The tree that makes water safe

cg.contributor.affiliationTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
cg.howPublishedFormally Published
cg.issn1011-0054
cg.journalSpore
cg.number19
cg.placeWageningen, The Netherlands
cg.subject.ctaNATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
cg.subject.ctaENVIRONMENT
dc.contributor.authorTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-08T13:15:51Zen
dc.date.available2014-10-08T13:15:51Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/45012
dc.titleThe tree that makes water safeen
dcterms.abstractA West German research team has discovered - by accident - a tree in the Sudan whose seeds can render drinking water safe. Moringa oleafera (the horseradish tree) has been used by villagers to remove from their water the mud washed down from the...en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationCTA. 1989. The tree that makes water safe. Spore 19. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.en
dcterms.descriptionA West German research team has discovered - by accident - a tree in the Sudan whose seeds can render drinking water safe. Moringa oleafera (the horseradish tree) has been used by villagers to remove from their water the mud washed down from the African highlands during the annual floods. Village women grind up the seeds and shake them up with clean water to make a concentrated solution which they add to river water. They stir the mixture for fve minutes, then allow the suspended material to settle for one or two hours; this removes most of the turbidity. Experiments bv Dr Samia Al Azharia Jahn have shown that the active agents in the seeds are polypeptides, which act as polyelectrolytes, binding large numbers of individual mud and clay particles to give a single heavy particle. In addition, Moringa seeds appear to have powerful pungent oils which have antimicrobial properties, and faecal coliform bactena the standard indicators of sewage pollution- are also removed with the mud particles. For more details, contact: Dr Samia Al Azharia Jahn - GTZ - D6236 Eschhorn I - Postfach 5180 WEST GERMANYen
dcterms.isPartOfSporeen
dcterms.issued1989
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherTechnical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
dcterms.typeNews Item

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