Several parts of the Moringa oleifera plant have revealed incredible potential for water quality improvement. However, the purification potential of a combined leaf and seed extract of Moringa oleifera plants remains unexplored. To the best of our knowledge, this research would be the first to work towards exploiting the combined potential of a leaf and seed extract of the Moringa oleifera plant in the process of water purification. In this study, we investigated the combined effectiveness of the leaf and seed extract in the purification of groundwater. The jar test method was used to analyze the effectiveness of Moringa plant extract (in combination) on different quality parameters of groundwater. Treatment with the combined plant extract (seed and leaf) resulted in significant improvement of various physicochemical (hardness, pH, turbidity, Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), and metallic impurities) and biological parameters (E.coli count) over individual seed and leaf extracts in groundwater samples. Experimental findings have strongly shown the enhanced purification efficacy of the hexane extract of combined plant materials in comparison to the individual extracts, thereby providing us with a potent natural coagulant that could combat the side effects of chemical coagulants.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera; jar test apparatus; natural coagulant; water purification.