Keywords: Natural coagulant aid; response surface methodology; coagulation and flocculation; water and wastewater treatment

Abstract

This study evaluated the feasibility of a newly synthesized composite coagulant aid, SSG-S for turbidity removal in drinking water treatment. SSG-S was synthesized from rice starch and sesbania seed gum through the microwave irradiation method. The surface morphology of SSG-S was evaluated through scanning electron microscope (SEM). Compared with conventional rice starch, SSG-S provides more porous sites and longer chains for effective pollutant adsorption and bridging processes. Moreover, response surface methodology (RSM) revealed that the addition of SSG-S increased the turbidity reduction rate up to 96.3%. In addition, the novel coagulant aid helped to reduce the dosage of alum, coagulant aid, and settling period by 6.7%, 87.9%, and 6.5 minutes (1.5 times quicker), respectively.