Sampalok (Tamarindus indicus) Seeds as Flocculants in Water Treatment at Silway, November 2011

Inorganic flocculants which are commonly use such as Aluminum sulfate are costly and possesses health hazards. This study aims to determine the effects of Tamarindus indicus seeds if used as flocculant in the physical parameters such as color, turbidity and Total dissolved solids; chemical parameters such as pH and hardness; and microbiological parameters such as total coliform and fecal coliform on Silway river water. The application of Sampaloc resulted in the increase in the units of color which is statiscally different from the control 1 Aluminum Sulfate. The higher concentration of sampaloc seed flocculant showed to be statistically different from lowser concentration in the removal of turbidity and total dissolved solids, although only a partial reduction in dissolved solids was attained. Application of sampaloc seed flocculant also lowered the pH to slightly acidic for the lower concentration and slightly basic for the higher concentration. pH in all treatments are statistically different from one another. On the other hand, sampaloc flocculant contributed to the hardness of the water. Statistical analysis reveals that all treatments are significantly diferrent, meaning different concentration of treatment have different degrees of effect. A reduction in the microbiological parameters was also observed, and statisitical analysis further shows that treatments are not signicantly different from one another. The effects of sampaloc sced foc chemical and microbiological parameters proves that sampaloc seeds has the capacity to act as flocculants.