Tecnologias sociais de tratamento de água usando Moringa oleífera LAM e bucha vegetal (Luffa cyllíndrica)

Abstract

The project focuses on social technologies and sustainable development, with its research line dedicated to alternative methods of water treatment for human consumption. The motivation stems from the desire to reduce the use of chemicals in water treatment while enabling greater autonomy for riverside populations to access safe and high-quality water in a simple manner. This contributes to sustainable development in the three dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. The hypothesis of this project is: Social technologies utilizing Moringa oleifera and loofah sponge for trench-bar water treatment can be effective for water treatment intended for human use and consumption. The objective of this study is to develop social technologies for water treatment that can be applied by communities with limited access to safe water, ensuring water quality for human consumption. The water for treatment was collected from a trench-bar reservoir located in the community of Santa Rita, in the municipality of Nossa Senhora Aparecida, in the state of Sergipe, Brazil. The project was conducted in partnership with UFS, ISEP, and IFS, where parameters of raw water, coagulated water, and water treated with biomass were analyzed. The analyzed parameters included pH, apparent color, total acidity, carbonate acidity, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, alkalinity, chlorides, sodium, lithium, and potassium, in addition to microbiological analyses of total coliforms and Escherichia coli. As results, six articles and one book chapter were published, alongside one international and one national award. Three treatment systems were evaluated: FIME, FMC, and FMC with PET bottles, as well as other seeds and oilseed hulls as natural coagulants and the use of MO as a natural demulsifier for produced water treatment. In the analysis of MO and loofah sponge biomass presented in the first article, it was observed that MO had greater adsorption efficiency, whereas loofah sponge increased the filtration system's flow rate. Thus, a biomass combination of 70% MO and 30% loofah sponge was selected. The second article demonstrated that the proposed FIME social technology was effective, achieving reductions of 99.52% in apparent color, 97.66% in turbidity, and 100% in total coliforms and Escherichia coli, rendering the treated water safe for human consumption. The third article highlighted that the FMC system is not as suitable for household or community use as FIME. However, for communities without access to electricity, the FMC system on a small scale (e.g., using PET bottles) is recommended. The fourth article emphasized that among the studied oilseeds, MO showed the highest turbidity reduction efficiency, with the Spanish chestnut also achieving a turbidity reduction efficiency of up to 69.8% in highly turbid synthetic water. The fifth article revealed that MO can also serve as a natural demulsifier in produced water, with a reduction efficiency of oils and grease content of up to 66.7%. In the sixth article, a handbook was developed collaboratively with the community, and simplified water treatment kits were distributed. These kits included the handbook, MO seed powder, and sodium hypochlorite, alongside community training and the distribution of MO seedlings. This completed all research and outreach stages, meeting all the objectives proposed in this thesis.