SIMILARITY : Utilization of Banana Pith Starch From Agricultural Waste As A Cationic Coagulant

The coagulation method is the most commonly used in water treatment. However, long-term use of chemical coagulants can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and neurotoxicity, in addition to harming organisms, lowering the pH of the water, corrosion of pipes, and the use of high doses of chlorine. The study synthesized banana pith starch from agricultural waste as a cationic coagulant for river water treatment. Banana pith starch was modified by grafting cations from GTA (3-Chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) into the backbone structure of starch using microwave radiation. Performance tests were carried out on variations in dose (4), speed (3), and stirring time (3). Parameters tested were turbidity, TDS, and color, with four replications. The study found that the synthetic cationic coagulant could reduce turbidity up to 94.4%, while the color and TDS were 87.46% and 57.33%, respectively. The various treatments seemed to work on all test parameters (p less than 0.05). However, the most effective treatment was at a dose of 300 ppm, a stirring speed of 200 rpm, for 5 minutes. Research has proved that banana pith starch can be modified into an effective cationic coagulant to remove colloid compounds in water.