GRATIS (Gravity-Fed Biofiltering System) : Application of The Water Treatment Technology for Cibaten River in Indonesia

Abstract

River is one of the resources for water because it is popular for human necessary,
especially used in washing, bathing and cooking activity. At this era, the pollution is
desecrated by industrial and domestic waste. Hence, the quality of water on rivers has
decreased. Cibanten river located in Banten Province-Indonesia country is one of the
river, whose water quality is decreased by pollution. The characteristics of Cibanten river
is Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) of 416 ppm, Total Suspended Solid (TSS) of 100 - 900 ppm,
pH level of 6-8. Therefore, watertreatment must be done before the water is used.
Biofiltering technology with gravity system was chosen, It utilized the combination of
coconut fibrous and zeolite active (activation without chemical). This Equipment called
GRATIS (Gravity-fed Biofiltering System). Result from this treatment, TDS decreased to
249 ppm (sample 2) and 185 ppm (sample 3), pH increased to 7.23 (sample 3) and 8.5
(sample 2), TSS decreased to 9-115 ppm with fed water of TSS about 1048 ppm. Turbidity
point decreased about 99.5 % (sample 2) and 99.7% (sample 3). BOD (biological Oxygen
Demand) decreased about 83.9% (sample 2) and 87.1% (sample 3) and COD (Chemical
Oxygen Demand) decreased about 30.8% (sample 2) and 38.5% (sample 3).