The Design of Filtration System Using Coconut Shell Charcoal for Domestic Wastewater Purification

Water pollution is a sanitation problem that will always demand attention and the sustainable solution. As one of the river's pollutants, blackwater requires good treatment techniques so that it can be discharged into the body of water and does not cause environmental or health problems. One of the vest purification techniques is the filtration method by using materials that are cheap and easy to obtain, such as coconut shell charcoal. Charcoal has great potential due to its ablility to remove suspended solids and bind chemical pollutants. This study aims to apply the concept of blackwater purification using coconut shell charcoal filtration method, as well as to determine the most optimal blackwater waste discharge in reducing turbidity. Observations were made on the turbidity variable (NTU) which was recorded at each residence time of 0 to 9 days. The result of regression analysis demonstrates that the thickness of the charcoal filter layer and the discharge of wastewater have a significant effect on reducing the turbidity level of the treated blackwater. Thus, it can be concluded that coconut shell charcoal is very potential to be used as a filter in blackwater treatment. Blackwater is best be purified with 30 cm of charcoal filter layer and 9 days of residence time.