Performance evaluation of an alternative artificial wetlands system used as wastewater treatment
Keywords:
Artificial subsurface horizontal wetland, wastewater, tropical climate, Cyperus papyrusAbstract
In Costa Rica wastewaters are usually deposited in septic tanks where settling processes occur with effluent infiltration into the ground subsurface. This practice presents a major risk to human health and a negative impact on the environment due to possible groundwater contamination. The following case study presents the application of an artificial subsurface horizontal wetland as a low-cost alternative using a rooted emergent macrophyte system for the treatment of sewage wastewater generated within a cosmetic and pharmaceutical manufacturer. The Cyperus papyrus, a common species easily adaptable to the country`s climatic conditions, was used in the removal of organic load from sewage discharge with an efficiency between 61% and 90%. Final effluent water quality after treatment was in compliance with current national legislation. The results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of such biological system as an innovative wastewater treatment alternative in countries with tropical climateDownloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors guarantee the journal the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors can set separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, place it in an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. The authors have declared to hold all permissions to use the resources they provided in the paper (images, tables, among others) and assume full responsibility for damages to third parties.
4. The opinions expressed in the paper are the exclusive responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the editors or the Universidad Nacional.
Uniciencia Journal and all its productions are under Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Unported.
There is neither fee for access nor Article Processing Charge (APC)