Monitoring of domestic wastewater treatment via infiltration percolation using impedance spectroscopy

Abstract

In this study, we treated domestic wastewater originating from the city of Oulad Frej using a novel treatment technology called percolation infiltration. The filtration medium consisted of a mixture of fly ash and sea sand sourced from the coast of Essaouiria. The filtration process yielded remarkable results, achieving an impressive reduction of 80% in COD, 70% in BOD5, 86% in suspended matter (SM), and 81–99% in heavy metals. Moreover, significant improvements were observed in terms of discoloration and pH reduction. To assess the efficacy of the domestic wastewater treatment technology, we introduced a new key indicator, complex conductivity σ * (ω), and monitored its changes before and after treatment. The impedance spectra analysis showed a strong correlation with the parameters obtained through conventional methods.