Explorando o potencial de pilosocereus gounellei na remoção da matéria orgânica presente em águas naturais destinadas ao consumo animal

Abstract

Animal welfare is a recurrent concern, relating not only the herd health, but also the animal production and the consequent profits generating in the field. Animal drinking water quality, frequently reported as of poor potability, is a challenge to be overcome, mostly due to the excess of organic matter (OM) in solution. An alternative to remove the OM is the use of an alternative material. In this study, use of cactus Pilosocereus gounellei was explored, carrying out a kinetic and adsorptive study aiming to estimate the effectiveness of the proposed technology. Samples of goat drinking water were treated using P. gounellei, in natura and acid treated (using [HCL] in the range 0.01-4.0 mol L−1). A study of the sorption process was performed, and isotherms and kinetics models were evaluated. Thus, after mathematical treatment, isotherm of Freundlich (isotherm type C, constant partition) and pseudo-second order kinetics were considered the most suited, indicating the multilayer formation and the removal rate proportional to the square of the adsorbate concentration. In addition, samples treated at higher acid concentration reached equilibrium after removing a greater concentration of OM when compared to in natura (up to 1.6x the own weight). Based on our findings, our study indicates the possibility of removing the OM present in samples of natural water, using the P. gounellei cactus (acid treated) as an alternative adsorbent material, intending to the good practices in livestock and animal welfare.