The use of aluminum sulphate in clarifying raw waters raises many concerns about its impact on
human health. Thus, the present study was initiated to compare the effects of Moringa oleifera and
aluminum sulphate besides evaluating the association between M. oleifera or aluminum sulphate with
Opuntia ficus-indica or syntofloc for water treatment. The essays were carried in Jar Test using waters
of 352.80 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU). The monitoring of different physico-chemical and
microbiological parameters at different doses and after different decanting time was used to determine
optimal conditions and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. The results showed that it took fewer
doses and less decanting time for aluminum sulphate than moringa to obtain the same residual
turbidity. The use of 0.9 g/L of moringa removed 99% of turbidity after 12 h of decanting. Successive
use of moringa (0.9 g/L) with O. ficus-indica extract (0.6 ml) reduced the decanting time to 15 min.
However, this treatment eliminated only about 57% of total coliforms. The moringa/cactus association,
although highly effective, remains less than the treatment based on aluminum sulphate and synthofloc.
This "organic" association is nevertheless an ideal alternative because of its great capacities that could
be further optimized.

Coagulation-flocculation, turbidity, Moringa oleifera, aluminum sulphate