Natural coagulates for wastewater treatment; a review for application and mechanism

The increase of water demand and wastewater generation is among the global concerns in the world. The less effective management of water sources leads to serious consequences, the direct disposal of untreated wastewater is associated with the environmental pollution, elimination of aquatic life and the spread of deadly epidemics. The flocculation process is one of the most important stages in water and wastewater treatment plants, wherein this phase the plankton, colloidal particles, and pollutants are precipitated and removed. Two major types of coagulants are used in the flocculation process included the chemical and natural coagulants. Many studies have been performed to optimize the flocculation process while most of these studies have confirmed the hazardous effects of chemical coagulants utilization on the ecosystem. This chapter reviews a summary of the coagulation/flocculation processes using natural coagulants as well as reviews one of the most effective natural methods of water and wastewater treatment

Developing a Strategy to Recover Condensate Water from Air Conditioners in Palestine

As the need for water is increasing in Palestine, and the available water resources are barely sufficient to meet the demands of the current quality of life and the economy, air conditioner condensate water could be explored as an alternative water source. The objective of this study is to better understand the potential for recovery of condensate water from air conditioning systems in two Palestinian cities. In addition, this study aims to evaluate this water source in terms of quality and quantity. Generally, it was found that the condensate water has good quality, which conforms to the Palestinian standards for reused water for irrigation, except for turbidity, biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements. Reflecting the heavy metal occurrence in the collected condensate water, no particular risk was recognized for drinking water or reused irrigation standards, except for manganese occurrence of 0.19 mg/L in one sample. From a single unit capacity, high quantities of water were observed of approximately 259 L and 453 L per month in Ramallah and Jericho cities, respectively. These figures should draw the attention of decision and policy makers to put in place strict technical guidelines to be followed for potential reuse of condensate water at the local level