Abstract
The aim of the present study is to assess the wastewater treatment efficiency of a low-cost pilot-scale trickling filter (TF) system under a prevailing temperature range of 12 °C–38 °C. Operational data (both influent and effluent) for 330 days were collected from the pilot-scale TF for various physicochemical and biological parameters. Average percentage reductions were observed in the ranges of 52–72, 51–73, 61–81, and 74–89% for BOD5, COD, TDS, and TSS, respectively, for the whole year except the winter season, where a 74–88% reduction was observed only for TSS, whilst BOD5, COD, and TDS demonstrated reductions in the ranges of 13–50, 13–49, and 23–61%, respectively. Furthermore, reductions of about 43–55% and 57–86% in fecal coliform count were observed after the 1st and 6th day of treatment, respectively, throughout study period. Moreover, the pilot-scale TF model was based on zero-order kinetics calibrated at 20 °C using experimental BOD5 data obtained in the month of October to calculate the k20 value, which was further validated to determine the kt value for each BOD5 experimental setup. The model resulted in more accurate measurements of the pilot-scale TF and could help to improve its ability to handle different types of wastewater in the future.
Highlights
Availability of fresh water has been decreasing continuously over the last few years, resulting in a severe water shortage throughout the world [1]
It was observed that the Most Probable Number (MPN) index of influent samples was more than 1100 per 100 mL during the entire treatment operation, and the removal efficiency of fecal coliforms by the pilot-scale trickling filter (TF) system varied between 43–55% and 57–86% after the 1st and 6th day of treatment, respectively (Figure 3)
The wastewater treatment performance of the locally designed and constructed pilotscale TF system was good in all seasons apart from winter in terms of the removal of organic as well as microbial pollutants from domestic wastewater
Summary
Availability of fresh water has been decreasing continuously over the last few years, resulting in a severe water shortage throughout the world [1]. The increased urbanization, industrialization, and discharge of toxic hazardous wastes into freshwater streams has further resulted in the depletion of freshwater resources and risk to human health as well as aquatic life [2,3]. The treatment of already contaminated wastewater and its reuse could be the best possible remedy to restore existing water reservoirs. The majority of developing and under-developed countries are facing a lack of proper strategies for the management of large amounts of wastewater discharged from various domestic and industrial sectors [3]. Wastewater treatment processes can be broadly characterized as physicochemical and biological methods [4,5]. Physicochemical processes involved in wastewater treatment systems include the screening of large suspended solids and particulate matters, mixing, flocculation, sedimentation, precipitation, and adsorption [6,7]
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