Sequential Treatment of Domestic Wastewater in Rural Zones Applying Aloe Vera Extract as Coagulant (Preliminar), E. crassipes in a Horizontal Biofilter (Secondary), and Activated Carbon from Soursop Seeds (Tertiary)

Franco Hernan Gomez, Maria Cristina Collivignarelli, Stefano Bellazzi (), Kelly Cristina Torres, Alessandro Abbà and Sabrina Sorlini
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Franco Hernan Gomez: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Maria Cristina Collivignarelli: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Stefano Bellazzi: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Kelly Cristina Torres: Research Group on Conservation and Use of Biodiversity—BioCon, Instituto Universitario de la Paz-Unipaz, km 14, Vía B/manga, Barrancabermeja 687031, Colombia
Alessandro Abbà: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Sabrina Sorlini: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy

Clean Technol., 2025, vol. 7, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The absence of domestic wastewater (DWW) treatment in impoverished rural communities of the global south remains a pressing challenge for both public health and environmental sustainability. This study presents a simplified and decentralized treatment chain at laboratory-scale designed under the principles of nature-based solutions (NBS) and the circular economy (CE), emphasizing the integration of the macrophyte Eichhornia crassipes (EC) and bioproducts derived from aloe vera waste (AVW) and soursop seed waste (SSW). The system comprises three sequential stages: (1) coagulation using AVW, which achieved up to 39.9% turbidity reduction; (2) a horizontal flow biofilter system (HFB) employing the aquatic macrophyte EC, which removed 97.9% of fecal coliforms, 82.4% of Escherichia coli , and 99.9% of heterotrophic bacteria; and (3) a tertiary treatment step employing adsorbent derived from SSW, which attained 99.7% methylene blue removal in preliminary tests and an average 97.5% turbidity reduction in DWW. The integrated configuration demonstrates a practical, effective, and replicable approach for decentralized domestic wastewater treatment, fostering local waste valorization, reducing reliance on commercial chemicals, and enhancing water quality in resource-limited rural areas, with potential for scaling to pilot applications in rural communities.

Keywords: domestic wastewater; Eichhornia crassipes; nature-based solutions; horizontal flow biofilter; circular economy; natural coagulant; natural adsorbent (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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