Effectiveness of domestic wastewater treatment with a natural polymer, Moringa oleifera / Azinoor Azida Abu Bakar and Jurina Jaafar

Sewage is the wastewater released by residences, businesses and industries in a community. It is 99.94 percent water with only 0.06 percent of the wastewater dissolved and suspended solid material (Hammer, 2004). The cloudiness of wastewater is caused by suspended particles which in untreated sewage ranges from 100 to 350 mg/1. A measure of the strength of the wastewater is biochemical oxygen demand, or BOD5. The BOD5 measures the amount of oxygen microorganisms require in five days to break down wastewater. Untreated wastewater has a BOD5 ranging from 100 mg/1 to 300 mg/1. Pathogens or disease-causing organisms are present in wastewater. Coliform bacteria are used as an indicator of disease-causing organisms. Sewage also contains nutrients (such as ammonia and phosphorus), minerals, and metals. Ammonia can range from 12 to 50 mg/1 and phosphorus can range from 6 to 20 mg/1 in untreated sewage (McGhee, 1991). Wastewater treatment is a multi-stage process to renovate wastewater before it reenters a body of water, is applied to the land or is reused. The goal is to reduce or remove organic matter, solids nutrients disease-causing…