Swietenia mahogani Fruit Shell-Based Carbon as a Filter Medium for Domestic Liquid Waste: A Preliminary Evaluation

Abstract

Domestic wastewater generated from daily household activities can degrade environmental water quality if discharged without adequate treatment. Filtration is one of the most widely applied preliminary treatment methods due to its simplicity and effectiveness in increasing water quality. Activated wood carbon (AWC) is widely used as an adsorbent in filtration systems. However, commercially produced AWC can be expensive, prompting interest in developing carbon from lignocellulosic waste such as mahogany fruit shells. In this study, mahogany shell carbon was prepared in both activated (AMC) and non-activated (NMC) forms, with activation performed using KOH, and evaluated alongside other common filtration media. The effectiveness of each filter configuration was assessed based on improvements in physical water quality parameters. The results showed that filters using zeolite, sand, and NMC provided balanced performance, achieving reductions in color, turbidity, and TDS while maintaining an adequate filtration rate. In contrast, the filter containing AMC exhibited extremely low permeability due to its fine particle size, resulting in poor filtration efficiency. These findings highlight the potential of NMC as a cost-effective filtration material for household-scale wastewater pretreatment.