COAGULATION-FLOCCULATION POTENTIAL OF Achatina achatina SHELL IN THE REMOVAL OF SUSPENDED SOLIDS FROM PAINT EFFLUENT

The sewage from paint is quite turbid and contains a lot of suspended and scattered particles. Achatina achatina (AA) shell’s ability to coagulate and flocculate and remove suspended particles from paint effluent was considered. The analyses included Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Surface area 64.6 m2/g; ash content 8.2 %; moisture content 11.964 %; bulk density 0.962 g/cm-3; tapped density 1.389 gcm-3; true density 1.667 gcm-3; porosity 42.29 %; pH 7.9; and pHzpc 6.9 are the results of the samples’ delineation. Optimum values obtained from varying the operating parameters are: 500mg/L AA, settling time 30 minutes and pH 8. FTIR result indicates that AA has some functional groups. XRD result indicates that AA consists of aragonite, and SEM shows different surface morphologies before and after coag-flocculation, suggesting effective coagulation. Suspended fragments in the paint effluent sample consistently declined with time, pursuant to time evolution of cluster size allotment. Coagulation period (τ1/2) lowest values of 0.05565 seconds and 0.01209 seconds were recorded at 500 mg/L and pH of 8 respectively. This study provided information on animal based coag-flocculation potential which is beneficial for environmental quality management and environmental disputation.