Composite of chitosan and Bentonite as coagulant agents in removing turbidity from Ismailia canal as water treatment plant

Abstract

The use of chemical coagulants is not suitable due to health and economic considerations. In the last time, the use of natural additives that are biocompatible, are biodegradable, have low toxicity and are from renewable resources attracted the attention of many types of research due to their high ability to retain different pollutants from wastewaters. Ismaili Canal is one of the most important tributaries of the River Nile in Egypt. This study successfully proved the effectiveness of the combination of chitosan and bentonite as a coagulating agent in the (Ismailia canal) for the wastewater treatment process. Chitosan and Bentonite were known as coagulant agents, thus were used in this study. Laboratory tests were conducted to test the water quality based on turbidity values and basic drinking water parameters. Chitosan and Bentonite can be applied on (Ismailia canal) resulting in a turbidity removal 97.7% at 30 minutes. The optimal dosage of bentonite(clay) combined with chitosan(polymer) was 5 and 1mg/L at PH=7.4.