Análise do silicato de potássio (K2SiO3) obtido da casca do arroz como coagulante para tratamento de água para consumo humano

Abstract

Quality on sources of water has been declining due to the increase of human activities that impact the environment. Thus, to achieve drinking water quality standards, it is necessary to apply methods and technics to treat it. Coagulation is essential to remove impurity in the water treatment process, with commercially used coagulants being mostly based on aluminum salts. However, the use of these coagulants aluminum based yields residues that compromisse the environmental balance what become these compound undesirable. This paper has the objective of producing a natural alternative for comum coagulants, using rice husk (widely available biomass) and potassium hydroxide as raw material. Coagulation tests (Jar Tests) were performed with the product obtained (Potassium Silicate) and the commercial coagulant (Aluminum Sulphate) in order to obtain a comparative efficiency. The results indicate that the synthetized material attenuated the raw water turbidity levels, but not enough to allow to classificate it as a coagulant.