Utilization of aloe vera as a biocoagulant for turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS), and iron (Fe) removal in well water

Abstract

Well water contains several contaminant loads that need to be removed before use, such as turbidity, TDS, and Fe metal. One method of well water treatment is coagulation. Aloe vera has the potential to be an appropriate coagulant because it contains polygalacturonic acid, carboxyl groups (-COOH), and amide groups (-NH) that can help increase coagulation efficiency. The purpose of this study was to analyse the removal efficiency of turbidity, Fe metal and TDS using Aloe vera extract with HCl and H2O solutions. The coagulant doses used were 0.5 ml, 1.0 ml and 1.5 ml, fast stirring 120 rpm for 1 minute while slow stirring was carried out at 30 rpm for 10, 20 and 30 minutes. In the extraction of Aloe vera with HCl solution, the optimal dose and slow stirring time were obtained as 0.5 ml and 10 minutes for turbidity, 0.5 ml and 20 minutes for TDS and 1 ml and 10 minutes for Fe metal with efficiencies of about 96.99%, 8.05% and 70.85%, respectively. In H2O solution, the optimal dosage and slow stirring time were 0.5 ml and 10 min for turbidity and TDS with efficiencies of 91.76% and 3.09%, respectively. For Fe metal, the optimal dose and time were 1.5 mL and 20 minutes with removal efficiency of 6.39%.