Determinación de la efectividad como coagulante a partir de almidón de papa criolla (Solanum phureja) en la clarificación de aguas en muestras sintéticas

Abstract

Today, Colombian communities, especially the vulnerable population, face the challenge of improving their water treatment systems using techniques that increase the efficiency of these processes. Within the purification one of the most important processes is the clarification of waters, the drawbacks arise in the coagulation process, since it needs a coagulating chemical agent for the removal of the largest amount of colloidal particles. In Colombia the most widely used coagulant is aluminum sulfate, its inadequate use entails environmental and health problems for the communities, in addition to costs that some municipalities cannot supply. This is reason to develop alternatives to this type of chemical agents used as coagulants. In this research work, the efficiency as a bio-coagulant of native potatoes was evaluated using the pulp for a subsequent obtaining of starch, which is the active compound. After obtaining the starch, the jar test is carried out to determine the efficiency of the starch extracted from the creole potato pulp for the turbidity of 801, 614, 395 and 214 NTU. In addition, the pH was varied by performing buffers of pH 5, 6, 7 and 8 for each turbidity. The best result expressed an efficiency of 98.7% with the starch extracted from the pulp, 20 ml dose, with an initial turbidity of 801 NTU and a final turbidity of 10.44 NTU. The highest efficiency index was found in tests carried out in synthetic cloudy water carried out with the pH 5 buffer.