Turbidity removal from surface water and landfill leachate using cactus opuntia

Abstract

The effectiveness of cactus opuntia, a natural macromolecular coagulant, for turbidity removal was studied via jar test. The jar test was conducted to remove turbidity from two aqueous solutions, namely, surface water and landfill leachate. The surface water studied were estuarine and river water. Initial turbidity values measured at 499 NTU and 547 NTU for estuarine and river water respectively were reduced by as much as 98% (estuarine) and 70% (river). Other parameters such as pH as well as alkalinity were also studied. High turbidity removal effectiveness shown in this bench-scale study indicates that cactus opuntia has the potential to be utilised for surface water treatment applications. Turbidity removal was less effective in the case of landfill leachate (31.6 - 41.9%) but the removal percentage was observed to increase in the presence of Mn2 + (bivalent cation).