Abstract
Abstract A pilot scale trickling filter system was designed, developed, and operated using a constant recirculation method for treatment of municipal wastewater. Maize cob (TF1) and date palm fibre (TF2) were used as biofilm support media in a trickling filter system. Both the TF1 and TF2 were compared based on the removal efficiency of pollution indicators such as biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and sulphates. The hydraulic flow rate and loading were set as 0.432 m3/h and 0.0064 m3/m2.minute, respectively at temperature range of 15–42 °C for 15 operational weeks. Both the TF1 and TF2 showed acceptable removal efficiency (61% to 76.3%) for pathogen indicators such as total count, fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli. However, 8–15% higher removal efficiency was observed for TF1 for all the pollution indicators compared to TF2. The results suggest that both the biofilm support media in trickling filter have potential to treat municipal wastewater in peri-urban small communities to produce environmentally friendly effluent.
Highlights
Rapid urbanization, industrialization and extensive agricultural activities are exerting colossal pressure on the water quality status of Pakistan due to increased wastewater disposal and reuse (Noreen et al ; Wu et al )
The other objective of this study is to remove the aesthetic unpleasantness of wastewater in terms of color and odour
It was observed that several recirculations of wastewater over attached biofilm helps in the decomposition of organic compounds and odour removal
Summary
Industrialization and extensive agricultural activities are exerting colossal pressure on the water quality status of Pakistan due to increased wastewater disposal and reuse (Noreen et al ; Wu et al ). The existence of combined sewers for domestic and industrial. It is estimated that 7.5708 × 106 m3 of wastewater is being disposed of to receiving water bodies every day in Pakistan (Ali et al ; Khan et al ). This has increased the pollution in the water environment and impacted ecological health including humans, aquatic biota, animals, and agriculture. Wastewater treatment (WWT) refers to removal of contaminants from the wastewater for Downloaded from http://iwaponline.com/ws/article-pdf/21/5/2298/920616/ws021052298.pdf by guest
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