Application of horizontal series filtration in greywater treatment: a semi-industrial study

ABSTRACT

One of the important alternative water sources for non-potable purposes is greywater, but needs to remove contaminants. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of a horizontal series filter (HSF) consists of sand, zeolite (Z), pumice (P), and granular activated carbon (GAC) to analyse the chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, and pH in greywater samples from Fasa University Student Hostel, Iran. Recycling treatment was performed by passing the greywater through filters. After the last filter, treated greywater was returned into the main tank. The system was run at filtration rate of 2.94 m³ day⁻¹. The analysis of the data from the filtration tests showed that GAC is the best adsorbent for removing COD, BOD₅, and TDS from greywater, followed by zeolite. Whereas, pumice is more advisable to remove turbidity. However, due to the different mass of adsorbents in the filters, pumice showed a higher adsorption capacity than zeolite. Generally, the triple combination of GAC+Z + P represented the best performance in the reduction of COD, BOD₅, TDS, turbidity up to 90.42%, 91.43%, 82.95%, and 90.27%, respectively. Therefore, the studied system can be implemented in public places to greywater treatment and reuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Greywater
• zeolite
• Granular Activated Carbon
• pumice

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Water Quality Laboratory of Fasa University for providing the facilities to perform this research.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mehdi Bahrami

Mehdi Bahrami received his Ph.D. in Water Engineering from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran in 2012. His research field is mainly about environmental issues and has published 40 international journal papers and 60 papers in scientific conferences mainly in environmental, pollution of surface and groundwater, and nanotechnology. He is currently an Associate Professor of Water Engineering at Fasa University.

Mohammad Javad Amiri

Mohammad Javad Amiri received his Ph.D. in Water Engineering from the Isfahan University of Technology, Iran in 2013. His researches have been mainly about environmental issues. He has published 50 international journal papers and 50 papers in scientific conferences mainly in environmental, pollution of surface and groundwater, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. He is currently an Associate Professor of Water Engineering at Fasa University.

Morteza Badkubi

Morteza Badkubi received his M.Sc in Water Engineering from Fasa University, Iran in 2017.