Performance of Greywater Treatment Using Iron Removal Media (IRM) and Cattail Typha Angustifolia

Abstract

Water is essential to support daily life, ecosystem, environment, and development. Due to rapid industrialisation, population growth, and economic development, the water demand increases worldwide. For this reason, research is being conducted to find alternative sources of water for non-potable purposes. Domestic greywater is receiving much attention worldwide as a possible alternative water supply for domestic and productive purposes. This study aims to determine the water quality index (WQI) for domestic wastewater and evaluate the effectiveness of Iron Removal Media (IRM) and Cattail Typha Angustifolia plants in treating greywater. The domestic wastewater used for treatment was wastewater from laundry activities. There are two types of models designed to obtain different data for both media. The first model design is used with Iron Removal Media and the second model is with Cattail Typha Angustifolia plants. After the greywater treatments, the efficiencies of different treatments were observed and compared to the WQI standard. It was found that the removal efficiencies were 25% for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), 23% for chemical oxygen demand (COD), 12% for total suspended solids (TSS), and 9% for pH using IRM. When Cattail Typha Angustifolia media was used, the removal efficiencies of 57% for TSS, 46% for COD, 45% for BOD, and 10% for pH were achieved. This study showed that using Cattail Typha Angustifolia plants as media for the greywater treatment process could be more effective as compared to IRM.