For rural communities that rely on rivers for drinking water, affordable treatment is essential. This study tested powdered Moringa oleifera seed as a natural coagulant and antimicrobial agent for surface water.
Water from three different rivers was treated with moringa seed powder at doses of 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/L, and a broad panel of quality parameters was measured before and after.
Key findings
- Most parameters — turbidity, BOD, TDS, total alkalinity, total hardness, chlorides, sulphate and standard plate count — fell significantly as dose increased.
- The seed powder acted as both a clarifier and an antimicrobial agent.
- Higher doses gave better treatment within the tested range.
Why it matters for MORIFA: Broad, multi-parameter improvement of raw river water is a strong, all-round demonstration of moringa seed as a drinking-water treatment input for rural supply programmes.
Caveat: results across three rivers; real performance depends on local source-water chemistry.
Summary of: Karri, V. R. et al. (2015). “Effect of powdered Moringa oleifera seeds on the characteristics of surface water.” Indian Journal of Applied Research. Summarised by MORIFA; full paper via the PDF link above.