal filter removed 37% of the organic colloids left in the water due to Moringa Oleifera treatment. Based on the pre-mentioned result in traditional water treatment Moringa Oleifera can be implemented to subsidise alum as well as chlorine dosage up to 40% in industrial scale water treatment as a pretreatment with no known negative effects. The limitation of the study is that bacteria was not explicitly tested. In rural areas on a private scale, Moringa Oleifera has the opportunity to pretreat river water before consumption and combined with other technology disinfect household effluent.

Keywords

Moringa Oleifera, Sewerage, Disinfection, COD, Green, Sustainable.