A novel technique to purify water using the coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera to filter pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and herbicides from contaminated water sources.
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Environmental Science
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Oral Presentation Award
3rd Place
Written Paper Award
4th Place
Abstract
In recent years increasing levels of pharmaceuticals,heavy metals,and herbicides have been detected in the rivers of North America.Purpose of this experiment was to create cost-effective,eco-friendly water purification system that can filter out seven classes of pharmaceuticals frequently found in the waters of United States (Tri-sprintec,Ibuprofen,Prozac,Diflucan,Lipitor,Amoxicillin,and Metformin),along with two heavy metals(Lead and Chromium),and a herbicide(Atrazine).Moringa oleifera is a plant grown in areas of South America and Asia and is known for its seeds’ coagulant properties to reduce water turbidity. However, there were no studies conducted on removing pharmaceuticals using Moringa oleifera, and hence used in this experiment.It was hypothesized that if contaminated water with pharmaceuticals,heavy metals,and herbicide are run through the filter,then concentration of these contaminants in each of the water samples would decrease,because coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera should filter these harmful contaminants from water.This was achieved by building a multiphase filtration system with fine sand,coarse sand,and sawdust as pre-filter and Moringa seeds as water coagulant.This filtration system tested efficiency and percentage removal of these contaminants in three phases.The contaminant water samples were run through filter and concentration of these chemicals were measured before and after the experiment.T-tests were run to compare controls and trials for each contaminant.The p-values of six pharmaceuticals and both heavy metals were less than alpha value of 0.05,and thus the alternative hypothesis could be supported.However,Prozac and Atrazine showed inconsistent results warranting further tests.This experiment thus confirms the coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera and its effective absorption rate of 80% on pharmaceuticals and heavy metals.
Recommended Citation
Das, Sarayu, "A novel technique to purify water using the coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera to filter pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and herbicides from contaminated water sources." (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 135.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/135
Location
Wall 206
Start Date
3-25-2017 9:45 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
A novel technique to purify water using the coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera to filter pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and herbicides from contaminated water sources.
Wall 206
In recent years increasing levels of pharmaceuticals,heavy metals,and herbicides have been detected in the rivers of North America.Purpose of this experiment was to create cost-effective,eco-friendly water purification system that can filter out seven classes of pharmaceuticals frequently found in the waters of United States (Tri-sprintec,Ibuprofen,Prozac,Diflucan,Lipitor,Amoxicillin,and Metformin),along with two heavy metals(Lead and Chromium),and a herbicide(Atrazine).Moringa oleifera is a plant grown in areas of South America and Asia and is known for its seeds’ coagulant properties to reduce water turbidity. However, there were no studies conducted on removing pharmaceuticals using Moringa oleifera, and hence used in this experiment.It was hypothesized that if contaminated water with pharmaceuticals,heavy metals,and herbicide are run through the filter,then concentration of these contaminants in each of the water samples would decrease,because coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera should filter these harmful contaminants from water.This was achieved by building a multiphase filtration system with fine sand,coarse sand,and sawdust as pre-filter and Moringa seeds as water coagulant.This filtration system tested efficiency and percentage removal of these contaminants in three phases.The contaminant water samples were run through filter and concentration of these chemicals were measured before and after the experiment.T-tests were run to compare controls and trials for each contaminant.The p-values of six pharmaceuticals and both heavy metals were less than alpha value of 0.05,and thus the alternative hypothesis could be supported.However,Prozac and Atrazine showed inconsistent results warranting further tests.This experiment thus confirms the coagulant properties of Moringa oleifera and its effective absorption rate of 80% on pharmaceuticals and heavy metals.
