Utilization of soursop (annona muricata) for biosand water filtration

Abstract

River water contamination jeopardizes human health and natural resources and is more prevalent in dense areas. A biosand filter (BSF) is an affordable, accepted, and sustainable water treatment technology that makes a difference in water quality. Being a locally available plant species, soursop (Annona muricata) biomass was used in three systems (BSF 2, BSF 3, and BSF 4) to test its efficiency for pathogen removal. Highly river water was passed through a control sand filter (SF) and BSFs containing different depth media (5 cm to 7 cm) of soursop in two setting conditions. The results showed that all three BSF (having plant biomass) had a high percentage of microbial removal. The Escherichia coli and coliform removal for filters with soursop reached between 82.61~98.15% and 82.61~90%, respectively, and achieved almost 100 percent on the last day mark. BSFs also observed significant turbidity removal on all days, with results above 90% on BSF 2 and BSF 4 and almost 80% on BSF 3. Based on the results, it can be concluded that Soursop biomass is a valuable bioresource that can ameliorate water quality.