PEAT WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY USING ABSORPTION METHOD,

CONVENTIONAL PROCESS (COAGULATION AND FLOCULATION) AND

FILTRATION USING MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY IN PEAT WATER TREATMENT
Yusrina Ihya Parlina, Nopi Stiyati
Environmental Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering,
Lambung Mangkurat University,
Jl. A. Yani Km 36 Banjarbaru South Borneo 70714 Indonesia
E-mail:

Abstract

Raw water needs with quality, quantity, continuity and affordability are needed as population
growth continues to increase. Resulting in scarcity of clean water is one of the main problems in
several regions in Indonesia. One of the causes of scarcity of clean water is the availability of
raw water sources that do not meet human needs. The peat area has a water content that has a
cloudy color, high acidity and organic matter. The processing methods that can be done include
conventional methods (flocculation and coagulation), absorption, and filtration technology with
membranes. Reverse osmosis is a fairly good choice of the three methods because it can produce
processed water with a color of about 5 TCU and organic matter 0.78 mh / L. While the
absorption method with a combination of CSMZ, GAC, and limestone only produces processed
water with 12 TCU colors and 0 mg / L organic matter. And the conventional method produces
processed water with a color of 17 TCU and organic matter 3.92 mg / L. Fouling that occurs in
RO systems can be overcome by conventional methods and membrane microfiltration or
ultrafiltration. The use of MF / UF membranes is the best choice because it does not require
large chemicals and lower operating expenses on RO systems. Lower operating costs are caused
by the low potential for fouling so that the RO system can work optimally.

Keywords: raw water, clean water, absorption, flocculation, fouling, coagulation,

microfiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis
 1. INTRODUCTION
Peat water can be detrimental to health if consumed but is a potential source of water
because of its availability. High acidity of water can damage teeth and cause stomach pain if
consumed. While the high organic content of peat water can cause odor. As a result of acidity
and high concentrations of organic matter from peat water, selective treatment is needed from
peat water for clean water purposes. At present, many methods have been made and proven the
effectiveness of treating raw water such as coagulation and flocculation, absorption, filtration,
and combinations. Consideration in determining the method that is suitable for peat water
conditions is very important and the method that allows it is quite easy to do in producing high
quality water at a particular location.
Based on Law No. 11/1974 concerning irrigation, water sources must be protected, as
well as safeguarded, maintained and preserved, in order to fulfill their functions. Protection of
water sources is carried out by carrying out efforts to save water, secure and control water
damage, prevent water pollution, and safeguard irrigation buildings. The intensity of land
management both in the upstream and downstream rivers for meeting needs has a negative
influence on the hydrological conditions of water sources. Tackling the problem of critical land
or partial water conservation has been done so far, but has not been able to overcome the
problem.
Water management based on its existence as a natural resource is part of a water
conservation program that fully maintains, rehabilitates, maintains and utilizes existing water
resources effectively and efficiently for the welfare of the community. This activity is needed to
reduce the volume and pollution of water resources due to over-exploitation in order to meet the
increasing needs of the community. Based on the above problems, it is necessary to conduct a
study that discusses the management of various types of raw water sources. The availability of
raw water is very important to meet the needs of clean water for the community. In order to
maintain the quantity, quality, and continuity of raw water, it is necessary to protect or conserve
raw water.

2. RESULTS
A. Absorption or absorption treatment in chemistry is a physical or chemical phenomenon or a
process when an atom, molecule, or ion enters a different bulk phase which can be gas,
 liquid, or solid. The results of the study showed that the absorption of humic acid increased
by increasing contact time and temperature. Conditions with acidic pH are very good in
absorption of humic acid from peat water. The absorption method in peat water treatment.
In his research, some absorbents were used including limestone, Granular Actvated Carbon
(GAC), and Cationic Surfactant Modified Zeolite (CSMZ). Optimum conditions for
removing color, COD and turbidity from all absorbents have been observed in acidic
conditions with a pH value of around 2-4. The three types of absorbent are combined and
produce optimal results in the absorption process with the order of the first layer CSMZ,
the second layer of GAC, and the third layer of limestone.

Table 1. Results of Peat Water Treatment Quality with the Absorption Method (Syafalni et
al, 2013)
No Parameter Unit Raw Water Processed Water After Two Days
1 Color Tcu 224,7 12
2 Organic Mg/L 33,3 0
Substances

B. In the coagulation and flocculation processing, coagulant which is a chemical is used.

Determination of the dose of the coagulant material and the operating conditions of the
coagulation and flocculation processes are very important because if it is not suitable it can
produce byproducts from mixing the coagulant material. In this process aluminum sulfate
is usually used as a coagulant material. Lately, liquid alum is widely used because of the
way it works and its transportation is easy. But at low temperatures and high
concentrations there will be crystallization of Al2O3 which causes blockages in the piping.
Therefore the concentration used must be set at a certain concentration. Aluminum sulfate
salt, if added to water, will dissolve easily and react with HCO3 - producing aluminum
hdroxide which has a positive charge. Meanwhile, colloidal particles contained in raw
water are usually negatively charged and difficult to precipitate because of the repulsion of
forces between the colloidal particles. With the presence of aluminum hydroxide which is
positively charged, there will be an attraction between negatively charged colloidal
particles and positively charged aluminum hydroxide particles to form clumps of particles
 that get bigger and heavier and quickly settle. In addition to colloidal particles also
suspended organic matter particles, anorgaic substances, bacteria and other
microorganisms can together form clumps of particles that will settle together. If the
alkalinity of the raw water is not enough to be able to react with alums, lime or soda ash
can be added to make the reaction work. If the conditions of high raw water turbidity are
needed, coagulant material is needed to overcome the formation of floc that is not good.
The selection of this material must be able to produce good / stable and harmless flocks in
terms of health.

Table 2. Results of Peat Water Treatment Quality by Conventional Methods (Nusa et al,
BPPT)
No Parameter Unit Raw Water Processed Water
1 Color Tcu 125 17
2 Organic Substances Mg/1 14,54 3,92

C. In the filtration process using a membrane is a pressure-driven process such as

microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis.
As a relatively new water treatment technology, membrane processes offer benefits that are
not obtained from conventional processes. One of the advantages of applying membrane
technology is the low energy used. Membrane-based separation is not based on the result
of phase equilibrium which uses a lot of energy. Phase changes will affect the quality of
the materials and products produced. Another advantage of membrane technology is that
the membrane module design is very simple, compact, easy to operate and does not require
large amounts of additional equipment. Enlarging or reducing the scale of the operation is
easy. With its modular nature, it can increase the scale of the membrane process by simply
adding a membrane module including its assisting equipment. In its application for water
treatment, the use of membranes does not require the addition of chemicals (coagulants,
flocculants) so that it is environmentally friendly (Wenten, 1997). The characteristics of
each can be seen in table 3.
Table 3 Comparison of separation processes with membrane (Wenten, 1997)

Mikrofiltrasi Ultrafiltrasi Nanofiltrasi, And Reverse Osmosis.

The Process Of The Process Of The Process Of Separation Between
Separation Between Separation Between Solutes And Low B.M (Salt, Glucose,
Particles Molecules Lactose, Micropollutents.)
Separation Based On Separation Based On Separation Based On Differences In
Particle Size Particle Size Solubility And Diffusivity

In peat water treatment, membrane technology that can be used is reverse osmosis
(RO) and nanofiltration (NF). In this study RO is used to purify water with high inorganic
salt content. RO membranes can also hold non-ionic organic compounds such as fructose
molecules (Mr = 180) but smaller organic compounds, for example ethyl alcohol (Mr = 46)
cannot be held by this membrane. Nanofiltration can boil organic compounds with
molecular weights 300 - 1000 while salt rejection is 15 - 90%. The greater the membrane
pore size, the greater the organic compounds that can pass through the membrane. For
organic compounds with molecular weights greater than 1000, ultrafiltration can be used.
Ultrafiltration has a larger pore. The advantage of this method is that operating costs are
lower, require less membrane and require less pressure. Reverse osmosis is estimated to be
able to recover organic substances contained in peat water because reverse osmosis uses
dense membranes and has a fairly good selectivity to salts and organic substances. Organic
substances contained in peat water have a high molecular weight so that they can be
retained by the membrane

Reverse osmosis is a pretty good choice of the three methods because it can produce
processed water with a color of about 5 TCU and an organic substance of 0.78 mh / L.
While the absorption method with a combination of CSMZ, GAC, and limestone only
produces processed water with a color of 12 TCU and organic substances 0 mg / L. And
conventional methods produce processed water with a color of 17 TCU and organic
substances 3.92 mg / L. Fouling that occurs in RO systems can be overcome by
conventional methods and membrane microfiltration or ultrafiltration. The use of MF / UF
 membranes is the best choice because it does not require large chemicals and the operating
costs incurred on the RO system can be lower. Lower operating costs due to the low
potential for fouling to form so that the RO system can work optimally (I.G. Wenten, ITB).

Table 4. Results of peat water treatment quality using the Reverse Osmosis method (I.G.
Wenten, ITB).

No Parameter Unit Raw Water Processed Water

1 Color Tcu 225 5
2 Organic Substances Mg/1 162,7 0,78

3. DISCUSSION
Water is a basic human need. In everyday life humans always need water, especially
for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing and so on. Meeting the needs of clean water has
become a very common problem. In areas that have not yet received clean water services,
they usually use dug well water, river water that is sometimes used does not meet clean
water standards. Areas with peat or swamps usually contain brown water, high levels of
humic acid, organic matter, and iron. For shallow wells while wells that are somewhat in
water are clear in color and have high iron and manganese content. Therefore we need a
water treatment system to overcome the conditions peat water to be clean water (Nusa et
al, BPPT).
Peat is formed from the accumulation of plants made from organic in stagnant swamp
conditions, so that the decomposition process is slow and there is accumulation of organic
matter. The organic material is humic acid and fulvic acid. Peat soils are acidic and contain
cations such as Fe and Mn. Water management is carried out to ensure the availability of
sufficient water for plants, remove excess rainwater from agricultural land, prevent the
growth of wild plants in paddy fields (rice plants), prevent the emergence of toxic
substances and the condition of ground cover by standing water, and prevent degradation
of quality water, preventing damage to plants by peat water. Peat water is surface water
that comes from areas with peat soil conditions. In Indonesia, we have encountered this
water in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Peat water has characteristics of high color intensity,
low acidity and high organic matter content. The reddish brown color and the low level of
 acidity in peat water are a result of the high content of organic substances contained
therein. These organic substances are usually usually in the form of humic acid derived
from the decomposition of organic material such as leaves, trees or wood. (Nusa et al,
BPPT).

4. CONCLUSION

Peat water treatment techniques into clean water can be done by several methods,
including conventional methods (coagulation and flocculation), absorption methods, and
membrane filtration methods. Of the three methods by citing the results of experimental data
from previous researchers it can be concluded that the reverse osmosis method is the best
compared to conventional and absorption. Fouling that can occur in the RO system can be
overcome by pretreatment first.

Conventional methods and the use of MF / UF membranes can be used for the
pretreatment process. The use of MF / UF membrane is the best choice because it does not
require a lot of chemicals compared to conventional methods. The possibility of fouling in the
MF / UF membrane is smaller compared to conventional methods so that operating costs are
lower RO and can produce good water quality.

Of the three methods mentioned earlier, the peat water treatment method using reverse
osmosis is the best choice because of the easy treatment system and the quality of the treated
water that is better than conventional methods and absorption. Although the technology of
reverse osmosis is quite expensive to be applied commercially compared to conventional
filtration methods due to high membrane prices. However, with the development of
technology, ultrafiltration membranes are increasing and the price of membranes is now quite
cheaper than before. Therefore, reverse osmosis is a water treatment technology that is quite
competitive with other filtration methods (I.G. Wenten, ITB)
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