Abstract:
Inadequate water services together with poor sanitation are among the most serious challenges
faced by the developing countries. There are potential health effects caused by high Total
Dissolved Solids (TDS) content in drinking water. The hard water will taste bitter, salty, or
metallic and may have unpleasant odor. High TDS water is less thirst quenching. High TDS
interferes with the taste of foods and beverages, and makes them less desirable to consume.
Some of the individual mineral salts such as Nitrates, Sodium, Sulfates, Barium, Cadmium,
Copper, and Fluoride that make up TDS pose in the joints, hardening of the arteries, kidney
stones, gall stones and blockages of arteries, microscopic capillaries and other passages in
which liquids flow through the entire body. Therefore this research aims at examining the
capacity of bio materials on removing TDS in water.Bio materials can be used for the purpose
of removing turbidity from drinking water as an adsorption agent. Selected bio material should
have comparatively less time for purification, the wide distribution and availability to find
materials as adsorption materials.
Methodology
According to the Sri Lankan environmental conditions following bio materials can easily be
applied for turbidity removal. Moringa oleifera, Elettaria cardamomum, Osbeckia aspera,
Phyllanthus emblica, Strychnos potatorum (Bina, et al, 2009; Vikashni et al, 2012).Collected
plant materials were separately washed and dried in direct sunlight making them easy to crush
into small pieces. Crushed plant materials were separated by using sieve shaker into series of
different mesh sizes. Water with high TDS was prepared with kaolinite as a controller.
The plant parts were washed, dried, crushed and separated into three grain sizes which could be
loaded into separate glass column. Column has a capacity of 100mL and air dried before use.
The 5 separate glass columns were packed with crushed plant parts separately. Prepared water
was allowed to pass slowly through the columns at a rate of 10mL/min. The TDS of the eluted
water sample was measured using TDS meter.
