The Faculty of Engineering/ Department of civil engineering at the University of Baghdad witnessed the discussion of a master’s thesis in the specialty of sanitary engineering by student Ameer Hussain Hamza about his tagged thesis “A Green Approach for Fish Farm water effluent Treatment Using Natural Plant Coagulants as Sustainable Process” The discussion was held on Thursday, corresponding to 2025/02/13 in the Hall of Prof. Dr. Khaled Shaker. The discussion was attended by a number of Professors of the Department.
The thesis discussed an environmentally appropriate substitute for treating non-toxic, nutrient-rich wastewater, such as that from agriculture and aquaculture, is natural coagulants made from plant components. Plant-based coagulants are safer and enable floc recovery as fertilizer. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of seven local plants as coagulants (Eucalyptus bark, Melon seeds, Ceratophyllum leaves, Myrtus communis submergent plant, Watermelon rinds, Palm fiber, and Palm pith). Results showed that the three most effective natural coagulants had turbidity removal of 48, 47, and 47 for palm fiber, palm pith, and watermelon rinds, respectively, at 500 mg/L concentration. For a hybrid system, the best one is with 10 mg/L alum aid with 66% turbidity removal efficiencies for watermelon rinds at 500 mg/L concentration.
Accordingly, the thesis came out with a set of recommendations
1- In order to improve treatment efficiency, the research suggests investigating the integration of green coagulants with traditional treatment techniques.
2- It also recommends concentrating on enhancing extraction and purification techniques and enhancing the effectiveness of natural coagulants by hybridizing with chemical coagulants.
3- This study looks for long-term improvements in water treatment technology.
The discussion Committee was chaired by Prof. Dr. Prof. Dr. Basim H. Al-Obadi, and the membership of Asst. Prof. Dr. Ghufran F. Jumaah, Asst. Prof. Dr. Nawar O. Al-Mousawi, and under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Dr. Israa Al-Baldawi
After the scientific discussion by the esteemed members of the examination committee, and after listening to the researcher’s defense and evaluating the thesis, the researcher was awarded the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Sanitary Engineering).
