How to Purify Water with Moringa Seeds:Household Water PurificationAllow the Moringa seed pods to dry naturally on the tree before harvesting them.Remove the seed husks, leaving a whitish kernel.Crush the seed kernels to a powder with a stone or mortar.Mix the powder with a small quantity of clean water in a small cup.Pour the mixture through a tea strainer or sieve into a cup. It's best to cover the strainer with a piece of clean cloth.Add the resulting milky fluid to the water you wish to purify.Stir quickly for 30 seconds, then slowly and regularly for five minutes.Cover the water and do not disturb it for at least an hour.The clean water may be siphoned or poured off the top of the container.50-150 mg of ground Moringa seed treats one liter of water, depending on how clear the water is. We suggest experimenting with amount of seeds and stirring times to find what works for you.The seed cake left over after extracting oil can still be used for water purification.Softening Hard WaterA study at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) found that Moringa seeds not only purify water but also soften it.Large Scale Water PurificationArticle courtesy Inter Press Service, Washington, DC)SCIENCE: VEGETABLE PODS MAY HELP SOLVE THIRD WORLD'S WATER WOESBy Susan LitherlandLONDON, July 14, 1995 (IPS) -- British researchers say a vegetable pod which grows on trees in Africa, Asia and Latin America may hold the key to solving a lot of the water problems in the developing world.(Article courtesy Inter Press Service, Washington, DC)SCIENCE: VEGETABLE PODS MAY HELP SOLVE THIRD WORLD'S WATER WOESBy Susan LitherlandLONDON, July 14, 1995 (IPS) -- British researchers say a vegetable pod which grows on trees in Africa, Asia and Latin America may hold the key to solving a lot of the water problems in the developing world.The team of researchers at the University of Leicester believe the vegetable pods, and the seeds they contain, can help to provide safe, cheaply produced drinking water that could save millions of people from disease or death, caused by impure drinking water.About 1.3 billion people still lack safe drinking water and more than six million children die from diarrhea in developing countries every year.According to the researchers, the tree on which the pods grow, the Moringa oleifera is common throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. They also report that the tree is also a source of nutritious vegetables because the leaves and pods have a high protein content and are rich in vitamins.But its potential as a water purification treatment has, until now, been almost totally overlooked.The researchers have found that when the seeds are dried, crushed and added to water, the powder acts as a coagulant binding the particles and bacteria that make river water so murky, particularly during rainy seasons. After a short while the coagulated particles, known as floc, sink to the bottom and clear water can be poured off.The $815,000 project is funded by the Overseas Development Administration (the British government's aid arm), and the Brussels-based European Commission. It works on the basis that opposites attract, explains Geoff Folkard, one of the British scientists involved in the four-year, research project."When mixed with water the crushed seeds produce positively charged proteins which attract the negatively charged particles and bacteria. The mixing action causes them to collide and stick to each other," he said.Large water treatment centers do this by adding chemical coagulants to the water such as aluminum sulphate (alum), but in the developing world these are frequently unavailable or too expensive.The team's experimental work at Thyolo in southern Malawi last year found the seeds gave purification results "just as good as those obtained with commercial chemicals" by removing 90 to 99.9 percent of the bacteria as well as clearing the water of solids.While natural coagulants have been used for centuries at a household level in some parts of the world, such as Sudan and Indonesia, this is the first time they are being tried on a large scale and in continuous flow treatment.In Malawi in 1993, imported chemicals from South Africa cost the Water Utilities more than $640,000 in valuable foreign exchange. Says Folkard, "The seeds do their job at a fraction of the cost.Many countries could save huge amounts of money by adopting these ideas." Only two level teaspoons of crushed seeds are needed to treat a bucket of water (about 20 liters).Mansoor Ali Lalani of the Water, Engineering and Development Center at the University of Loughborough is not so convinced. "I think that provided (sic) is produced locally and is available locally it remains a better alternative to Moringa. It creates larger flocs so the settlement is very quick."And, he adds that depending on the water quality, less alum is needed per liter (35 milligrams compared with 150 milligrams of seed).He does concede however that recent studies have indicated that alum residue in water may be carcinogenic, however, no harmful effects have been shown to come from Moringa.Whether water is treated with conventional coagulants or the seeds, some harmful micro-organisms will remain which must be removed either by chlorination, simple sand filters, or in households by boiling.The Moringa is a tough tree that survives in poor soils and uses its deep tap root to survive long periods of drought. Easy to propagate from seeds and cuttings, it grows rapidly to six meters in height and can flower and fruit in one year.It seems to be a bit of a wonder plant because all parts are used in traditional medicines and the powdered seed is mixed with ointment to treat common bacterial skin infections.It is also a good source of fuelwood and fodder for cattle and is suitable for agro-forestry because it does not throw heavy shade that prevents other crops from growing beneath its branches. Folkard is also confident that it can be easily controlled so that it does not become invasive and push out native flora.But the benefits do not end there. The researchers are also looking at the tree's potential as a source of cooking oil. The seeds contain 40 percent of oil by weight and it gives a higher yield per hectare than either sunflower or ground nuts.The team has also found that the dry residue left after pressing loses none of its coagulant properties. It can also be dried and stored for later water treatment as a low-cost by-product of extraction."Moringa oil is of high quality and has a high market value both for cooking and as the main ingredient in soap manufacture," points out Folkard. "The demand for oil in Malawi is greater than present production so soya bean oil is having to be imported from South America.Which makes the cultivation of Moringa an attractive proposition for commercial farmers. In collaboration with Leicester, the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) of Zimbabwe has set up 17 small mills appropriate for small scale rural processing to test this idea.It has concluded that the mills return an average of 51 percent on investment with profits of 21 percent on sales.Zimbabwe's Plant Oil Producers Association has already expressed interest in trial plots. Says Folkard: "The Moringa is a classic example of the Third World producing what it does not consume and increasingly consuming what it does not produce."The Leicester team are keen that small land holders also should be encouraged to grow the Moringa "as it will improve both their health and income." One tree would provide enough water treatment for five to six people for a year.Finding out whether consumers will like the oil is future work for the ITDG, while in Kenya the Forestry Research Institute will look into Moringa tree management. For his part Folkard intends pushing ahead with implementation studies, possibly in Brazil, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.A better supply of water for thirsty people in the Third World rests on the final outcome. Richard Carter of the water management department at Cranfield University states, "This is a project that commands our respect. We are sure it will be useful and relevant to the developing world."Source: Global Applied Research Network (GARNET) http://info.lut.ac.uk/departments/cv/wedc/garnet/wares.htmlMoringa Oleifera as a Natural CoagulantGK Folkard, JP Sutherland, MA Mtawali and WD Grant, University of Leicester, United KingdomAbstractIn many parts of the world river water which can be highly turbid is used for drinking purposes. This turbidity is conventionally removed by treating the water with expensive chemicals, many of which are imported at great expense. This project has investigated the use of crushed seeds from the tree Moringa oleifera as a natural alternative to these conventional chemicals. Results were obtained from a full scale water treatment plant at Thyolo in Southern Malawi which demonstrate that the seeds reduce the turbidity of the raw water by 80 per cent leaving a clear, very low turbidity water.This applied research project has shown that turbid waters can be clarified to the same degree achieved by imported chemicals by using a natural substance which can be purchased locally from villagers.BackgroundNatural coagulants have been used for centuries in traditional water treatment practices throughout certain areas of the developing world.Although a native species of northern India, the tree is now grown extensively throughout the tropics and is found in many countries of Africa, Asia and South America. Moringa trees have the capacity to grow rapidly from seeds or cuttings, even in poor, marginal soils; require little horticultural attention and are resilient to the effects of extended drought.For water treatment purposes, the seed pods are allowed to dry naturally on the tree prior to harvesting. After shelving the seeds are crushed and sieved using traditional techniques employed in the production of maize flour. Approximately 50-150 mg of ground seed will be needed to treat a litre of river water, depending on the quantity of suspended matter. A small amount of clean water is then mixed with the crushed seed to form a paste. Dosing is usually according to a 1-3 per cent solution. The crushed seed powder, when added to water, yields water soluble proteins that possess a net positive charge. The solution therefore acts as a natural cationic polyelectrolyte during treatment (Sutherland, J.P., Folkard, G.K. and Grant, W.D., (1990).Transferring from the individual household to the continuous flow water treatment works has been one of the primary tasks of the University of Leicester's work.Large scale water treatment worksThe University of Leicester's work involved a pilot water treatment works at Thyolo in Southern Malawi, built within the grounds of the main treatment works. The source river used during the research showed turbidity levels in excess of 400 NTU. Solids removal within the plant was above 90 per cent following a gravel bed flocculation stage and plain horizontal flow sedimentation. A last rapid gravity sand filtration gave a final, treated water turbidity measure generally below 5 NTU. Dosing levels of Moringa oleifera seed varied between 75-250 mg depending on initial raw turbidity.Following the results from the pilot works, permission for full scale trials at the main water treatment plant was subsequently received from the Malawian authorities. The Thyolo works consist of upflow contact clarifiers followed by rapid gravity filters. Soda ash and alum solutions are introduced to the incoming water flow via gravity feed systems at great expense (annually a charge of ?26,000 is made for importing these chemicals from South Africa). Moringa oleifera for the full scale trials were purchased locally from villagers at a fraction of this cost.ResultsThe results of two typical trials are given in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below. The works were operated at 60m3/hour with the coagulant solution dosed and monitored using a small centrifugal pump and rotameter respectively. The results of dosing Moringa oleifera seed solution at 75 mg/litre over a seven hour period compares favourably with performance figures for alum dosing at 50mg/litre. Turbidity removal rates are approximately 80 per cent over both trials.ConclusionThe results from the pilot and full scale trials indicate the viability of Moringa oleifera as a natural coagulant for highly turbid river water. Inlet river turbidities in excess of 270-380 NTU were consistently reduced to below 4 NTU in the finished water.M.oleifera seed contains 40 per cent by weight of oil, with the remaining presscake containing the active ingredients for natural coagulation. The high market value for the oil make the case for promoting the cultivation of the seed a strong one. The growth of M. oleifera trees by smallholder farmers should be actively promoted as a means of providing vegetables and raw material for oil extraction in addition to a simple, but effective natural coagulant for turbid river water.Using Moringa oleifera as a replacement coagulant for proprietary coagulants meets the need for water and wastewater technology in developing countries which is simple to use, robust and cheap to both install and maintain.Further reading:Folkard, G.K., Sutherland, J.P. and Grant, W.D., 1990. Natural coagulants for appropriate water treatment: a novel approach, Waterlines, April, 8 (4), 30-32Travis, V.E., Sutherland, J.P., & Folkard, G.K., High Rate Contact Flocculation - Filtration Using Natural Coagulants, First International Conference Environmental Engineering, Vol 2, 47-54, 21-23 Sept 1993, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K.Holmes, R.G.H., Folkard, G.K., Travis, V.E., & Sutherland, J.P. Natural Coagulants in Wastewater Treatment, First International Conference Environmental Engineering Vol 2, 47-54, 21-23 Sept 1993, De Montfort University, Leicester, U.K.squeezing to me is freedom and so is my education, it's about being creative, doing things differently,it's about community and helping each other, it's about being happy and healthy..