RESUMEN
Aluminum sulfate is one of the most used chemical coagulants in the world, but research has shown that high concentrations of aluminum in the body are associated with neuropathological conditions. Because of this, different alternatives have been evaluated such as natural coagulants, which are considered safe for human health and contain fewer contaminants than chemicals due to their biodegradation properties. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of mixing nopal mucilage and cassava starch for turbidity removal in water purification. In this paper, test jars and the treatment equipment (TA-scale FQ-005/PE manufactured by Generatoris SA de CV of Mexico) was applied in order to measure turbidity and pH parameters before and after the process of coagulation-flocculation, which was applied to water from the Magdalena River in Colombia. Samples from two sampling periods were assessed. One was evaluated during the rainy season and the other was evaluated without precipitation (drought) with initial turbidities of 316 NTU and 80 NTU, respectively. It was found that aluminum sulfate as a coagulant reference obtained better turbidity removal results (up to 99%) as compared to nopal (up to 60.4%), and nopal-starch combination of cassava (up to 67%), indicating that this mixture increases the effectiveness of natural coagulants used individually. Our results indicate that this should be considered as an alternative in the water purification process.
RESUMEN
Water purification is indispensable to guarantee safe human consumption and to prevent diseases caused by the ingestion of contaminated water. This requires a series of water treatment processes which require investment. However, the economic limitations of rural communities hinder their ability to implement such water-treatment systems, as is the case in Ciénaga Grande of Santa Marta ("Large Swamp", in English) in Colombia. Low-cost systems can be used instead as simple and safe alternatives. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate non-conventional, low-cost water processes to purify the water from the collection point of two stilt house villages in Ciénaga Grande of Santa Marta. These include: 1) Using two natural coagulants, Moringa Oleifera and Cassia Fistula; 2) filtration through a biosand filter and a carbon activated filter; and 3) disinfection through UV-C Radiation and through solar disinfection. The results showed a turbidity values reduction between 52% and 96% using the two natural coagulants; both turbidity and total coliforms achieved reductions of 98.4% and 76.9%, respectively in the filtration process; and removal of total coliforms up to 98.8% in the disinfection process. Despite the high rates of reduction in the different parameters, the water does not comply with the recommended limits for safe drinking water.