Coagulation Activity of Moringa oleifera Lam. Seeds

Kalekar Sumita Vijay, Shinde Nanda Waman

Abstract: Tribal people in India in extreme poverty use unimproved drinking water sources such as surface water and unprotected wells. These water sources become highly turbid during late summer and rainy season. Because of drinking turbid and untreated water, epidemics of water born diseases are of common occurrence in these populations. People drink polluted water because they lack knowledge of proper drinking water treatments and also they cannot afford costly chemical coagulants. Therefore, usage of safe, traditional water treatment agents from natural sources has become essential. Women in rural areas of India treat their water with Moringa oleifera seed powder prior to drinking purpose. Hence in present paper, study on water clearing efficacy of this plant is reported. Results of turbid untreated water samples treated with seed powder of this plant are given.

Keywords: Natural coagulants, Moringa oleifera seed powder, rural populations, water clearing efficacy