Purification of drinking water by low cost method in Ethiopia

Abstract

Nowadays, water treatment is a big issue in rural areas especially in African country. Due to lack of facilities available in those areas and the treatment are expensive. In this regard’s an attempt has been made to find alternative natural way to treat the rural drinking water. The experiment trials were undertaken on the most promising plant extracts, namely: Moringa oleifera, Jatropha curcas and Guar gum. The extracts were used to treat contaminated water obtained from a number of wells. The results showed that the addition of M. oleifera can considerably improve the quality of drinking water. A 100 % improvement both in turbidity and reduction in Escherichia coli was noted for a number of the samples, together with significant improvements in colour.