Application of Thymus Species as Natural Coagulant for Elimination of Turbidity of Water and Its Comparison with the Conventional Coagulant

Hossein  Kamani; Leili  MohammadiMohammadi; Ali  Azari; Seyed Davoud  Ashraﬁ; Farah  Heydari; Fatemeh Ganji; Seyed Mohammad  Mousavi

doi:10.18502/jehsd.v9i3.16582

Hossein Kamani Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Sciences in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Leili MohammadiMohammadi Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Research Institute of Cellular and Molecular Sciences in Infectious Diseases, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Ali Azari Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Iran.
Seyed Davoud Ashraﬁ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Research Center of Health and Environment, School of Health, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
Farah Heydari Iranian Academic Center for Edueaction, Cultur and research (ACECR),Sistan and Baluchestan brach,Iran.
Fatemeh Ganji Student Research Committee, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Student Research Committee, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jehsd.v9i3.16582

Keywords: Thymus, Natural Coagulant, Water turbidity, Conventional coagulant

Abstract

Introduction: The most important pollutant in surface water sources is turbidity. The aim of the study is to determine the most effective thyme plant extract as a natural coagulant to remove water turbidity and compare it with alum as a chemical coagulant..

Materials and Methods: In this study, plant extracts obtained from Thymus vulgaris (Tv), Thymus kotschyanus (Tk), and Thymus eriocalyx (Te) were used as natural coagulants for elimination of water turbidity. Then, the best of plant extract was confirmed by ninhydrin and FTIR analyses and the effect of simultaneous use of plant extract with chemical coagulant of aluminum sulfate (alum) was investigated in the hybrid ratio of 1:1, 2:1, and 1:2. Then, the effect of parameters include of pH, coagulant dose, turbidity removal efficiency, and the most suitable solvent for coagulant extraction were studied.

Results: The results of this study showed that among the natural coagulants, Tv had a higher efficiency in elimination of water turbidity, and the highest amounts of turbidity elimination for Tv, alum, and Tv/alum hybrid coagulants was 94, 90, and 96, respectively. According to the results of this study, the most effective solvent for preparing plant extracts was 1M KCl solvent.

Conclusion: The natural coagulant removes more turbidity from water than the chemical coagulant, and the simultaneous use of natural and chemical coagulants with a 1:1 ratio was more effective.