A Preliminary Investigation on Plasma Activated Filtration Balls (PAFB) for Applications in Wastewater Dyes

A major problem within developing areas such as in the Philippines is the access of clean water, where, due to industrial pollution and agricultural runoff, the water quality is often compromised further by poor waste management practices. This paper investigates how Plasma Activated Filtration Balls (PAFB) may be a feasible, cost-effective means to treat wastewater, especially by removing harmful dye contaminants. The researchers tested two types of filtration balls—untreated and plasma-treated, made from regular chalk and agricultural waste, particularly banana and camote peelings, to assess their ability to five types of water, namely market drainage water, river water, clean water, rainwater, and tap water. Plasma treatment, specifically using atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs), enhances the filtration balls’ ability to break down tough pollutants, like methylene blue and malachite green, which are hard to remove and pose serious environmental risks. The study also looks at how plasma activation affects key water quality indicators, including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), and optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Our results show that chalk-based filters are good at stabilizing pH and reducing TDS, while plant-based filters effectively reduce EC and turbidity. Overall, plasma treatment improves the performance of filtration balls, especially for dye-contaminated wastewater, and shows that agricultural waste can be a sustainable, low-cost material for water filtration. This research suggests that PAFB systems, when enhanced by plasma activation, could be an effective and scalable solution for water treatment in underserved communities.