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Turbidity removal of synthetic wastewater using biocoagulants based on protein

and tannin

Conference Paper  in  AIP Conference Proceedings · June 2020

DOI: 10.1063/5.0007846

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Turbidity removal of synthetic wastewater
using biocoagulants based on protein and
tannin
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2242, 040028 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0007846
Published Online: 01 June 2020

R. S. Putra, R. Y. Amri, and M. Ayu

AIP Conference Proceedings 2242, 040028 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0007846 2242, 040028

© 2020 Author(s).
 Turbidity Removal of Synthetic Wastewater Using
Biocoagulants Based on Protein and Tannin
R. S. Putra1, 2, a), R. Y. Amri1 and M. Ayu1
1
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Universitas Islam Indonesia,
Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
2
Environmental Remediation Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA),
Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
a)
Corresponding author: rudy.syahputra@uii.ac.id

Abstract. River water polluted by garbage is a problem for residents around the river. This has a negative impact on human
survival, especially in health. The process of coagulation and flocculation is a common method used in the water treatment
process. Coagulants used in this study were chemical coagulants i.e. PAC as reference of chemical coagulant and
biocoagulants (i.e. moringa, chickpea and avocado seed; moringa was used as reference of biocoagulants). The aims of this
study were to study the effect of biocoagulants dosages to the performance of biocoagulants marked by the decrease of
turbidity, total dissolved solid (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC). FTIR measurement was carried out to confirm the
presence of functional groups acting as active groups in the coagulation process (i.e. -OH, -COOH, -NH). A wide range of
coagulant dosage (0.01–0.03 g/200 mL) and synthetic turbid water at pH 7–10 were used to evaluate the coagulation
process. The results showed that the highest turbidity removal for chickpea and PAC achieved at the dosage of 0.03 and
0.01 g, respectively as much as 78.06 % and 99.80 %.

Keywords: Water treatment, biocoagulant, turbidity removal

INTRODUCTION

High level turbidity of the water surface resources needs to be treated to get the clean water with low turbidity [1].
The colloidal suspension provides the color and turbidity to synthetic wastewaters which may not be eliminated by
the common sedimentation process. This becomes an important problem in many developing countries to obtain clean
water [2]. The physicochemical wastewater treatment including coagulation, flocculation, precipitation,
electrodialysis, electroplotization and adsorption. The most effective methods to remove the colloidal particles in
water or wastewater are coagulation and flocculation. The addition of an opposite charge ion to the colloidal particles
in coagulation process is accomplished. In coagulation, the electrostatic surface potential neutralization of the particles
is the result from a double layer compression caused by the addition of coagulants [3]. Flocculation is the process in
which the micro floc particles are brought together to generate major agglomerations by mixing physically or through
the binding action of flocculants, namely long chain polymers [4].
There are two types of coagulants, namely the natural based such as using plants (biocoagulant) and the chemical
based such as alum, ferric chloride and polyaluminum chloride (PAC) [5]. Some studies reported that the alum
compounds can trigger Alzheimer's disease. It was reported that monomers of PAC and alum have neurotoxicity [6].
Biocoagulant has been the interest of researcher because natural plant can be used as an alternative coagulant to replace
the chemical based coagulants that are safer to the environment and human [7].

Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Current Progress in Mathematics and Sciences (ISCPMS2019)
AIP Conf. Proc. 2242, 040028-1–040028-6; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0007846
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-2001-4/$30.00

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 Indonesia is one of the tropical countries which is abundant with natural biological wealth that have potential as
natural coagulant materials (biocoagulant) for water treatment such as moringa, chickpea and avocado seed. Moringa
has the ability to decrease turbidity of water from 109 NTU to 5 NTU [8]. Chickpea in fine powder used as
biocoagulant has the best ability to decrease turbidity by 95.89 % [9]. Avocado seeds decrease the turbidity as much
as 80.45 % at a concentration of 10 % of biocoagulants [10].
In this study, PAC and moringa were used as reference of chemical coagulant and biocoagulant in the evaluation
of biocoagulant based on protein (i.e. chickpea) and tannin (i.e. avocado seed) in the artificial turbid water treatment.
The aims of this study were exploring the performance of biocoagulant and its application on the removal of turbidity
from water. There is no significant side effect observed by using these biocoagulants in wastewater treatment since it
was reported that the biocoagulant as non-toxic and biodegradable material.

EXPERIMENTAL

Schematic of Study

In this study, the water sample was a synthetic white clay-turbid water. Artificial turbid water was treated by
chemical-based coagulants and biocoagulant based on protein and tannin. Protein-based biocoagulant was moringa
seed (Moringa oleifera) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) while tannin-based biocoagulant was avocado seed (Persea
americana). PAC was used as reference of chemical coagulant while moringa was used as reference of biocoagulants.
Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of this study. Biocoagulants performance test was carried out by treating the
synthetic turbid water in different dosages of coagulant.

Artificial Turbid Water Preparation

Synthetic turbid water was prepared by adding 1 g of white clay into 1 L of tap water. The suspension was stirred
for 1 h to achieve a uniform dispersion of clay particles [11]. Then, the suspension was directly used as low organic
content sample pursuing for turbid water treatment. The performance of biocoagulant was evaluated by using turbidity
removal, total dissolved solid (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC).

FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram of biocoagulant performance test.

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 Coagulation Test

Coagulation test was conducted using magnetic stirrer unit. The synthetic turbid water was treated using coagulants
(i.e. chemical and biocoagulant) at different dosages (i.e. 0.01; 0.02 and 0.03 g) in 200 mL solution. Before the
coagulant was added into beakers, the pH of synthetic turbid water was checked first using pH indicator paper. 1 M
NaOH solution was added into the solution until alkaline pH ~8. The coagulant was mixed with solution provided by
rapid mixing about 5 mins. followed by slow mixing about 25 mins. [12]. Then, the magnetic stirring was stopped,
and the solution left to settle for approximately 3 h. After sedimentation, the residual turbidity of the clarified water
was collected from the top of the beaker approximately 20 mL for water quality measurement. The performance of
biocoagulant was calculated as turbidity removal (%) according to previous paper [2] as shown by Equation 1.

% 100 (1)

Where Co is the initial turbidity of the water sample (NTU) and Cf is the final turbidity of water sample (NTU).
Other water quality was determined in the terms of pH, TDS and EC. Tyndall effect was measured to confirm that the
colloidal of water sample decreased after the treatment using biocoagulant. The clarified solution was placed in a
cuvette and then a light source passed through to the light meter.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Characterization of Coagulant

The following figures show the IR spectrum of biocoagulants and PAC. Figure 2 and Fig. 3 show that the several
main peaks with different intensities were detected at different frequencies. A broad absorption peak in the range of
3200–3650 cm−1 (3285 cm−1 for moringa, 3275 cm−1 for chickpea and 3410 cm–1 for avocado seed), which could be
assigned to the stretching vibrations of –OH groups and N-H stretching of amide bond [13]. The peaks in the range of
2800–3000 cm−1 (2922 and 2853 cm−1 for moringa, 2924 and 2854 cm−1 for chickpea, and 2920 cm–1 for avocado
seed) were attributed to the stretching vibration of –CH– and CH2. The peaks in the range of 1600–2000 cm–1 (1745
and 1650 cm–1 for moringa and 1744 for chickpea) were attributed to the stretching of C–N vibration of the
superimposed C=O group [14]. The band at 1650 cm–1 could be attributed to the stretching of C=C vibration [15]. The
peaks in the range of 1200–1600 cm–1 (1535 cm–1 for moringa and 1535 cm–1 for chickpea) were attributed to the
bending of NH2 (amine) group [14]. Figure 3 shows that the IR spectrum of PAC exhibited a broad absorption peak
in 3015 cm−1 could be assigned to the stretching vibrations of –OH groups [16]. The peak in 1634 cm−1 was attributed
to the bending vibrations of C=O group. In conclusion, FTIR spectra show that the –OH and C=O groups in coagulants
act as an active site in the coagulation process so that can decrease the turbidity of water.

FIGURE 2. IR spectra of moringa, chickpea and FIGURE 3. IR spectra of PAC.

avocado seed.

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 Effect of Biocoagulants Dosages

The performance test of biocoagulants were prepared by initial artificial turbid water was 1308 NTU for chickpea
and 1230 NTU for PAC. The addition of different dosages of chickpea and PAC to solution affects the final turbidity.
Addition of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 g of chickpea decreased respectively the turbidity as much as 287, 307 and 293 NTU.
While different results showed when PAC was used in similar dosages. The decrease of turbidity achieved were as
much as 406, 213 and 2.47 NTU, respectively. Figure 4 shows the turbidity removal when using PAC and chickpea
as coagulant. The turbidity removal of chickpea at 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 g were 78.06, 76.53 and 77.60 %, respectively.
While the turbidity removal of PAC at 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 g were 66.99, 82.68 and 99.80 %, respectively suggesting
that the optimum dosage for chickpea and PAC was different on the removal of turbidity. The increase of chickpea
dosages was not followed by the increase of turbidity removal significantly. On the contrary, the increase of PAC
dosage was followed by the increase of turbidity removal. The addition of PAC and moringa in solution were not
affected the TDS, while the addition of chickpea and avocado seed as biocoagulants decreased the TDS of solution as
shown in Table 1.
The excess dosing of chemical coagulants and moringa in solution is effecting to increase the TDS. The increase
dosage of PAC and moringa decreased the turbidity of solution significantly, but the TDS increased. The optimum
dosage for chickpea and avocado seed was 0.01 g to decrease the TDS of solution. The measurement of the combined
content of all organic and inorganic compounds or salts found in water are defined as TDS (Total Dissolved Solid).
The cations, namely calcium, magnesium and potassium and the anions such as carbonate bicarbonate, nitrate, chloride
sulfate etc. are usually become the main ingredients of the combined content [17]. The presence of mineral elements
charged macromolecules and other ionic compounds in moringa was dissolved or dissociated into the turbid water
caused a high increase of TDS and EC [18]. The addition of excessive PAC and moringa leads more compound to be
dissolved into the solution marked by the increase in TDS. The coagulation process occurs in the rapid mixing section.
The polymers of those coagulants will interact with all colloidal surface particles so that there was no place for the
end chain to be attached and the flocculation process will occur. The process of flocculation occurred at slow stirring,
the microflocs which form when the coagulation process binds each other to form a larger floc. That was how the
coagulants can reduce the turbidity [19].
Table 2 shows the Tyndall effect of the clarified solution. The turbidity of the solution affects the ability of light
source to pass through the solution and reported as Tyndall effect. Tyndall effect of the synthetic turbid water was
much lower than PAC, chickpea and avocado seed because the turbidity was high as much as 1308–1230 NTU. The
more colloidal particles presence in the solution, the smaller is the Tyndall effect [20]. PAC has the highest Tyndall
effect while avocado seed has the lowest Tyndall effect at dosage of 0.03 g, suggesting that PAC could reduce high
turbidity and avocado seed has low ability to reduce turbidity.
Table 3 shows the electrical conductivity (EC) of artificial turbid water after treated by chemical coagulants and
biocoagulants. The EC shows how much materials were dissolved in solution. EC was calculated from the
measurement of the resistance of an electrolyte where the conductivity and resistance were inversely related [21].
When PAC, moringa and avocado seeds were dissolved in a solution at pH ~8, these materials were expected to
produce ions in solution and lead to increase the EC value.

FIGURE 4. Turbidity removal (%) from synthetic turbid water after treatment.

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 TABLE 1. TDS (mg/L) of synthetic turbid water after treatment with chemical coagulants and biocoagulants.
Protein Tannin
Dosage (g/200 mL) PAC
Moringa Chickpea Avocado Seed
Initial 128 95 136 153
0.01 214 152 35 146
0.02 209 144 133 150
0.03 191 170 131 153

TABLE 2. Light measurement on the Tyndall effect of clarified solution.

Materials Lux
Synthetic turbid water 228
PAC 505
Chickpea 420
Avocado seed 352

TABLE 3. Electrical conductivity (mS/cm) of synthetic turbid water after treatment using chemical coagulants
and biocoagulants.
Protein Tannin
Dosage (g/200 mL) PAC
Moringa Chickpea Avocado Seed
0.00 0.17 0.12 0.18 0.22
0.01 0.29 0.20 0.04 0.20
0.02 0.29 0.19 0.18 0.21
0.03 0.26 0.23 0.18 0.21

PAC was a strong acidic material at pH 3–4 and dissolved in solution forming a positive ion (i.e. H+). While the
protein in moringa will turn into positive molecules when dissolved at pH 7–8. Protein was a zwitter ion and a
polyelectrolyte compound which has an amine group and carboxylic acid. When the protein is dissolved in water, it
will form a positive ion (H+). The increasing number of ions in solution leads to increase the EC. The amine functional
group from protein deformed to positive ions and interact with the negative surface of colloidal particles. The positive
ions from biocoagulant bond the colloidal particles and lead to the turbidity decrease in water. Tannin acid in avocado
seed was a compound classified as a polyphenol compound. When the avocado seeds were added into an alkaline
solution, the –OH bonds will be broken and then the H+ ion interact with negative ion to dissolve in solution. This
leads to a decrease in the TDS and EC [22].

CONCLUSION

The turbidity removal from synthetic turbid water sample treated by using biocoagulants has been evaluated. In
general, protein-based and tannin-based biocoagulants were good biocoagulant for turbid water. IR spectra showed
that these materials have several functional groups that acting as active sites in the coagulation-flocculation process.
The performance of the biocoagulants was also compared with the PAC and moringa as references. The addition of
0.01 g of chickpea and avocado seeds decreased the turbidity, TDS, and EC successfully. The turbidity decreased by
up to 78 % and followed by the increase of Tyndall effect from 228 to 420 Lux after treatment. The increasing of TDS
and EC cannot be avoided while using PAC and moringa as coagulant due to the presence of organic matter in these
materials. However, the use of biocoagulant did not bring the toxic effect and was not harmful to human health.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education
(KEMENRISTEKDIKTI) of the Republic of Indonesia for their financial support through Penelitian Dasar Unggulan
Perguruan Tinggi (PDUPT) 2019-2020. Financial support from Directorate of Talent Development and Student
Welfare of Universitas Islam Indonesia to R.Y.A and M.A are also gratefully acknowledged.

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