Nature's Filter: Improving Water Quality with Coconut and Rice Husk Bio-Char

Abstract

The quality of well water is poor along the riverbanks because the river is polluted with solid and liquid waste. The effects of consuming low-quality well water include decreased bone density, tooth decay, anemia, and kidney disorders. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of coconut shells and rice husks in improving well water quality. This research design is a pretest-posttest with a control group, water samples from dug wells along the riverbank in Cimahi City. This study used three sample groups: 9 samples were given coconut shells, 9 samples were given rice husks, and 9 samples were in the control group. Each sample group used 10 liters of well water. Turbidity, TDS, TSS, Fe, Mn, pH, DO levels were measured before and after the intervention. Data analysis using dependent t tests and ANOVA tests. The results of the study on turbidity, TDS, TSS, Mn, pH, and DO of well water before and after filtration using coconut shell charcoal and rice husks showed significant differences (p<0.05), while Fe did not show significant differences (p>0.05). There were significant differences in turbidity, TDS, TSS, pH, and DO between the coconut charcoal group and the rice husk group (p< 0.05), while there were no significant differences in Fe and Mn between the coconut charcoal group and the rice husk group (p>0.05). The results of this study indicate that coconut shell charcoal is more effective at improving well water quality than rice husk charcoal.