CACTUS OPUNTIA FICUS INDICA OF MADAGASCAR, AN ALTERNATIVE FOR A MORE EFFICIENT TREATMENT OF WATER

chemical engineering

The objective is to reduce the use of synthetic chemicals in the treatment of water with natural flocculants from the cladodes of the Opuntia ficus indica cactus from Madagascar so that they will be valued. The effectiveness of the cactus flocculant was tested on two well waters from the fokontany of Ambodivoanjo in the rural commune of Alasora district of Avaradrano, for this, physico-chemical and bacteriological analyzes before and after treatment were carried out within from the JIRAMA Mandroseza laboratory. Before the coagulation-flocculation treatment process, the analyzes show that the two well waters have a high turbidity, for the water in well 2 in particular, it has a high content of iron and organic matter which greatly exceeds the limit of standards. . Bacteriological analyzes show that the two well waters have a high proportion of germs indicating pollution. After the gel flocculation test of the cactus cladodes, the analyzes show a very large reduction in turbidity by 95%, in iron content by 80.5%, in organic matter content by 87% and 96% germs, and we had found that the natural flocculant from the cactus cladodes does not have much influence on pH and conductivity. The cactus cladodes can be qualified as a natural flocculant in the water treatment process due to its efficiency; moreover, it replaces the use of chemical flocculants without forgetting that this plant is abundant in Madagascar.

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