Hydraulic ram pumps and Sling Pumps

Technical Information W1eWater Clarification usingMoringa oleiferaGate Information ServiceDishna Schwarz(June 2000)Technical Field:c Energy / Environment (E)g Water / Sanitation (W)c Agriculture (A)c Foodprocessing (F)c Manufacturing (M)This Technical Information isavailable in:g English (e)c French (f)c German (g)g Spanish (s)c Other:..............................Water born diseases are one of the mainproblems in developing countries, about1,6 million people are compelled to usecontaminated water. However in manycommunities of these countries waterclarification methods like flocculation,coagulation and sedimentation are ofteninappropriate because of the high cost andlow availabity of chemical coagulants. Theuse of natural materials of plant origin toclarify turbid water is not a new idea.Among all the plant materials that havebeen tested over the years, the seedsfrom Moringa oleifeira have been shownto be one of the most effective as aprimary coagulant for water treatment andcan be compared to those as of alum(conventional chemical coagulant) .General information about the treeMoringa oleifera was originally anornamental tree in the Sudan, plantedduring British rule. That was where Dr.Samia Al azharia Jahn’s (a germanscientist) laboratory tests confirmed thepresence of a very efficient coagulant inseeds of Moringa oleifera. Moringaceae isa single-genus family with 14 knownspecies thus far, which are indigenous toAfrica (9) , Madagascar (2) , Arabia (1),and India (2). Half of them are relativeiycommon and already sporadicallycultivated, yet only Moringa oleifeira(horseradish or drummstick tree) becauseof its many uses, is planted in the wholetropical belt.Moringa TreeBotanyThe Moringa oleifera Lam. is a small, fastgrowing,drought deciduous tree thatranges in height from 5-12 m with anopen, umbrella shaped crown, straighttrunk (10-30cm thick) with corky, whitishbark. The evergreen foliage (depending onclimate ) has leaflets 1-2 cm in diameter;the flowers are white or craem coloured.The fruits (pods) are initially light green,slim and tender, eventually becpming darkgreen, firm and upto 120 cm long,1JDWH Information Service / , PO Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, GermanyPhone: +49 (0)6196 / 79-3093, Fax: +49 (0)6196 / 79-7352, Email: gate-id@gtz.de, Internet: http://www.gtz.de/gate/gateid.afp