Wetland system: a cheaper and efficient treatment option for food processing waste in Africa

摘要

The study investigates an alternative wastewater treatment system for the food and beverage industry inrnAfrica. A subsurface flow wetland system was designed and compared with a combination of anaerobicrnand aerobic bioreactor installed for a brewery in Nigeria. The cost of the designed wetland system isrn33% of the cost of installed bioreactor. The waste characteristics for the designed subsurface flowrnconstructed wetland after treatment falls within the USEPA threshold while that of the installedrnBioreactor, are above. In addition, the treatment efficiency of the designed subsurface flow constructedrnwetland for controlling parameters; BOD, TSS and Faecal Coliform are 96.83%, 88.42% and 96.29%rnrespectively while that of the UASB reactor, are 62.94%, 15.36% and 63.81%. Hence, the designedrnsubsurface flow constructed wetland is more efficient in the removal of BOD, TSS and Faecal Coliformrnand could be an excellent alternative for the food and beverage industry in Africa.