Abstract
Purpose of Review
The use of conventional chemical coagulant in treatment of wastewater is gaining great attention. Drawbacks related to the prolonged effects on human health and environment due to the generation of by-product non-biodegradable sludge are becoming the latest topics. Transition from chemical to natural coagulant can be a good strategy to reduce the aforementioned drawbacks. Therefore, this review aims to provide critical discussions on the use of natural coagulant along with the comparative evaluation over the chemical coagulant.
Recent Findings
Treatment performances by chemical and natural coagulant have been reviewed on various types of wastewater with different success rates. Based on this review, a transition from the use of chemical to natural coagulant is highly suggested as the performance of the natural coagulant is comparable to that of the chemical coagulant and in some cases even better. The comparative advantages and disadvantages also convinced that the natural coagulant stands a great chance to be used as an alternative over the chemical coagulant.
Summary
Though the current utilization of natural coagulant is encouraging, three main aspects were overlooked by researchers: active coagulant agent, extraction, and optimization due to different wastewater characteristics. Furthermore, delving into these aspects could clarify the uncertainties on the natural coagulant. Hence, it makes this transition a prospect of green technology with sustainable application towards wastewater treatment.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
UNESCO. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2019: leaving no one behind. In: UNESCO Digital Library. 2019.
UNESCO. The United Nation World Water Development Report 2018: transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. In: UNESCO Digital Library. 2018.
Kumar V, Othman N, Asharuddin S. Applications of natural coagulants to treat wastewater − a review. MATEC Web Conf. 2017;103:06016.
Abidin ZZ, Mohd Shamsudin NS, Madehi N, Sobri S. Optimisation of a method to extract the active coagulant agent from Jatropha curcas seeds for use in turbidity removal. Ind Crop Prod. 2013;41(1):319–23.
Kakoi B, Kaluli JW, Ndiba P, Thiong’o G. Banana pith as a natural coagulant for polluted river water. Ecol Eng. 2016;95:699–705.
Vatvani C. The toxic waste that enters Indonesia’s Citarum River, one of the world’s most polluted. In: Channel news Asia. 2018. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-citarum-river-worlds-most-polluted-toxic-waste-.
EPA. The Passaic’s River, Polluted Past. United States Environmental Protection Agency. In: www.ourpassaic.org. 2014.
De Pippo T, Donadio C, Guida M, Petrosino C. The case of Sarno River (Southern Italy): effects of geomorphology on the environmental impacts. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2006;13(3):184–91.
Montuori P, Lama P, Aurino S, Naviglio D, Triassi M. Metals loads into the Mediterranean Sea: estimate of Sarno River inputs and ecological risk. Ecotoxicology. 2013;22(2):295–307.
Septiono MA, Roosmini D, Salami IRS, Ariesyadi HD, Lufiandi. Industrial activities and its effects to river water quality (case study Citarum, Bengawan Solo and Brantas), an evaluation for Java Island as an economic corridor in master plan of acceleration and expansion of Indonesia economic development (Mp3Ei) 2011. 12th Int Symp Southeast Asian Water Environ. 2016;(November).
Choy SY, Prasad KN, Wu TY, Raghunandan ME, Ramanan RN. Performance of conventional starches as natural coagulants for turbidity removal. Ecol Eng. 2016;94:352–64.
Amran AH, Zaidi NS, Muda K, Loan WL. Effectiveness of natural coagulant in coagulation process: a review. Int J Eng Technol. 2018;7(3.9):34.
Camacho FP, Sousa VS, Bergamasco R, Ribau TM. The use of Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant in surface water treatment. Chem Eng J. 2017;313:226–37.
Chitra D, Muruganandam L. Performance of natural coagulants on greywater treatment. Recent Innov Chem Eng. (Formerly Recent Patents Chem. Eng.). 2019;13:81–92.
Sibartie S, Ismail N. Potential of Hibiscus sabdariffa and Jatropha curcas as natural coagulants in the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater. MATEC Web Conf. 2018;152.
Maurya DP, Singla A, Negi S. An overview of key pretreatment processes for biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to bioethanol. 3 Biotech. 2015;5(5):597–609.
Zaidi NS, Muda K, Loan LW, Sgawi MS, Abdul Rahman MA. Potential of fruit peels in becoming natural coagulant for water treatment. Int J Integr Eng. 2019a;11:140–50.
Zaidi NS, Muda K, Abdul Rahman MA, Sgawi MS, Amran AH. Effectiveness of local waste materials as organic-based coagulant in treating water. IOP Conf Ser Mater Sci Eng. 2019;636(1).
Choy SY, Prasad KMN, Wu TY, Raghunandan ME, Ramanan RN. Utilization of plant-based natural coagulants as future alternatives towards sustainable water clarification. J Environ Sci (China). 2014;26(11):2178–89.
Peavy HS, Rowe DR, Tchobanoglous G. Environmental engineering. 1985.
Delphos PJ, Wesner GM. Mixing, coagulation, and flocculation (ch. 6), Water treatment plant design. 4th ed. McGraw-Hill; 2005.
Ghernaout D, Ghernaout B. Sweep flocculation as a second form of charge neutralisation-a review. Desalin Water Treat. 2012;44(1–3):15–28.
Choy SY, Prasad KMN, Wu TY, Ramanan RN. A review on common vegetables and legumes as promising plant-based natural coagulants in water clarification. Int J Environ Sci Technol. 2015;12(1):367–90.
Miller SM, Fugate EJ, Craver VO, Smith JA, Zimmerman JB. Towards understanding the efficacy and mechanism of Opuntia spp. as a natural coagulant for potential application in water treatment. Environ Sci Technol. 2008;42:4274–9.
Szilagyi I, Polomska A, Citherlet D, Sadeghpour A, Borkovec M. Charging and aggregation of negatively charged colloidal latex particles in the presence of multivalent oligoamine cations. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2013;392(1):34–41.
Xia X, Lan S, Li X, Xie Y, Liang Y, Yan P, et al. Characterization and coagulation-flocculation performance of a composite flocculant in high-turbidity drinking water treatment. Chemosphere. 2018;206:701–8.
Jiao R, Fabris R, Chow CWK, Drikas M, van Leeuwen J, Wang D, et al. Influence of coagulation mechanisms and floc formation on filterability. J Environ Sci (China). 2017;57:338–45.
Li T, Zhu Z, Wang D, Yao C, Tang H. Characterization of floc size, strength and structure under various coagulation mechanisms. Powder Technol. 2006;168(2):104–10.
Huang C, Lin JL, Lee WS, Pan JR, Zhao B. Effect of coagulation mechanism on membrane permeability in coagulation-assisted microfiltration for spent filter backwash water recycling. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp. 2011;378(1–3):72–8.
Choong Lek BL, Peter AP, Qi Chong KH, Ragu P, Sethu V, Selvarajoo A, et al. Treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME) using chickpea (Cicer arietinum) as a natural coagulant and flocculant: evaluation, process optimization and characterization of chickpea powder. J Environ Chem Eng. 2018;6(5):6243–55.
Ma C, Hu W, Pei H, Xu H, Pei R. Enhancing integrated removal of Microcystis aeruginosa and adsorption of microcystins using chitosan-aluminum chloride combined coagulants: effect of chemical dosing orders and coagulation mechanisms. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp. 2016;490:258–67.
Wang B, Shui Y, He M, Liu P. Comparison of flocs characteristics using before and after composite coagulants under different coagulation mechanisms. Biochem Eng J. 2017;121:107–17.
Momeni MM, Kahforoushan D, Abbasi F, Ghanbarian S. Using Chitosan/CHPATC as coagulant to remove color and turbidity of industrial wastewater: optimization through RSM design. J Environ Manag. 2018;211:347–55.
Metcalf W, Eddy C. Metcalf and eddy wastewater engineering: treatment and reuse. New York: Wastewater Eng Treat Reuse McGraw Hill; 2003.
Abidin ZZ, Ismail N, Yunus R, Ahamad IS, Idris A. A preliminary study on Jatropha curcas as coagulant in wastewater treatment. Environ Technol. 2011;32(9):971–7.
Choudhary M, Ray MB, Neogi S. Evaluation of the potential application of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a bio-coagulant for pre-treatment of oil sands process-affected water. Sep Purif Technol. 2019;209(July 2018):714–24.
Odiyo JO, Bassey OJ, Ochieng A, Chimuka L. Coagulation efficiency of Dicerocaryum eriocarpum (DE) plant. Water SA. 2017;43(1):1–6.
Dotto J, Fagundes-Klen MR, Veit MT, Palácio SM, Bergamasco R. Performance of different coagulants in the coagulation/flocculation process of textile wastewater. J Clean Prod. 2019;208:656–65.
Rajput SK, Bapat KN, Choubey S. Bioremediation - natural way for water treatment. An Int J Life Sci Chem. 2012;29(2):88–99.
Ramphal S, Muzi SS. Optimization of time requirement for rapid mixing during coagulation using a photometric dispersion analyzer. Procedia Eng. 2014;70:1401–10.
Ding Y, Zhao J, Wei L, Li W, Chi Y. Effects of mixing conditions on floc properties in magnesium hydroxide continuous coagulation process. Appl Sci. 2019;9(5).
Ernest E, Onyeka O, David N, Blessing O. Effects of pH, dosage, temperature and mixing speed on the efficiency of water melon seed in removing the turbidity and colour of Atabong River, Awka-Ibom State, Nigeria. Int J Adv Eng Manag Sci. 2017;3(5):427–34.
Kan C, Huang C, Pan JR. Time requirement for rapid-mixing in coagulation. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp. 2002;203(1–3):1–9.
Katayon S, Noor MJMM, Asma M, Ghani LAA, Thamer AM, Azni I, et al. Effects of storage conditions of Moringa oleifera seeds on its performance in coagulation. Bioresour Technol. 2006;97(13):1455–60.
Beltrán-Heredia J, Sánchez-Martín J, Delgado-Regalado A. Removal of carmine indigo dye with moringa oleifera seed extract. Ind Eng Chem Res. 2009;48(14):6512–20.
Mataka LM, Sajidu SMI, Masamba WRL, Mwatseteza JF. Cadmium sorption by Moringa stenopetala and Moringa oleifera seed powders : batch , time , temperature, pH and adsorption isotherm studies. Int J Water Resour Environ Eng. 2010;2(3):50–9.
Guan D, Zhang Z, Li X, Liu H. Effect of pH and temperature on coagulation efficiency in a North-China water treatment plant. Adv Mater Res. 2011;243–249:4835–8.
Sahu O, Chaudhari P. Review on chemical treatment of industrial waste water. J Appl Sci Environ Manag. 2013;17(2).
Joudah RA. Effect of temperature on floc formation process efficiency and subsequent removal in sedimentation process. J Eng Dev. 2014;18(4):1813–7822.
He J, Liu F, Ouyang L, Xu K. Optimim operating conditions confirmation and effectiveness analysis based on research of the coagulation and precipitation integrated process. Procedia Environ Sci. 2011;10:541–8.
Warrier RR, Sing B, Balaji C, Priyadarshini P. Storage duration and temperature effects of Strychnos potatorum stock solutions on its coagulation efficiency. J Trop For Environ. 2018;4(2):45–56.
de Souza MTF, de Almeida CA, Ambrosio E, Santos LB, Freitas TKF d S, Manholer DD, et al. Extraction and use of Cereus peruvianus cactus mucilage in the treatment of textile effluents. J Taiwan Inst Chem Eng. 2016;67:174–83.
Crini G, Lichtfouse E. Advantages and disadvantages of techniques used for wastewater treatment. Environ Chem Lett. 2018;17(1):145–55.
Jagaba AH, Kutty SRM, Hayder G, Latiff AAA, Aziz NAA, Umaru I, et al. Sustainable use of natural and chemical coagulants for contaminants removal from palm oil mill effluent: a comparative analysis. Ain Shams Eng J. 2020;11:951–60.
Arafat MG, Mohamed SO. Preliminary study on efficacy of leaves, seeds and bark extracts of Moringa oleifera in reducing bacterial load in water. Int J Adv Res. 2013;1(October):124–30.
Rodiño-Arguello JP, Feria-Diaz JJ, de Jesús Paternina-Uribe R, Marrugo-Negrete JL. Sinú River raw water treatment by natural coagulants. Rev Fac Ing. 2015;76:90–8.
Balamurugan P, Shunmugapriya K. Treatment of urinal waste water using natural coagulants. Int J Recent Technol Eng. 2019;8(2):355–62.
Pallavi N, Mahesh S. Feasibility study of Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant for the treatment of dairy wastewater. Int J Eng Res. 2013;2(3):200–2.
Gopika GL, Kani KM. Accessing the suitability of using banana pith juice as a natural coagulant for textile wastewater treatment. Int J Sci Eng Res. 2016;7(4):260–4.
Alwi H, Idris J, Musa M, Ku Hamid KH. A preliminary study of banana stem juice as a plant-based coagulant for treatment of spent coolant wastewater. J Chem. 2013;(February).
Seghosime A, Awudza JAM, Buamah R, Ebeigbe AB. Effect of locally available fruit waste on treatment of water turbidity. Civ Environ Res. 2017;9(7):7–15.
Lagade VM, Taware SS, Muley DV. Seasonal variations in meat yield and body indices of three estuarine clam species (Bivalvia: Veneridae). Indian J Geo-Marine Sci. 2014;43(8):1586–93.
Shahbandeh M. Statista: global production of fresh fruit from 1960 to 2018. 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/262266/global-production-of-fresh-fruit/#statisticContainer. Accessed 17 Nov 2020.
Fahey JW. Moringa oleifera: a review of the medical evidence for its nutritional, therapeutic, and prophylactic properties. Part 1. Trees for life J. 2005;1(5):1–5.
Garnayak DK, Pradhan RC, Naik SN, Bhatnagar N. Moisture-dependent physical properties of jatropha seed (Jatropha curcas L.). Ind Crop Prod. 2008;27(1):123–9.
Gomez-Flores R, Calderon CL, Scheibel LW, Tamez-Guerra P, Rodriguez-Padilla C, Tamez-Guerra R, et al. Immunoenhancing properties of Plantago major leaf extract. Phytother Res. 2000;14(8):617–22.
Díaz MD, de la Rosa AP, Héliès-Toussaint C, Guéraud F, Nègre-Salvayre A. Opuntia spp.: characterization and benefits in chronic diseases. Oxid Med and Cell Longev.2017.
Kurniawan SB, Abdullah SRS, Imron MF, Said NSM, Ismail N. ‘Izzati, Hasan HA, et al. Challenges and opportunities of biocoagulant/bioflocculant application for drinking water and wastewater treatment and its potential for sludge recovery. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(24):1–33.
Jassim N, AlAmeri M. Single objective optimization of surface water coagulation process using inorganic/organic aid formulation by Taguchi method. Period Eng Nat Sci. 2020;1924-34.
Bratby J. Coagulation and flocculation in water and wastewater treatment. Water 21. 2006.
Boulaadjoul S, Zemmouri H, Bendjama Z, Drouiche N. A novel use of Moringa oleifera seed powder in enhancing the primary treatment of paper mill effluent. Chemosphere. 2018.
de Paula HM, de Oliveira Ilha MS, Sarmento AP, Andrade LS. Dosage optimization of Moringa oleifera seed and traditional chemical coagulants solutions for concrete plant wastewater treatment. J Clean Prod. 2018;174:123–32.
Alo MN, Anyim C, Elom M. Coagulation and antimicrobial activities of Moringa oleifera seed storage at 3 °C temperature in turbid water. Appl Sci Res. 2012;3(2):887–94.
Vishali S, Karthikeyan R. Cactus opuntia (ficus-indica): an eco-friendly alternative coagulant in the treatment of paint effluent. Desalin Water Treat. 2015;56:1489–97.
Sellami M, Zarai Z, Khadhraoui M, Jdidi N, Leduc R, Ben RF. Cactus juice as bioflocculant in the coagulation-flocculation process for industrial wastewater treatment: a comparative study with polyacrylamide. Water Sci Technol. 2014.
Ganjidollst H, Tatsumi K, Yamagishi T, Gholian RN. Effect of synthetic and natural coagulant on lignin removal from pulp and paper wastewater. Water Sci Technol. 1997;35(2–3):291–6.
Teh CY, Wu TY, Juan JC. Optimization of agro-industrial wastewater treatment using unmodified rice starch as a natural coagulant. Ind Crop Prod. 2014;56:17–26.
Zainol NA, Aziz HA, Lutpi NA. Diplazium esculentum leaf extract as coagulant aid in leachate treatment. AIP Conf Proc. 2017;1835(April).
Awang NA, Aziz HA. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaf extract as coagulant aid in leachate treatment. Appl Water Sci. 2012;2(4):293–8.
Kian-Hen C, Peck-Loo K. Potential of banana peels as bio-flocculant for water clarification. Prog Energy Environ. 2017:47–56.
Abidin ZZ, Madehi N, Yunus R. Coagulative behaviour of Jatropha curcas and its performance in wastewater treatment. 2017;00(00):1–10.
Idris J, Som AM, Musa M, Ku Hamid KH, Husen R, Muhd Rodhi MN. Dragon fruit foliage plant-based coagulant for treatment of concentrated latex effluent: comparison of treatment with ferric sulfate. J Chemother. 2013;2013:1–7.
Muhammad IM, Abdulsalam S, Abdulkarim A, Bello AA. Water melon seed as a potential coagulant for water treatment. Glob J Res Eng C Chem Eng. 2015;15(1):17–24.
Ang WL, Mohammad AW. State of the art and sustainability of natural coagulants in water and wastewater treatment. J Clean Prod. 2020;262:121267.
Aboulhassan MA, Souabi S, Yaacoubi A, Baudu M. Coagulation efficacy of a tannin coagulant agent compared to metal salts for paint manufacturing wastewater treatment. Desalin Water Treat. 2015:1–7.
Tuddao VB, Gonzales E. Updates on water environment management in the Philippines. Philippines: Dept of Environ Manag Bureau; 2016.
Awolola GV, Oluwaniyi OO, Solanke A, Dosumu OO, Shuiab AO. Toxicity assessment of natural and chemical coagulants using brine shrimp (Artemia salina) Bioassay. Int J Biol Chem Sci. 2010;4(3):633–41.
Gunten A Von, Ebbing K, Imhof A, Giannakopoulos P. Brain aging in the oldest-old. 2010.
Dassanayake KB, Jayasinghe GY, Surapaneni A, Hetherington C. A review on alum sludge reuse with special reference to agricultural applications and future challenges. Waste Manag. 2015;38(1):321–35.
Zhang Q, Zhang F, Ni Y, Kokot S. Effects of aluminum on amyloid-beta aggregation in the context of Alzheimer ’ s disease. Arab J Chem. 2019;12(8):2897–904.
Mohana R. Utilization of natural coagulant in turbidity removal and oxygen demand reduction. J Environ Eng Stud. 2019;4(2):18–24.
Kueh ABH. Spent ground coffee–awaking the sustainability prospects. Environ Toxicol Manage. 2021;1(1):1–6.
Al Farraj DA, Elshikh MS, Al Khulaifi MM, Hadibarata T, Yuniarto A, Syafiuddin A. Biotransformation and detoxification of antraquione dye green 3 using halophilic Hortaea sp. Int Biodeterior Biodegradation. 2019;140:72–7.
Al Farraj DA, Hadibarata T, Yuniarto A, Alkufeidy RM, Alshammari MK, Syafiuddin A. Exploring the potential of halotolerant bacteria for biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2020;43(12):2305–14.
Al Farraj DA, Hadibarata T, Yuniarto A, Syafiuddin A, Surtikanti HK, Elshikh MS, et al. Characterization of pyrene and chrysene degradation by halophilic Hortaea sp. B15. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2019;42(6):963–9.
Hadibarata T, Syafiuddin A, Al-Dhabaan FA, Elshikh MS. Rubiyatno. Biodegradation of Mordant orange-1 using newly isolated strain Trichoderma harzianum RY44 and its metabolite appraisal. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2018;41(5):621–32.
Syafiuddin A, Boopathy R, Hadibarata T. Challenges and solutions for sustainable groundwater usage: pollution control and integrated management. Curr Pollut Rep. 2020;6(4):310–27.
Syafiuddin A, Fulazzaky MA. Decolorization kinetics and mass transfer mechanisms of Remazol Brilliant Blue R dye mediated by different fungi. Biotechnol Rep. 2021;29:e00573.
Mahmud KN, Wen TH, Zakaria ZA. Activated carbon and biochar from pineapple waste biomass for the removal of methylene blue. Environ Toxicol Manage. 2021;1(1):30–6.
Zakaria NA, Abdul Rahim AR. An overview of fruit supply chain in Malaysia. J Mech. 2014;37:36–46.
Padam BS, Tin HS, Chye FY, Abdullah MI. Banana by-products: an under utilized renewable food biomass with great potential. J Food Sci Technol. 2014;51(12):3527–45.
FAOSTAT. Understanding coconut as a biomass fuel. In: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2014.
Syafiuddin A, Fulazzaky MA, Salmiati S, Kueh ABH, Fulazzaky M, Salim MR. Silver nanoparticles adsorption by the synthetic and natural adsorbent materials: an exclusive review. Nano Env Engg. 2020;5(1):1–18.
Syafiuddin A, Salmiati S, Hadibarata T, Kueh ABH, Salim MR. Novel weed-extracted silver nanoparticles and their antibacterial appraisal against a rare bacterium from river and sewage treatment plan. Nanomaterials. 2018;8(1):1–17.
Syafiuddin A, Salmiati S, Hadibarata T, Kueh ABH, Salim MR, Zaini MAA. Silver nanoparticles in the water environment in Malaysia: inspection, characterization, removal, modeling, and future perspective. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):1–15.
Syafiuddin A, Salmiati S, Hadibarata T, Salim MR, Kueh ABH, Sari AA. A purely green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Carica papaya, Manihot esculenta, and Morinda citrifolia: synthesis and antibacterial evaluations. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2017;40(9):1349–61.
Syafiuddin A, Salmiati S, Hadibarata T, Salim MR, Kueh ABH, Suhartono S. Removal of silver nanoparticles from water environment: experimental, mathematical formulation, and cost analysis. Water Air Soil Pollut. 2019;230(5):102–17.
Syafiuddin A, Salmiati S, Jonbi J, Fulazzaky MA. Application of the kinetic and isotherm models for better understanding of the behaviors of silver nanoparticles adsorption onto different adsorbents. J Environ Manag. 2018;218:59–70.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Surabaya in realizing the current work.
Funding
The authors received financial support from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) Malaysia (FRGS/1/2019/TK01/UTM/02/11) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) (Q.J130000.2651.16J76).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Biology and Pollution
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bahrodin, M.B., Zaidi, N.S., Hussein, N. et al. Recent Advances on Coagulation-Based Treatment of Wastewater: Transition from Chemical to Natural Coagulant. Curr Pollution Rep 7, 379–391 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-021-00191-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-021-00191-7