AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 22 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.36922/ajwep.8434
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Bioremediation of heavily polluted Bagmati River water in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, using Moringa oleifera seed extract

Mandira Pradhananga Adhikari1* ,  Manisha Neupane1
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1 Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
AJWEP 2025, 22(1), 42–51; https://doi.org/10.36922/ajwep.8434
Submitted: 7 January 2025 | Revised: 19 February 2025 | Accepted: 19 February 2025 | Published: 6 March 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The precious Bagmati River water is deteriorating continuously due to the loading of effluents from different sources. The water quality of the Bagmati River water was determined by collecting water samples from Pashupati (B-1) and Balkhu (B-2) sites of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu Valley. The observed water quality parameters indicated that the Bagmati River is extremely polluted, and pollution was more pronounced downstream after the confluence of its tributaries. The total coliform count was extremely high, and bacteria levels exceeded the limit of counting, indicating fecal pollution from domestic influents. After treatment with indigenous Moringa oleifera (MO) seed extract, the black-colored water became clear. Most probable number and spread plate count of coliform progressively decreased with increasing concentrations of MO seed extract. The hardness, turbidity, iron, and chromium concentrations were reduced to below the World Health Organization standard after treatment with 100 mg/L MO and citric acid-treated seed extracts. The results suggest that the treated and untreated MO seed extracts could be a good natural coagulant for polluted river water treatment to reduce physicochemical and microbial pollutants.

Keywords
Coagulant
Chromium
Iron
Moringa oleifera
Water pollution
Funding
This research was partially supported by the University Grants Commission, Nepal, through the Collaborative Research Grants (CRG-79/80-S and T-01).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interest.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing
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