Tratamento de água com coagulantes naturais em uma comunidade do estado do Ceará.

Abstract

Millions of people around the world use untreated surface water from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. These water sources can transmit diseases, exposing the population to avoidable risks. In Brazil, the consumption of contaminated water is one of the main factors that cause diseases in people, especially children and the elderly. Drought exacerbates this situation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of the treatment of cistern and weir water with biological coagulants from forage cactus (Opuntia cochenillifera) and Moringa oleífera, in a rural community in the municipality of Acopiara, in the State of Ceará. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design – DIC. The water samples were collected on a rural property in the municipality of Acopiara - CE, along with the biological coagulants. Each biological coagulant was prepared and distributed in the samples of the two types of water in the following concentrations: 1.0; 3.0 and 5.0 g, each treatment having 3 replicates and 1 control. The concentrations of the coagulants remained in the samples for 72 hours, after which turbidity, pH and electrical conductivity analyzes were performed. In general, tests with biological coagulants showed excellent results, making it a viable alternative for the treatment of these poor quality waters, being a low-cost technology and simple to implement.