Domestic Wastewater Treatment by Low-Cost Natural Adsorbents

Water is one of the most important elements involved in the creation and development of healthy life. As demand for water increased whiles the water resources is limited, there is a growing awareness to treat the domestic waste water and make more efficient use of the domestic waste water. The conventional methods for treating waste water are expensive. Consequently, the search for contrarily but effective, efficient and economic methods has been on the increase in recent times. Thus, the use of biomaterials, such as agricultural waste as adsorbents for organic and metal ions is being exploited due to their availability and low cost. Filtration technology is the simplest and low cost treatment technology based on the principle of attached growth process. Multimedia Filters represent a significant improvement over single media filters. A multimedia filter model was developed by G.I. sheet for treatment of domestic wastewater. Different packing media are used such as Activated carbon, sugarcane bagasse, Rice husk, Sand and Grass mulch. The waste water samples were physio-chemcially characterized before and after treatment according to standard procedure using these adsorbents. The results obtained from the various pollution indicators show an appreciable improvement on the quality of the water. The pH value changed from 7.9 to 7.1, the colour changed from soapy and cloudy to colourless, Turbidity was reduced from 163.7 to 28.3NTU while the biochemical oxygen demand BOD was reduced from 117mg/l to 69.3mg/l and chemical oxygen demand COD was reduced from 232mg/l to 115.7mg/l. This paper intense to provide an overall vision of multimedia filter technology an alternative and conventional method for treating waste water. Treated water use for Irrigation, toilet flushing, car washing, gardening, firefighting, etc.