title: Utilization of plant-based natural coagulants as future alternatives towards sustainable water clarification.
abstract: Rapid industrial developments coupled with surging population growth have complicated issues dealing with water scarcity as the quest for clean and sanitized water intensifies globally. Existing fresh water supplies could be contaminated with organic, inorganic and biological matters that have potential harm to the society. Turbidity in general is a measure of water cloudiness induced by such colloidal and suspended matters and is also one of the major criteria in raw water monitoring to meet the stipulated water quality guidelines. Turbidity reduction is often accomplished using chemical coagulants such as alum. The use of alum is widely associated with potential development of health issues and generation of voluminous sludge. Natural coagulants that are available in abundance can certainly be considered in addressing the drawbacks associated with the use of chemical coagulants. Twenty one types of plant-based natural coagulants categorized as fruit waste and others are identified and presented collectively with their research summary in this review. The barriers and prospects of commercialization of natural coagulants in near future are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sook Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Choy
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Krishna Murthy Nagendra
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ta Yeong
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Civil Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mavinakere Eshwaraiah
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Raghunandan
authors.affiliation: Chemical Engineering Discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia; Advanced Engineering Platform, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: ramanan@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Ramakrishnan Nagasundara
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Ramanan
mesh_terms: D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Chemical coagulant; Commercialization; Constraints; Fruit waste; Protein; Turbidity reduction