CHARACTERIZATION AND STANDARDIZATION OF CRUDE MORINGA OLEIFERA SEEDS FOR WASTEWATER TREATMENT

The use of local materials as disinfectants in wastewater treatment process is considered important especially in developing countries because of low cost and environmentally-friendly reasons among others. Crude seeds of drumstick (Moringa oleifera) were collected from trees in households and the surroundings in Maiduguri city, north-eastern Nigeria. They were threshed, shelled, milled and sieved to obtain the fine powder. It was then dissolved into clean water and subjected to analysis using Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICPOES) method giving Iodine value 62.7, Potassium 10.59 mgL-1, Sodium 2.91 mgL-1, Calcium 22.68 mgL-1, Magnesium 0.16 mgL-1 and Phosphorus 2.29 mgL-1. Also, ten levels of concentrations; 0 (control), 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 gL-1 were prepared and standardized in relation to the wastewater needed to be added. Only 0.4 concentration level was used in treating the domestic, agricultural and industrial wastewater samples. The results, when compared with standard values for drinking and agricultural use showed that they could only be used for unrestricted (drip) irrigation but not for drinking.