Turbid water treatment with Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) Fibers and Moringa seeds (Moringa oleifera): An Application of Nature-Based Solutions

Abstract

Applying Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in water treatment is increasingly gaining popularity globally as attest by many studies all over  the world. This study explored household usable naturebased water treatment techniques from locally available plants of Kenaf Fibers  and moringa seeds in the treatment of turbid surface water in Abeokuta, Nigeria. (How did you get the kenaf and moringa? Please state  it). The kenaf Fibers were pre-treated with a hypochlorite solution and sundried, and the moringa seeds were pulverized. Four treatment  options were investigated: raw (turbid) water with the moringa seed powder alone, secondly with kenaf fibers alone and thirdly with  kenaf-moringa combination, and the moringa-kenaf combination. Water samples were collected at the end of each ‘treatment’ option  and tested for selected water quality parameters. The biosorption efficiency was established through a comparative assessment of the  pre-and posttreatment concentrations of the selected parameters. Expectedly, the treatment options had different effects on the water  quality parameters. However, Kenaf-moringa and moringa-kenaf both had the most prominent effect. Moringa-kenaf combination  recorded best turbidity (2.73 NTU) and iron (6.16 mg/L) removal, respectively. Kenaf-moringa also recorded the best removal for zinc  (0.02 mg/L), bicarbonate (122.00 mg/L), magnesium (22.00 mg/L), and water hardness. This justifies the potential for the combination than the use of the individual plant as a household usable NBS water treatment approach .