CEEB 221

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT NO 9
( COAGULATION TEST WITH POLYMER )
SECTION

03

GROUP MEMBERS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Veronica Kelly A/P David

Nur Hayati Maulad binti Abu Bakar
Nurfazila binti Mohd Fauzi
Nur Syahirah Mardiana binti Mohd Sapri
Nurulhidayah binti Abdul Jalil

DATE OF LABORATORY SESSION

DATE OF REPORT SUBMISSION

:
:

LAB INSTRUCTOR

CE093814
CE093495
CE094112
CE093251
CE094042
03.12 .2013

10.12. 2013
: Mr. Ooi Jieun Lin

LAB REPORT MARKING

Criteria
A. Appearance, formatting and grammar/
spelling.
B. Introduction, objective & theory
C. List of apparatus & procedure
D. Results: data, figures, graphs, tables, etc.
E. Discussion
F. Conclusions

Scale
Acceptable

Poor

Excellent

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TABLE OF CONTENT

PAGE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

2.0 OBJECTIVE

3.0 APPARATUS

4.0 PROCEDURE

5.0 CALCULATION

6.0 RESULT

6.1 GRAPH

7.0 DISCUSSION

8.0 CONCLUSION

9.0 APPENDICES

10.0REFERENCES

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1.0

INTRODUCTION

Coagulation process neutralizes the charges carried by the particles. Upon neutralization,
a flocculation process will occur. In order to improve the flocculation process, a polymer
is added to glue them together. Polymers are either cationic or anionic long chain
molecules that exhibit vicious nature. The addition of polymer will eventually reduce the
addition of coagulants. Generally, polymer cost higher than coagulant, but addition of
polymer helps the settling rate of flocs.
2.0
i.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effective / optimum dosage of alum with polymer in treating
sample given.

ii. To compare floc formation with polymer.

3.0 APPARATUS
pH meter
Jar tester
Beaker (500 ml or 1 L)
Turbidity meter
Measuring cylinders
Reagent and solutions :
Aluminum sulfate and polymer

4.0

PROCEDURE

1) Before jar test procedure, measure turbidity and pH of the sample given. Record the
initial pH and turbidity of the sample given.
2) Measure 500ml of raw water using graduated cylinder and pour it into a 500ml
beaker. Repeat the procedure till we have six beakers of raw water.
3) Transfer the raw waters to the jar tester and release the stirrers into the beakers.
4) Set the jar tester to have the following speed: 1 minute of rapid mixing at 80rpm to
mix coagulant. 1 minute of adding polymer and followed by 1 minutes of rapid
mixing at 80 rpm. After that allows 20 minutes of slow mixing at 20rpm.
5) Before running the coagulation, calculate and measure the appropriate volume of
alum to be added into each beaker.
6) Mix 500 ml sample in each beaker at 80 rpm (rapid mixing).
7) Add simultaneously alum dosage to each beaker and mix for 1 minute.
8) After 1 minute, add 1 ml of polymer into each sample, and allow mixing for 1 minute
at 80 rpm.
9) Once 1 minute had lapsed, allow slow mixing at 20 rpm for 20 minutes. Observe the
flocs.
10) After 20 minutes, take out all the beakers for floc settling, Allow 30 minutes for
settling.
11) After 30 minutes, take the supernatant 1 cm below the surface carefully by using a
pipette. Test the supernatant for residual turbidity and final pH.

pH measurement
Introduction:
pH represents the (concentration) free hydrogen ion activity in moles per litre at a given
temperature which not bound by carbonate or other bases. pH functions as the final end
point to determine acidity or alkalinity.
Procedure
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

The pH meter electrodes were cleaned by distilled water.

The electrodes were dried by tissue.
The pH meter was run calibration with buffer solutions provided (pH 4,7 and 10)
After the calibration, the steps 1 and 2 were repeated.
The pH meter and temperature electrodes were put in the beaker containing

sample which in mixing mode for the pH measurement.

6) The pH values were recorded once specific sign appears on the screen.

5.0

CALCULATION

C1V1 = C2V2 (1)

C1 = concentration of each alum dosage in each beaker,mg/L
C2= concentration of alum stock solutions, 1000 mg/L
V1= volume of sample in each beaker, 500ml
V2= volume of alum stock solution to be added, x ml

 Beaker 1 (Alum dosage, 2 mg/L)

C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (2) (500)
= 4 mg/L

Beaker 2 (Alum dosage, 4 mg/L)

C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (4) (500)
= 8 mg/L
Beaker 3 (Alum dosage, 6 mg/L)
C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (6) (500)
= 12 mg/L

Beaker 4 (Alum dosage, 8mg/L)

C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (8) (500)
= 16 mg/L
Beaker 5 (Alum dosage, 10 mg/L)
C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (10) (500)
= 20 mg/L

Beaker 6 (Alum dosage, 12 mg/L)

C1 = (C2V2 ) V1
= (1000) (12) (500)
= 24 mg/L
Percentage of removal (%)

6.0

Initial Turbidity Final Turbidity

100%
Initial Turbidity

. 1.13
28.5

100%
28.5
.
96.0 %

RESULT

Alum Dosage,

12

16

20

24

6.19

6.03

5.89

5.86

5.79

5.76

5.71

2.58

4.85

5.33

6.46

6.95

7.75

mg/l
pH
of removal

based on raw
water pH (%)
Residual

28.5

5.34

4.00

1.87

1.13

1.65

1.18

81.26

85.96

93.44

96.0

94.2

95.85

25.0

23.0

23.8

24.0

24.1

24.4

24.6

turbidity, NTU
of removal
based on raw
water turbidity
(%)
Temperature,C

6.1

GRAPH

Graph 1 : Residual Turbidity vs Alum dosage

Graph 2 : pH vs Alum dosage

7.0

DISCUSSION

The percentage removal based on raw water turbidity.

(25.8 - 1.13) 25.8 100% = 96.0%

 The processes of coagulation and flocculation are employed to separate suspended

solids from water in wastewater treatment.
Usually, coagulation and flocculation are often used interchangeably or sometimes,
the single term of flocculation may be used to describe both, viz, they are actually
two distinct processes.
Finely dispersed solids (colloids) suspended in wastewaters are stabilized by negative
electric charges on their surfaces, causing them to repel each other.
Since this prevents these charged particles from colliding to form larger masses,
called flocs, they do not settle.
To assist in the removal of colloidal particles from suspension, chemical coagulation
and flocculation are required.
These processes, usually done in sequence, are a combination of physical and
chemical procedures.
Chemicals are mixed with wastewater to promote the aggregation of the suspended
solids into particles large enough to settle or be removed. That is why coagulation is
needed.
During this experiment, timing is crucial. This is because if we did not get the timing
well, the result will be affected. For example, while pouring the alum dosage, we must
pour it at the same time into each sample beaker.

8.0

CONCLUSION

This experiment has taught us firsthand on the usage of coagulants and coagulant aids
which is the polymer we used in the experiment. We also saw the difference when the
sample was added with and without the coagulant aid. Learning that coagulants really

sticks the suspended solid together to form flocs and that through this, the suspended
solids would therefore be easier to remove from the water.
9.0

APPENDIX

Figure 1 : By using a pipette , penetrate 1 cm below the surface to extract the sample
after the mixing process .

Figure 2 : The samples are mixing with a jar tester.

10.0

REFERENCES

1) http://water.me.vccs.edu/exam_prep/coagulation.html

2) http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/env110/lesson4_3.htm

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