Study on the ameliorating effect of aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera on Ganga water

Abstract

The quality of  surface water is deteriorating day by day due to various anthropogenic activities. Ganga water is assumed polluted almost in the entire strech of river. The medicinal plants may be useful for amelioration of pollution. The present work deals with the study of several chemical characteristics as well as microbial examination of water samples taken from few sites of Ganga river namely Krishna Ghat, Kali Ghat and N.I.T Ghat (Gandhi Ghat) at Patna. The study was foccused on the evaluation of antimicrobial effect of Moringa oleifera (sahjan) leaves extract in the Ganga water. The aqueous leaves extract of different concentrations (0.1%, 0.16%, 0.23%, 0.3%) showed ameliorating results on pH and chloride content of water as well as microbial activity. Significant ameliorating results were observed on pH and chloride content of water. pH was reduced from 8.1 to 7.4 and chloride was reduced from 82.36 mg/l to 48.14 mg/l under plant extract treatment. Colony Forming Unit (CFU) was assessed by standard plate count (SPC) method and was found to be 468 CFU/ml for raw water, which was reduced to 143 CFU/ml when treated with plant extract. Similar decreasing trend was observed in case of MPN of coliform. So extract of Moringa oleifera may also be applied to purify drinking water. Morever it will be cheaper for the people in comparision to other purification devices.