Domestic Wastewater Treatment by Vertical-Flow Filter Grown with Juncus Maritimus in Arid Region

摘要

This study aims to experimentally investigate the performance of Juncus maritimus species in removing pollutants from domestic wastewater under arid conditions. The experiment was carried out for three month and several physicochemical and organic parameters were monitored. Results showed a good quality of filtered waters reflecting the high efficiency of vertical-flow filters. The presence of Juncus maritimus species promotes significantly the nitrogen elimination and augments the dissolved oxygen content at the outlet.It was also found that the planted filter provides small improvements in removing BOD5, TSS and TP removal for the three pollutants. The mean removal rate obtained with Juncus maritimus filter was 91.05 % for BOD5, 86.67 % for TSS, 78.45 % for Ntot, and 95.14 % for TP. Microbial activity, uptake by plants, adsorption and physical sedimentation are the main mechanisms of limiting the contaminants rates in the vegetated vertical-flow filter.