Efficiency of coagulation processes for the treatment of flood affected water with special reference to turbidity and total solids

Abstract

Groundwater is created by infiltration of precipitation, surface runoff, or water stored in surface bodies, including rivers and lakes, to an aquifer. Ground water quality is important as it is the main factor determining its suitability for drinking, domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes. Pollution reaches groundwater in several ways. Rainwater and runoff may contact contaminated soil while filtering down into groundwater. Turbidity, total solids, electrical conductivity, and pH are considered as some of the important parameters in water quality. This study was designed to determine the efficiency of optimal alum concentration on the treatment of the flood affected ground water in Sithandi G. N. Division of Eravur Pattu D.S division at Batticaloa District. The total numbers of 15 wells were selected randomly from the Sithandi village to analyze the ground water samples. Severely polluted well was selected based on the questionnaire survey during the period of November 2015 to January 2016. Samples were collected to analyze the water quality parameters such as turbidity, total solids, electrical conductivity, and pH. Collected water samples were treated with Ammonium alum ((NH4)Al(SO4)2) at different concentration (control, 2.5 mg/l, 5 mg/l, 7.5 mg/l, 10 mg/l, and 12.5 mg/l) with three replicates. It was found that the turbidity reduction was effective at the concentration of 5 mg/l alum.