Effectiveness of Short-Deep Treatment Beds for Biological Management of Domestic Wastewater

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt

Abstract

Biological treatment of domestic wastewater using constructed wetlands is gaining acceptance worldwide
due to low cost and simple operation and maintenance. A treatment system (BIOWATSYST) was
established at Abo-Attwa Experimental Station, Ismailia, Egypt in 1998. The system consists of six
parallel short-deep treatment beds, three sterilization ponds and a disinfection pond. The beds were filled
with gravel and/or sand. Four beds were planted with Phragmites australis and two beds were planted
with Cyprus papyrus. The study evaluates the performance of the treatment beds for the removal of
nutrients and pathogens from primary treated domestic wastewater, with minimizing the length of the
treatment beds. Maximum removal efficiency was 76.3% for the biochemical oxygen demand, 83.9% for
chemical oxygen demand, 59.2% for total suspended solids, 58.6% for organic matter, and 22.1% for the
total nitrogen. Maximum removal efficiency was 82.6% for fecal coliforms, 79.8% for fecal enterococci,
and 87.4% for the coliphages. The results revealed that sand bed was the most effective treatment bed for
the removal of both nutrient and pathogenic bacteria from primary treated domestic wastewater.

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