Defluoridation of potable water employed by natural polysaccharide isolated from Tamarindus indica L

Abstract

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of Tamarindus indica L. seed polysaccharides in removing fluoride from potable water collected from Sivakasi,Viruthunagar district, Tamil Nadu, India. The physiochemical properties of the water samples were examined, and each parameter was compared to the standard prescribed by Bureau of Indian standards. Most of the parameters were within the permissible limit except for fluoride levels in the Sivakasi water sample. Polysaccharides were isolated from Tamarindus indica L. seeds and the fluoride removal efficacy of the polysaccharides was evaluated. The optimum treatment dosage of the isolated seed polysaccharides was determined using aqueous fluoride solutions of various ppm concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ppm). Tamarindus polysaccharides were added to the aqueous solutions in varying doses (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 1.0, and 1.2 g), and 0.04 g was observed to be the most effective at removing fluoride (by 60%). It was selected as the optimum dose for treating the fluoride-contaminated water sample. Following the treatment, fluoride concentration in the water sample dropped from 1.8 mg/L to 0.91 mg/L, falling below the BIS standard limit. The findings from the study demonstrated the use of T. indica L. seed polysaccharides as an effective natural coagulant for removing fluoride from potable water. GC-MS and FTIR analysis of the isolated polysaccharide samples were performed. The FTIR results revealed the functional groups that might attribute to the fluoride removal activity of the isolated polysaccharides. The observations from the study suggested that Tamarindus polysaccharides might be used as an alternative to chemical agent used for fluoride removal in order to preserve the environment and human welfare.

Keywords: Defluoridation; Galactan; Galactomannan; Seed polysaccharides; Tamarindus indica L.; Water treatment.