Author(s): Oscar Ruiz Lozano; Alejandro Acero Oliete; Pedro Lopez Julian; Beniamino Russo

Linked Author(s): Oscar Ruiz Lozano, Beniamino russo

Keywords: Wastewater treatment; Artificial wetlands; Floating plants; Macrophytes

Abstract: The need to treat the wastewater arises due to the importance of preserving the water because it is an indispensable resource for life. Conventional wastewater treatment plants are efficient for large cities. The small municipalities have a different point of view, these systems are not economically viable, but they also need wastewater treatment. In order to improve research into wastewater treatment in small towns, this study focuses on non-conventional systems. These non-conventional systems meet the objectives of the European Directive on wastewater treatment with low energy consumption, and with a more affordable cost in operation and maintenance. This study project deals with non-conventional treatment systems, artificial wetlands type, in which the water, after a pre-treatment phase, is driven to channels containing specific aquatic plants. Two types of artificial wetlands (subsurface flow and floating macrophytes) have been built at the WWTP of La Almunia de Doña Godina to test these systems. The two lines are fed with a flow corresponding to a typical population of 50 inhabitants. In this way, we have studied both its functioning as a treatment system and the performance of the vegetation used. This is a study of a full-scale wastewater treatment system. The system consists of six ponds, each line formed by three ponds with the same type of treatment but a different type of vegetation. With the layout of the channels and the set of pipes that make up the system, we can redirect the water flow to any of the three ponds of the line to find out how the vegetation in the pond reacts, and at the same time to find out the type of system that is most appropriate for each type of vegetation. After this period of research and analysis (from January 2018 to the present) and in broad terms, we can conclude the following: 1.- We are faced with a very variable typology of wastewater in the project in the project live. This leads us to a rethinking of the surfaces assigned by equivalent inhabitants of the classic manuals used in the design of the facilities. 2.- The support elements used, the one that performs best is four-centimeter polystyrene foam. Extruded polystyrene is not recommended due to its low oxygen permeability. 3.- The best-adapted plant and the one with the largest leaf surface area in these treatment systems is the Typha sp., followed by the Pragmites australis. 4.- The subsurface treatment system performs better (reduces more pollution parameters) in the winter months, with the flotation treatment performing best in the summer months.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC2521711920221112

Year: 2022