Enhancement of Electroflotation Using Papaya Seeds (Carica papaya) as Biocoagulant for Laboratory Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The enhancement process of electro-flotation was evaluated to treat chemical laboratory wastewater. Wastewater treatment was carried out using electro-flotation with adding a natural coagulant agent namely papaya seed (Carica papaya). In this work the electro-flotation batch system using stainless steel as cathode and graphite as an anode was evaluated in constant DC of 21 V for 60 minutes. Natural coagulant dosage was added as much as 0.05; 0.10 and 0.20 g/500 mL. The effectiveness of the system was evaluated by decreasing total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, and Tyndall effect (Lux). The wastewater sample has been diluted 10 times before measuring as an initial condition which has as much as 42 NTU, and 337 mg/L respectively for turbidity, and TDS. The result showed that the enhancement of the electro-flotation process using 0.05 g papaya seed (Carica papaya) had decreased as much as 4.65 NTU (88.93%) and 242 mg/L (28.49%) respectively for turbidity and TDS. Therefore, it can be concluded that the enhancement of electro-flotation using biocoagulant reduced the contaminant matrix in the wastewater.