Comparative study of turbidity removal efficiency of green pea (Cicer arietinum) seed and pod extract for turbid water treatment

Natural coagulants are considered affordable and efficient substitutes to chemical coagulants for use in water treatment. The study investigated the turbidity removal efficiency of pea seed and pod extracts from surface water. Chemical and proximate analyses of pea seed and pod were evaluated. Optimum values of coagulant dose, pH and stock solution concentrations were determined using jar test. Turbidity removal efficiencies and residual turbidity of the coagulant were also evaluated. The highest turbidity removal efficiency was found to be 98% and 97% at 10% w/v stock solution concentration of the pea seed and pod extract respectively. The optimum pH suitable for coagulation of surface was found to be 6.8 and 6.6 at 10% w/v stock solution of pea seed and pod extract respectively. The pea seed and pod extract were found to be most efficient in removing turbidity from surface water at 10% (w/v) stock solution with optimum dose of 1600mg/L. The p-value was found to be 0.99, 0.0156 and 0.33 for Turbidity removal efficiency, pH and Residual turbidity of pea seed and pod respectively. Pea seed and pod turbidity removal efficiencies are statistically insignificant, but their pH and Residual turbidity values are statistically significant. The findings in this study suggest that both the Pea pod and Pea seed extract are effective in water coagulation, but pea seed extract is more effective in drinking water coagulation, while pea pod extract was cheaper and readily available.