DISCUSSION

Coagulants and Functions Finely dispersed solids (colloids) suspended in wastewater are stabilized by negative electric charges on their surfaces, causing them to repel each other. Since this prevents these charged particles from colliding to form larger masses, called flocs, they do not settle. To assist in the removal of colloidal particles from suspension, chemical coagulation is required. Coagulants neutralize the repulsive electrical charges (typically negative) surrounding particles allowing them to "stick together" creating clumps or flocs. Commonly used metal coagulants can be categorized into two groups as Aluminium based coagulants and Iron based coagulants. Aluminium sulfate, Aluminium chloride and Sodium aluminate are aluminium based coagulants. Ferric sulfate, Ferrous sulfate, Ferric chloride and Ferric chloride sulfate are Iron based coagulants. Apart from that, coagulants can also be categorized as organic and inorganic coagulants. How to find the optimum dosage of coagulant for a given sample Many variables affect the destabilization process of the agglomerated particles. The efficiency of the coagulation heavily depends on the Ph value of the solution and the dosage of the coagulant used. It is important to find the optimum dosage of the coagulant which should be used because care must be taken not to overdose the coagulants as this can cause a complete charge reversal and re-stabilize the colloid complex. In this experiment jar test was used to find the optimum coagulant dosage for the waste water sample. Four 450 ml waste water samples were prepared in beakers. In order to find the effect of one variable the other variable should be kept in a constant value. Another jar test was done earlier by the other group to find the optimum Ph range and the optimum ph was observed to be between 9 and 10.So the ph value of those 4 samples were brought to the range of 9-10 by adding NaOH. Four different samples of coagulant was prepared as follows, Sample 1 : 10 ml of 3% alum ( 0.3g in 10 ml of distilled water) Sample 2 : 10 ml of 4% alum (0.4g in 10 ml of distilled water) Sample 3 : 10 ml of 5% alum (0.5g in 10 ml of distilled water) Sample 4 : 10 ml of 6% alum (0.6g in 10 ml of distilled water) Samples were added to each of the waste water samples and were initially stirred at 100rpm for 1 minute to achieve good mixing of coagulants. Then they were stirred at 40rpm for 20-30 minutes to form flocs. After that they were kept again for about 30 minutes to settle.

Supernatant solution was taken from each beaker and the turbidity was measured. A graph was plotted on Turbity vs. Coagulant dosage. The dosage which gives the minimum turbidity was considered as the optimum coagulant dosage for the waste water sample.