Water quality acceptance in treatment plants is dependent upon the coagulation and flocculation processes, followed by settling and filtration. Normally inorganic coagulants such as salts of iron and aluminum are used but generate sludge that must be disposed of at special landfills. The use of tannins as coagulants would allow easier sludge management. This study evaluated the use of tannin derived from the black wattle tree in the treatment of water from the Tubarão River. The study analyzed parameters such as concentration of tannins, apparent color, turbidity, alkalinity, phenols and the volume of sludge generated. The optimal concentrations for coagulation of water sampled from the river were between 1.0 and 7.5 mg L-1, depending on the quality of the water collected. Under the optimum conditions of coagulant dosage, alkalinity showed a maximum reduction of 30% after treatment, the apparent color was between 4.2 and 7.6 uC, turbidity between 0 and 2 NTU and the volume of sludge generated was between 5 and 20 ml L-1. The phenol concentration in the treated water was below 0.003 mg L-1. In this sense, the values are in accordance with those established by Regulation number 2914/2011 of the Brazilian Ministry of Health with respect to the parameters analyzed. These results motivate further research on the feasibility of application of tannin as a coagulant, especially in relation to the toxic effects of compounds that can be added to water after treatment.
coagulation; drinking water; flocculation; vegetable coagulant