Horizontal Flow Constructed Wetland for Greywater Treatment and Reuse: An Experimental Case

Maria Cristina Collivignarelli, Marco Carnevale Miino, Franco Hernan Gomez, Vincenzo Torretta, Elena Cristina Rada and Sabrina Sorlini
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Maria Cristina Collivignarelli: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Marco Carnevale Miino: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Franco Hernan Gomez: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Vincenzo Torretta: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via G.B. Vico 46, 21100 Varese, Italy
Elena Cristina Rada: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, University of Insubria, Via G.B. Vico 46, 21100 Varese, Italy
Sabrina Sorlini: Department of Civil, Environmental, Architectural Engineering and Mathematics, University of Brescia, Via Branze 43, 25123 Brescia, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: In the coming years, water stress is destined to worsen considering that the consumption of water is expected to increase significantly, and climate change is expected to become more evident. Greywater (GW) has been studied as an alternative water source in arid and semiarid zones. Although there is no single optimal solution in order to treat GW, constructed wetlands proved to be effective. In this paper, the results of the treatment of a real GW by a horizontal flow constructed wetland (HFCW) for more than four months are shown. In the preliminary laboratory-scale plant, Phragmites australis , Carex oshimensis and Cyperus papyrus were tested separately and showed very similar results. In the second phase, pilot-scale tests were conducted to confirm the performance at a larger scale and evaluate the influence of hydraulic retention time, obtaining very high removal yields on turbidity (>92%), total suspended solids (TSS) (>85%), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (>89%), and five-day biological oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) (>88%). Based on the results of the pilot-scale HFCW, a comparison with international recommendations by World Health Organization and European Union is discussed.

Keywords: circular economy; constructed wetland; Escherichia coli; greywater; macrophytes; reuse; resource recovery; wastewater; water scarcity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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