Abstract:
This research was conducted to evaluate the quality of chitosan utilized from shrimp shell, and its capacity for water purification. Shrimp shell weighing 200 gram was processed through three stages: demineralization with HCl 1 N, deproteination with NaOH 3.5 %, and deacetylation with NaOH 50 %. Ten gram chitosan was treated into 1 liter under-ground-water of low- quality. Quality characteristic of shrimp shell chitosan was evaluated fordeacetylation degree,ash, moisture, and nitrogen. Its capacity on water purification was compared to that commercial chitosan. The result indicated that the shrimp shell chitosan was characterized by deacetylation degree 88 %, ash 2 %, moisture 8 %, and nitrogen 5.95. These values were comparable to that commercial chitosan which the values were deacetylation degree 88 %, ash 0.3 %, moisture 8 %, and nitrogen 0,5 %). Purification effect of shrimp shell chitosan moreover was better than that of commercial chitosan, except for iron, temperature, and total disolved solids . The quality of the water of untreated was : E. coli 1600 cfu/ml, turbidity 6 NTU, iron 0.0678 ppm, temperature 29.50C, pH 4, Total Dissolved Solids 81 mg/l, and Total Suspended Solids 12 mg/l; treated with shrimp shell chitosan was : E. coli 2 cfu/ml, turbidity 2NTU, iron 0.0354 ppm, temperature 25 0C, pH 7.5, Total Dissolved Solids 211 mg/l, and Total Suspended Solids 11 mg/l; and treated with commercial chitosan was : E. coli 23 cfu/ml, turbidity 5 NTU, iron 0.0059 ppm, temperature 21.40C, pH 7, Total Dissolved Solids 20 mg/l, and Total Suspended Solids 11 mg/l.
