Treating Drainage Water with Cactus Mucilage and Electrocoagulation for Construction Use

Treating Drainage Water with Cactus Mucilage and Electrocoagulation for Construction Use | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Treating Drainage Water with Cactus Mucilage and Electrocoagulation for Construction Use Mahmoud Ahmed Elmalah This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8428809/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Access to clean water for industrial uses like building, where poor water quality might jeopardize concrete strength and durability, is severely limited in Egypt due to water shortage, especially in rural areas. Freshwater resources could be less stressed by treating wastewater locally and economically. Can contaminated drainage water be successfully treated to fulfill building standards utilizing an inexpensive, integrated water purification system that uses natural materials and electrocoagulation? Our hypothesis was that using the mucilage of cacti (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a natural coagulant in conjunction with electrocoagulation would greatly lower the turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), and adjust the pH in wastewater, resulting in water that could be mixed with cement. After five treatment cycles using a three-stage prototype (sponge filtration, cactus mucilage adsorption, and aluminum electrocoagulation) managed by Arduino sensors, we achieved a turbidity reduction from 53 to 10 NTU (81% improvement), a TDS decrease from 827 to 470 ppm (43% reduction), and pH adjustment from 6.2 to 7.0, bringing the water to near-neutral quality suitable for construction use. Each treatment cycle consumed approximately 82 watts of power. The technology effectively uses inexpensive, locally accessible materials to produce water appropriate for construction. By converting a waste stream into a valuable resource while minimizing environmental contamination and enhancing rural construction quality, it provides a decentralized, sustainable alternative for wastewater reuse in water-scarce areas. Renewable Resources wastewater electrocoagulation cactus construction sustainability Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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