War. Res. Vol. 29, No. 4, pp.

1099-1105, 1995
~ ) Pergamon 0043-1354(94)00250-9 Copyright © 1995 ElsevierScienceLtd
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0043-1354/95 $9.50 + 0.00

M O R I N G A OLEIFERA SEEDS FOR SOFTENING

HARDWATER
S U L E Y M A N A. M U Y I B I and L I L I A N M. EVISON*
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU, England

(First received February 1994; accepted in revisedform September 1994)

Abstract--In this paper, preliminary investigations into the possible use of Moringa oleifera seed
suspension for the softening of hardwater are presented. Four water sources: synthetic water (distilled
water spiked with calcium chloride), naturally hard surface water and groundwater from two tube wells
at different locations were used for the study. Modified laboratory jar test procedures for coagulation
studies were used for the experimental runs. Water hardness from the sources varied from 300 up to
1000 mg/l as CaCO 3. The mechanism for softening was found to be due to adsorption with the adsorption
isotherm approximating to the Langmuir type, and conversion of soluble hardness-causing ions to
insoluble products by precipitation reactions. Removal efficiency was found to increase with increasing
dosage of Moringa oleifera. Higher dosages were required to achieve equivalent residual hardness for water
samples with the same initial hardness but higher number of hardness-causing species in the water.
Hardness removal was found to be independent of pH of the raw water.

Key words--Moringa oleifera, hardness removal, softening, adsorption, synthetic water, surface water,
groundwater

INTRODUCTION to 150 ntu respectively and hardness from 180 to

300 mg/1 as C a C O 3. It was observed that in addition
Moringa ole(fera belongs to the family Moringaceae
to turbidity reduction of 92-99%, the hardness was
which is a single genus family o f shrubs and trees
also reduced to between 60-70% after coagulation
cultivated across the whole of the tropical belt and
and two hours settling. The softening property o f
used for a variety of purposes (Jahn, 1986). The dry
Moringa oleifera which was accidentally discovered in
seed suspension is known to be a natural coagulant
that study is the only one documented to date. The
and coagulant aid (Jahn, 1979-1988; Folkard et al.,
present study was therefore carried out to explore
1986-1988; Kaser et al., 1990; Sani, 1990; Bina, 1991).
further the potential o f this multipurpose tropical
In the Sudan, dry Moringa oleifera seeds are used
plant as a new method for use in the softening of hard
in place of alum by rural women to treat highly turbid
groundwater.
Nile water (Jahn, 1986). In Northern Nigeria, the
The main objective of the present study was to
fresh leaves are used as a vegetable, roots for medic-
carry out further investigation into the factors and
inal purposes and branches for demarcation of prop-
processes involved in softening hardwater using dry
erty boundaries and fencing. Studies by Eilert et al.
Moringa oleifera seed suspension.
(1981) identified the presence of an active antimicro-
bial agent in Moringa oleifera seeds. The active agent
isolated was found to be 4~ L-rhamnosyloxy-benzyl MATERIALS AND METHODS
isothiocyanate, at present the only known glycosidic Four sources of water (viz: surface, synthetic water and
mustard oil. Madsen et al. (1987) carried out coagu- groundwater from two tube wells) were used for the labora-
lation and bacterial reduction studies on turbid Nile tory based experimental runs.
water in the Sudan using Moringa oleifera seeds and
observed turbidity reduction of 80-99.5% paralleled Preparation of synthetic water
by a bacterial reduction of 1-4 log units (90-99.99%) Two grams of calcium chloride (CaC12.6H20 BDH
Chemicals) was dissolved in a litre of distilled water to
within the first one to two hours of treatment, the bac-
produce a stock solution of 2000mg/1. From the stock
teria being concentrated in the coagulated sediment. solution varying concentrations were prepared by serial
Sani (1990) carried out jar tests with Moringa dilution. A relationship was established between calcium
oleifera as the primary coagulant using water from chloride hardness (mg/1) and hardness as CaCO 3 (mg/1).
four different sources (viz two surface and two shal- Hardness was determined using methods outlined in
Standard Methods (APHA, 1992).
low wells) with turbidities from 100 to 800 ntu and 80 The regression equation developed is
*Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed. H = 0.417C + 13.99 (R 2 = 0.993)

1099
1100 Suleyman A. Muyibi and Lilian M. Evison

Table I. Average raw water characteristics deterioration sets in if stored for more than two days at
Total hardness room temperature.
mg/l as CaCO 3 Alkalinity
Ca Mg mg/I as Experimental runs
Source of water Total CaCO 3 pH Experimental runs were carried out on synthetic water
Butterwell 696.4 320.7 312 8.0 with hardness ranging from 300 to 900mg/l as CaCO3,
(surface water) 1017 surface water and groundwater from the two sources.
New Winning 310 184.5 328 7.1
(groundwater) 494.5 Experimental method
Peterlee 336.3 160.2 324 7.2
(groundwater) 496.5 For each experimental run 500 ml of water sample was
Synthetic water 300 20 7.2 put in a one litre beaker and the paddle of a jar apparatus
(water spiked 500 20 7.2 (Voss Flocculator) inserted. The speed of mixing was set at
with CaCI2) 700 28 7.2 110 rpm using a portable electronic tachometer (Banair).
900 52 7.2 The required dosage o f Moringa oleifera was added and
stirred for 2 rain. The residual hardness of the product water
was then measured using standard methods (APHA, 1992)
where H is the hardness as CaCO3 (mg/1), C is the calcium after one hour settling time. The synthetic water sample was
chloride concentration (mg/l). kept at constant pH of 7.2 for all experimental runs. For the
surface and groundwater samples, water quality parameters
Surface water measured before and after dosing were hardness, alkalinity,
Raw water samples were collected from a small stream at turbidity and pH.
the landfill site of the discontinued Butterwell open cast Since the flocs formed after each experimental run were
mining site at Morpeth near Newcastle upon Tyne. light and therefore did not settle as fast as required during
the one hour settling period, the product water was filtered
Groundwater before carrying out the measurement of the water quality
Raw water samples were collected from tube wells at parameters.
Sunderland, New Winning reservoir and Easington, The average raw water characteristics for the surface and
Peterlee, operated by North East Water. groundwater are as shown in Table 1.

Preparation of Moringa oleifera seed suspension RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Dry Moringa oleifera seeds used were from Langen Local
Government area o f K a n o State, Nigeria. The seed wings T h e e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s a r e t a b u l a t e d in T a b l e s
and coat from selected good quality Moringa oleifera seeds 2 - 5 a n d p r e s e n t e d g r a p h i c a l l y in F i g s 1 a n d 2. F r o m
were removed and the kernel ground to a fine powder using Fig. 1 it is o b s e r v e d t h a t f o r v a r y i n g levels o f initial
the coffee mill attachment of a Moulinex domestic food
blender. h a r d n e s s f r o m 300 to 900 m g / l as C a C O 3 f o r t h e
Two grams of the powder were put in a high speed mixer s y n t h e t i c w a t e r ( w a t e r s p i k e d w i t h c a l c i u m chloride),
(ATO M I X MSE) and 200 ml distilled water added and i n c r e a s i n g d o s a g e o f Moringa oleifera f r o m 150 to
blended for 30 s to extract the active ingredient. The result- 1150 m g / l results in i n c r e a s i n g h a r d n e s s r e d u c t i o n , u n -
ing suspension was filtered through a muslin cloth and the
til at a d o s a g e 0 f 9 5 0 m g / l t h e residual h a r d n e s s is zero.
filtrate made up to 500 ml to give a stock solution of approx.
4000 mg/1. The solution had a pH of 6.5. The stock solution For the synthetic hardwater, an apparent threshold
was prepared fresh for use as and when needed, since d o s a g e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f Moringa oleifera b e t w e e n

Table 2. Softening synthetic water using Moringaoleiferaseeds (calcium chloride in distilled water, initial
hardness 300 and 500, 700 and 900 mg/l)
Residual Residual
Moringa oleiJera hardness Moringa oleifera hardness
dosage mg/l as Final dosage mg/l as Final
mg/I CaCO 3 pH mg/l CaCO 3 pH
0 300 7.2 0 700 7.2
150 274.3 6.8 150 696.8 6.8
250 266.3 6.8 250 620.6 6.7
350 264.3 6.8 350 600.6 6.7
450 264.3 6.75 450 592.6 6.7
550 252.3 6.7 550 584.6 6.5
650 143.8 6.7 650 575.4 6.5
750 119.2 6.7 750 590.6 6.5
850 14.6 6.5 850 159.1 6.4
950 0 6.5 950 40 6.4
1050 0 6.5 1050 40 6.4
1150 0 6.5 1150 25.6 6.4
0 500 6.9 0 900 7.2
150 475 6.9 150 873 6.8
250 473.2 6.7 250 856.6 6.7
350 460 6.7 350 849.9 6.7
450 460 6.6 450 844.9 6.7
550 448.5 6.5 550 840.8 6.6
650 372.4 6.5 650 838.5 6.6
750 228.2 6.5 750 784.6 6.5
850 52.1 6.5 850 276.9 6.4
950 0 6.5 950 123 6.4
1050 0 6.4 1050 84.5 6.4
1150 0 6.4 1150 45.5 6.0
 Moringa oleifera seeds f o r s o f t e n i n g h a r d w a t e r 1101

Table 3. Softening surface water (Butterwell) using Moringa oleifera seeds

Final
Moringa oleifera Residual hardness, mg/I as C a C O s alkalinity
dosage mg/l as Final
mg/I Calcium Magnesium Total CaCOs pH
0 696.4 320.7 1017.1 312 8
900 576.6 320.3 896.9 280 7.1
10O0 528.5 248.2 776.7 268 7
1100 488.5 192.2 680.7 260 7
1200 472.5 184.7 656.7 260 6.9
1300 446.5 162.1 608.6 260 6.8
1400 423.6 155.3 578.9 250 6.8
1500 424.8 144.1 568.9 260 6.8
1600 418.9 139.0 555.8 266 6.8
1700 390.6 130.2 520.8 264 6.8
1800 335.1 112 447.0 248 6.7
1900 280.3 93.7 373.9 260 6.7
2000 243.6 81.4 325 260 6.7
2200 209.6 75.4 285 260 6.7
2400 207.8 72.2 280 260 6.7

650 and 750 mg/l was observed for all values of initial pH
hardness. This observation served as the basis for the For the surface water sample, the pH decreased
choice of the starting dosage of Moringa oleifera in from 8.0 to a fairly constant value of 6.7 _+ 1 whilst
the softening studies for the surface water and the two for the water samples from the two wells, the pH
groundwater samples (Fig. 2). remained fairly constant at 7.2 __+1 from an initial pH
For the surface and two well water samples with of 7.1 and 7.2 respectively. In general the pH of the
initial hardness of 1017, 495 and 494.8 mg/l as CaCO3 product water for the three water samples was within
respectively, increasing the Moringa oleifera dosage the recommended standards (WHO, 1984). In a
from 900 to 2400 mg/l results in decreasing hardness. related study, Muyibi (1993) observed that in a
The rate of hardness reduction was found to be completely randomized factorial experiment (five
higher at lower dosages for the surface water samples factors viz; dosage of Moringa oleifera, pH, rate and
than the two well water samples (Fig. 2). time of rapid mix, initial hardness), pH did not have
However the overall residual hardness was almost a significant effect on the rate of hardness.
the same at a Moringa oleifera dosage of 2400 mg/1 The observed pH independence of Moringa oleifera
when the experiment was terminated. In general for softening would be an asset, especially in tropical
the surface and two well water samples, calcium developing countries where savings can be made on
hardness was reduced faster with increasing dosage of importation of the chemical used for pH adjustment
Moringa oleifera. At a Moringa oleifera dosage of in conventional chemical treatment.
1800 mg/l, calcium hardness had reduced almost to
zero. The hardness remaining was due mainly to
magnesium (Table 2). This observation may be due to Alkalinity
the fact that calcium ions, which have a small For the surface water, alkalinity decreased slightly
hydrated radius, are selectively adsorbed faster than with increasing dosage from 312 mg/! as CaCO 3 to a
magnesium with a higher hydrated radius (Weber, constant value of 260 mg/1 as CaCO3, an average of
1972). 17% reduction. Similarly for the two tube well water

Table 4. Softening groundwater (New Winning) using Moringa oleiJeraseeds

Final
Moringa oleifera Residual hardness, mg/l as CaCO~ alkalinity
dosage mg/l as Final
mg/l Calcium Magnesium Total CaCOs pH
0 310 184.5 494,5 328 7.1
500 269.5 111.8 381,3 312 7.1
600 255.5 120.1 375,6 306 7.2
700 232 154.2 386.2 298 7.2
800 232 107.5 339.5 310 7
900 236 138.6 374,6 304 7
1000 230 148.5 378.5 304 7
1100 232 151.3 383.3 300 7.1
1200 215 158.4 373.4 298 7.1
1400 152 151.3 303.3 294 7.1
1600 40 261.6 301.6 278 7.3
1800 14 244.8 258.7 268 7.3
2000 5 235.8 240.8 256 7.3
2200 0 238.5 238.5 238 7.4
2400 0 215.2 215.2 234 7.4
1102 Suleyman A. Muyibi and Lilian M. Evison

Table 5. Softening groundwater (Easington, Peterlee) using Moringa oleifera seeds

Final
Moringa ole(fera Residual hardness, mg/I as CaCO 3 alkalinity
dosage mg/las Final
mg/l Calcium Magnesium Total CaCO 3 pH
0 336.3 160.2 496.5 324 7.2
500 320.5 164.8 485.5 300 7.2
600 300.6 178.3 478.8 295 7.2
700 289.6 178.2 467.8 293 7.2
800 275.4 183.5 458.9 285 7.2
900 250.6 195.3 445.9 284 7.2
1000 234.7 191.2 425.9 280 7.2
1100 175.9 211.4 387.3 280 7.2
1200 36 296.3 333.3 278 7.2
1400 4 296.6 300.6 268 7.2
1600 2 285.8 287.8 258 7.2
1800 0 275.5 275.5 256 7.2
2000 0 250.6 250.6 254 7.2
2200 0 245 245 220 7.3
2400 0 232.2 232.2 218 7.2

samples, the alkalinity decreased from 324 mg/l as 140, 225 and 200 mg/l as CaCO 3 respectively for the
CaCO 3 to 234mg/1 as CaCO3 and 218 mg/1 respect- two surface water and two well water samples.
ively, an average reduction of 17% and 27%. This The use of Moringa oleifera would therefore appear
observation is also another potential advantage in the to have several technical benefits. Furthermore it
use of Moringa oleifera seeds in softening hardwaters. could also create economic benefits as cultivation of
Conventional chemical softening and coagulation the Moringa oleifera plant for sale to water supply
require excess alkalinity to provide the necessary companies would provide new job opportunities for
buffering capacity to achieve required treatment the local population.
objectives. Moringa oleifera is known to be a natural cationic
The slight decrease in alkalinity and pH of all water polyelectrolyte and flocculant, with a chemical
samples may be due to precipitation of insoluble composition of basic polypeptides with molecular
products of the reaction between the Moringa oleifera weights ranging from 6000 to 16,000 daltons,
and the hardness-causing ions similar to precipitation containing up to six amino acids of mainly glutamic
softening using lime/soda ash. The Moringa oleifera acid, methionine and arginine (Jahn, 1986). As a
seed extract appears to have natural buffering ca- polyelectrolyte it may therefore be postulated that
pacity. The precipitates (solids/flocs) were light and Moringa oleifera removes hardness in water through
did not settle easily. The chemical constituent of the adsorption and inter-particle bridging (LaMer and
precipitate is however not known. Healy, 1963).
Similar observations were made by Sani (1990) Secondly, with the observation that light, slow-
who found that alkalinity reduction averaged only settling solids/flocs were formed, precipitation
30% in the coagulation of four water sources (two reaction lead to the conversion of soluble hardness-
surface and two groundwater) using Moringa oleifera causing ions to insoluble compounds would also be
seeds. The average raw water alkalinities were 66, a good prediction of the reaction mechanism.

• 300 mg/I as CaC03

1000 500 mg/I as CaC03
700 mg/I as CaC03
8 90C ~' " 900 rag/) as CaC03
O
800

~, 7ooi
= 600
50C

" 3ooi
~
R 200[ - -
100

0 ~
F ~ ~

i i i i i i i i i

0 150 300 450 600 750 900 1050 1200

M. O L E I F E R A D O S A G E mg/I

Fig. I. S y n t h e t i c water: s o f t e n i n g w i t h M. oleifera.

 Moringa oleifera seeds for softening hardwater 1103

1250 • Butlerwell (Surface)

New Winning (Well)

8
o Peterlee (Well)
o 1000

750

Z "
===o
500

..I
<c
¢3 250
N
UJ
IK

t I I I I I I i I I I I I

0 500 600 700 800 900 1000110012001400160018002000

M. OLEIFERA DOSAGE, mg/I

Fig. 2. Softening water with M. oleifera.

Adsorption isotherms Y~s= 67.9088X + 0.165899 (surface water)

Adsorption isotherms developed are shown in Figs In 2(adj.) = 51%]
3-5 which approximate to the Langmuir type. The
best fit equations developed using Grapher Statistical Y.c, = 28.828X + 0.041304 (groundwater)
package (Golden Software Inc., 1988) are given by: [R Z(adj.) = 51°/ol.
Y = 13.6434X + 0.253905 (synthetic water) When compared to the Langmuir adsorption model;
[R 2(adj.) = 66%] i/Qe= I/Q°+ l/bQ°Ce, where Y = l/Q°; X = 1/C~.
Qe is the ratio of the hardness adsorbed to the
dosage of Moringa oleifera, Ce is the equilibrium
1,0000 . . . . . . . . . r . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . ,
concentration of adsorbate (residual hardness, mg/l
R 2 (adi) = 66% as CaCO3) , Q o is the adsorption capacity of Moringa
o.8oooo . . . . . . . . " ........ ' ........ oleifera, b is a constant related to the energy of
l/Qe ' " . ~ adsorption.
0.6.000 . . . . , The adsorption capacities are 3.938, 6.028 and
24.21 respectively for synthetic, surface and ground-
o oo . .;,Y. .-. .-. I ' ........
. . . . . . , i: . . . . . . . . :
: water respectively.
The higher values for the surface water and two
OO
0.2000 .• . . . . . . . '~ . . . . . . . . l . . . . . . . . . groundwater samples is due to the fact that they
', Y = 1 3 . 6 4 3 4 x + 0 . 2 5 3 9 0 5 contain hardness due to calcium, magnesium and
',
0.0000
O.0000 0.0200 0.0400 0.0600
other hardness-causing substances as shown in
l/C° Table 1. This implies that as the number of hardness-
F i g . 3. A d s o r p t i o n isotherm for softening hardwater (water
causing species increases, the required dosage of
spiked with CaC~2). Moringa oleifera increases.

0.3000 .... • . . . . ,. . . . r - - - , . . . . ,
v.~u .... r .... ,. . . . "1 . . . . ', Y w e l l = 2 8 . 8 2 8 x + 0 . 0 4 1 3 0 4
,, ,, : ,',
I I l° I
I I ° I l i i ,e i
0.30.-- ' " 0 . 2 0 0 0 . . . . . ... . i . . . . . . . . 4 .... i
"-r ~ i. . . . 3' . . . . . 'i
; °: : :
l/Qe adj) = 51% l/Qe : , o .
I l I I
, ~, o ~
0.20 . . . . L . . . .
I
I. . . .
I
d . . . . .
I
I
I
, ;~e° -;
0.1000 .... ;"- ,~,"'~"-I .....
I I I
I I I
0.10 . . . . ,- . . . . ,. . . . 4 ..... , °i R 2 (add = 51%
I I I I
', t ' , ', ',
,' Y s s = 6 7 . 9 0 8 8 x + 0 , 1 8 5 8 9 9
I i i i
0000%
0.00
0 . 0 0 0 0.001 0 . 0 0 2 0 . 0 0 3 0 . 0 0 4
liCe
liCe
Fig. 4. Adsorption isotherm for softening surface water F i g . 5. A d s o r p t i o n isotherm for groundwater New Winning
(Butterwell). and Peterlee tube wells.
1104 Suleyman A. Muyibi and Lilian M. Evison

In addition the hardness present is also made up of the same initial hardness. For the synthetic
carbonate and noncarbonate hardness, since alkalin- hardwater, there was a threshold Moringa oleifera
ity of the surface and the two well water samples was dosage concentration of 650-750 mg/l.
less than total hardness (Sawyer and McCarty, 1978). 2. The mechanism for hardness removal is absorp-
The implication is that in two samples of water with tion, with the adsorption isotherm approximately of
the same total hardness but which contain different the Langmuir type, and conversion of soluble
hardness species, the sample with more hardness- hardness-causing substances to insoluble products by
causing species would require higher dosages of Mo- precipitation.
ringa oleifera to achieve equivalent residual hardness. 3. The efficiency of softening hardwater with Mo-
It was also observed during the study that the ringa oleifera seeds as found to be independent of pH
solids (flocs) after rapid mix were pin-like and light. and alkalinity but dependent on the permanent hard-
They therefore settled slowly. In practice there may ness of the four raw water sources used in this study.
therefore be the need for the provision of a filtration 4. Moringa oleifera has potential to be used in the
system either by direct filtration or sedimentation treatment of hardwaters for domestic use in tropical
followed by filtration. developing countries.
Results of these preliminary studies have shown
that Moringa oleifera seeds have considerable poten- Acknowledgements--The authors gratefully acknowledge
tial to be used in the treatment of hardwater, es- the financial support of the British Council (FCOAS).
pecially in tropical developing countries in rural Thanks to all staff of the Environmental Engineering
communities for small scale facilities and/or individ- Laboratories, Department of Civil Engineering, University
of Newcastle upon Tyne for their assistance in many ways.
ual households.
Moringa oleifera is a natural product, and the
chemical constituent and structure is not fully known. REFERENCES
The interaction of the seed with chemical and other APHA, AWWA, WPCF (1992) Standards Methods for the
substances in raw water are also not fully understood Examination of Water and Wastewater, 7th edn. American
and the products of interaction are not all known. Public Health Association, American Water Works
Further studies would therefore have to be carried Association and Water Pollution Control Federation,
out to provide insight into the interaction between Washington, D.C.
Berger M. R., Habs M., John S. A. A. and Schmahi D.
Moringa oleifera seed suspension and the constituents (1984) Toxicological assessment of seeds from Moringa
of raw water, and the product of the interactions. oleifera and M. stenopetala two efficient primary
Moringa oleifera is available in viable quantities in coagulants for domestic water treatment of tropical
some of these tropical developing countries and may waters. East African Med. Jr. Sept., pp. 712-716.
Bina B. (1991) Investigations into the use of natural plant
also be cultivated easily in others since Moringa is a coagulants in the removal of bacteria and bacteriophage
tropical plant. One of the active agents (4~-4-rham- from turbid waters. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Newcastle
nosyloxy-benzyl-isothiocynate) in Moringa oleifera upon Tyne.
isolated by Eilert et al. (1981) and identified as an Eilert U., Wolters B. and Nahrstedt (1981) The antibiotic
active antimicrobial agent is readily soluble in water principle of Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala.
Planta Medica 42, 55 61.
at 1.3/~mol/1 and is non-volatile. Information on the Folkard G. K., Sutherland J. P. and Grant W. P. (1989) Op-
fate of this active agent in treated water is presently timisation of the use of natural coagulants for water puri-
not available. Research needs to be carried out to find fication. Tech. Rep. No. R4254. University of Leicester.
out the fate of this agent in treated water. Reference Golden Software Inc. (1988) Grapher.
Jahn S. A. A. (1986) Proper use of African natural coagu-
may be made to the results of the study by Berger lants for rural water supplies--Research in the Sudan and
et al. (1984). In that study it was concluded that a guide to new projects. GTZ Manual No. 191.
Moringa oleifera seeds as water purifiers may not Kaser F., Werner C. and Nahayo D. (1990) Rural water
constitute a serious health hazard. However further treatment using Moringa oleifera seeds as coagulant.
studies should be carried out to ensure the safety of
Natural Resources Development, Vol. 33, pp. 33-47. Insti-
tute of Scientific Co-operation, Tubingen, Germany.
users of this common tropical plant, since when the LaMer V. K. and Healy T. W. (1963) Adsorption--floccu-
leaves and other parts of the plant are used as food. lation reactions of macro-molecules at the solid-liquid
Economic figures are presently not available and interface. Rev. appl. Chem. 13, 112-132.
there is a need for studies at pilot scale in order to Madsen M., Schlundt J. and El Fadil E. Omer (1987) Effect
of water coagulated by seeds of Moringa oleifera oubac-
compare costs, i.e. seed, seed preparation, storage etc. terial concentrations. J. Trop. Med. Hygiene 90~ 101-109.
Finally it is recommended that efforts be made to Muyibi S. A. (1993) The use of Moringa oleifera seeds in
carry out further studies at pilot plant level to provide water treatment. Unpublished progress report of research.
the necessary data for field applications. Univ. of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sani M. A. (1990) The use of Zogale seeds for water
treatment. B Eng., Final year project report, Bayero
SUMMARY University, Kano, Nigeria.
Sawyer C. N. and McCarthy P. L. (1978) Chemistry for
1. Hardness removal efficiency of Moringa oleifera Environmental Engineers, pp. 85-90. McGraw-Hill, New
was found to increase with increasing dosage. The York.
Weber W. Jr (1972) Physicochemical Processes for Water
more species causing hardness that are present in the Quality Control. Wiley Interscience, New York.
water sample, the higher the dosage required to WHO (1984) Guidelinesfor Drinking Water Quality: Vol. I;
achieve equivalent residual hardness for water with Recommendations. World Health Organisation. Geneva.