This study investigated the efficacy of a POU water treatment system featuring sari-cloth filtration and/or Moringa oleifera coagulation as pre-treatments for solar disinfection (SODIS). Surface water from a peri-urban slum in Chennai, India, was treated and analysed for turbidity, organic content via chemical oxygen demand (COD) and microbiological quality via most probable number (MPN) enumeration of total coliforms. Pre-treatment with both moringa coagulation and sari-cloth filtration significantly improved the turbidity of raw water compared to no pre-treatment controls (P = 0.0002). Optimal moringa coagulation did not outperform sari-cloth filtration (P = 0.06), but combining optimal moringa coagulation with sari-cloth filtration significantly outperformed either pre-treatment independently with respect to turbidity (P = 0.016 and P = 0.0001, respectively). The addition of moringa was found to increase COD in treated water, with greater doses of moringa resulting in higher COD levels (P = 0.04). Increased organics may have encouraged the re-growth of coliform bacteria that was observed in those jars receiving moringa coagulant such that, with respect to MPN, those jars which were subject to optimal moringa coagulation did not outperform those undergoing sari-cloth filtration alone (P = 0.41). Sari-cloth filtration is recommended as a pre-treatment for SODIS whereas moringa is not, as further investigation on the relationship between organics and bacterial re-growth is necessary.
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Research Article|
June 01 2011
Efficacy of an appropriate point-of-use water treatment intervention for low-income communities in India utilizing Moringa oleifera, sari-cloth filtration and solar UV disinfection
Syed Imran Ali;
1School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
E-mail: [email protected]
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Morgan MacDonald;
Morgan MacDonald
1School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
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J. Jincy;
J. Jincy
2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
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K. Arun Sampath;
K. Arun Sampath
2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
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G. Vinothini;
G. Vinothini
2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
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Ligy Philip;
Ligy Philip
2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
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Kevin Hall;
Kevin Hall
1School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
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Kristan Aronson
Kristan Aronson
3Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
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Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development (2011) 1 (2): 112–123.
Article history
Received:
December 01 2010
Accepted:
March 19 2011
Citation
Syed Imran Ali, Morgan MacDonald, J. Jincy, K. Arun Sampath, G. Vinothini, Ligy Philip, Kevin Hall, Kristan Aronson; Efficacy of an appropriate point-of-use water treatment intervention for low-income communities in India utilizing Moringa oleifera, sari-cloth filtration and solar UV disinfection. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 1 June 2011; 1 (2): 112–123. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/washdev.2011.043
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