Strychnos potatorum seeds for treating hard water / Komathy Naliane … [et al.]

Every household and every factory in third world countries use impure water. One class of impurity that is of special interest is "hardness" which refers to the presence of dissolved ions mainly of calcium Ca2+ and magnesium Mg2+. These "hardness ions" are primarily responsible for most scaling in pipes and water heaters and cause numerous problems in laundry, kitchen, and bathroom. To overcome this problem, natural products such as Strychnos potatorum seeds, Piper nigrum, Hemidesmusindicus roots and Moringa oleifera seeds (known for softening hard water) were tested for softening hard water by using double decomposition method. Among the four natural products, Strychnos potatorum seeds significantly reduces ion content in hard water compared to the rest. This reduction efficiency also was found to increase with increasing dosage of Strychnos potatorum seeds. Based on the results, Strychnos potatorum seeds were packed into infusion pouches, so that it can easily be soaked in hard water to soften it. Strychnos potatorum's hard water softening bags can be produced at low cost due to its abundant availability giving it the potential of high commercial value.