Burnt oil palm shell filter media for bacterial removing by single- and dual-media filtration

Total coliform and Escherichia coli is the omnipresent microorganism contaminating the drinking water. This study is using granular bed filtration as a vigorous, simple and economical method to prevent the penetration of bacterial contamination, by discovering an alternative filter media from local source; namely the burnt oil palm shell (BOPS). This study demonstrated that granular media filter with mix media classes which is the dual-media filtration were found to be reliable surrogates for biological barrier during filtration studies. Dual-media filtration BOPS/sand ES 1.0/0.5 mm was operating under optimum condition of bacteriological removing where 0.63 log and 0.46 log of removal for total coliform and Escherichia coli. The BOPS was identified as a potential filter media that will help in reducing the cost of water treatment and enhancing environmental sustainability. The results from this study suggested that BOPS should be used as a new biodegradable medium filter in water treatment process, specifically for the removal of pathogenic microorganism.