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@article{205256,
        author = {Navya Trivedi and Navya Tyagi and Yashika Rathi and Vibha Arora},
        title = {Development and Evaluation of Effective Microorganism Mud Balls as an Eco-Friendly Water Purification Strategy},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {1},
        pages = {6336-6342},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=205256},
        abstract = {Water pollution is a major environmental issue affecting public health, aquatic life, and sustainable development. This study examined the effectiveness of Effective Microorganism (EM) Mud Balls, made from red soil, rice bran, jaggery, EM solution, and alum, for treating polluted water at two sites in Ghaziabad, India: The Hindon River and the Indra Priyadarshini Park Pond. The addition of alum, a natural coagulant, was a key modification to improve treatment efficiency. Water quality was analysed before and after 21 days using parameters such as BOD, COD, TDS, TSS, pH, and the presence of algae and zooplankton. Laboratory results showed significant improvement in both samples. In the Hindon River sample, BOD decreased by 84.7% and COD by 82.5%. In the pond sample, TDS declined by 78.0%. Algae and zooplankton were completely removed in both samples. The findings suggest that alum-enhanced EM Mud Balls are a low-cost, eco-friendly, and scalable alternative for water purification. This method also supports initiatives such as Namami Gange, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and Jal Shakti Abhiyan, as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 13, 14, and 15.},
        keywords = {Effective Microorganisms; EM Mud Balls; water purification; bio-remediation; alum coagulation; Hindon River; water pollution; SDGs},
        month = {June},
        }