Abstract The pharmaceutical industry’s products are comprised of raw materials, antibiotics, medicines, and cosmetic products, with the generation of effluent that carries components that are harmful to humans and aquatic life, with intensive color and disgusting odor. Therefore, wastewater generated by the pharmaceutical industry needs appropriate treatment and disposal. The conventional techniques used to treat such effluent includes the use of chemical coagulants like lime, alum (Aluminum sulfate), and Kemira Polymer which get mixed with the wastewater resulting in the formation of flocs of particles and their ultimate removal through settling. The accumulation of aluminum in the human body through food and water leads to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Further, the use of chemical coagulants result in non-biodegradable sludge. Therefore, there is a need to develop sustainable solutions such as a natural polymer that is biodegradable and ecofriendly. In this experimental study, natural coagulant ( Moringa oleifera ) is used to treat the pharmaceutical effluent and its efficiency has been compared against the synthetic chemical coagulants. The comparative turbidity removal efficiencies of 29.17% (Alum), 51% (Lime), 55.94% (Moringa), and 70% (Polymer) were observed. M. oleifera removed 95.87% of TDS at an optimum dosage of 1000 mg/L whereas only 22.16% TDS removal was achieved by alum. Therefore, traditional coagulants can be replaced by natural or synthetic coagulants, which provide a sustainable and environment-friendly solution for industrial wastewater treatment.
Singh et al. (Fri,) studied this question.