Irrigation and Water Engineering

Irrigation and Water Engineering

Efficiency Evaluation of Natural Filter Media in Treating Effluent from Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment System

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
َAdnan Sadeghi-Lari 1
Sahar Eslami Farsani 2
Vali Alipoor 3
1 Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesUniversity of Hormozgan,Bandar Abbas,Iran
2 Master's degree, of Water Science and Engineering University of Hormozgan
3 Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Hormozgan University of medical sciences
10.22125/iwe.2023.406631.1735
Abstract
Ongoing drought and population growth, the use of treated wastewater for various purposes has become essential. On the other hand, the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater is of paramount importancet. In this study, woodchips of Prosopis Juliflora trees, zeolite, and woodchips of Tamarix tress woodchips were used for pollutant removal. Four laboratory-scale reactors were employed to compare the performance of these materials in the removal of nitrates and phosphates from wastewater effluent. The main experimental treatments included a reactor filled with a combination of woodchips of Prosopis Juliflora trees and zeolite (PWZ), a reactor filled with woodchips of Prosopis Juliflora trees (CPW), a reactor filled with woodchips of Tamarix tress (TW), and a reactor filled with a combination of woodchips of Prosopis Juliflora trees, zeolite, and woodchips of Tamarix tress (PWZTW). Each of these treatments was tested at three hydraulic retention times of 12, 18, and 24 hours to investigate the influence of the mentioned filter media on pH, nitrate levels, and orthophosphate levels in the effluent. The average nitrate removal efficiencies in the PWZ, CPW, TW, and PWZTW treatments, across all three retention times, were found to be 82.72%, 72.93%, 76.61%, and 81.12%, respectively. The highest nitrate removal efficiency was achieved in the PWZ treatment , The average orthophosphate removal efficiencies in the mentioned treatments were calculated as 84.04%, 77.46%, 63.94%, and 81.60%, respectively. Overall, the use of a combination of woodchips and zeolite as an amendment improved the removal efficiency of nitrates and phosphates.
Keywords
Orthophosphate
Zeolite
Woodchips
Nitrates
pH
Subjects
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