Water is considered as the most
important and priceless commodity on planet Earth. Water on earth moves
continually through the water cycle of evaporation and transpiration,
condensation, precipitation and runoff, usually reaching the sea. It is one of
the most essential thing that is required for every living being. In order to
develop a healthy and hygienic environment, water quality should be monitored
such that it lies within the respective standards. Wastewater is liquid waste
discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry,
agriculture, which often contains some contaminants that result from the mixing
of wastewater from different sources. Wastewater obtained from various sources
need to be treated very effectively in order to create a hygienic environment.
If proper arrangements for collection, treatment and disposal of all the waste
produce from city or town are not made, they will go on accumulating and create
a foul condition that the safety of the structures such that building, roads
will be damaged due to accumulation of wastewater in the foundations.
In
addition to this, disease causing bacteria will breed up in the stagnant water
and the health of the public will be in danger. The principal aim of wastewater
treatment is generally to allow human and industrial effluents to be disposed
of without danger to human health or unacceptable damage to the natural
environment. Therefore in the interest of the community of the town or city it
is most essential to collect, treat and dispose of all the wastewater of the
city in such a way that it may not cause harm to the people residing in the
town. The extent and the type of treatment required, however depends on the
character and quality of both sewage and sources of disposal available.
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The
sewage after treatment may be disposed either into a water body such as lakes,
streams, river, estuary and ocean or into land. It may be used for several
purposes such as conservation, industrial use or reclaimed sewage effluent in
cooling systems, boiler feed, process water, reuse in agriculture,
horticulture, sericulture, watering of lawns. Wastewater reuse is becoming
increasingly popular, especially in geographies where potable water is in short
supply. Reduction of strength of domestic wastewater using two different bed
materials Areca Husk fibre and Agava sisalana fibre as a filter media is one
such type of treatment method adopted. The utilization of fixed films for
wastewater treatment process has been increasingly considered due to inherent
advantages over suspended growth system. The present work is intended to study
the application of the comparative study between the fibres ie., Areca fibre
and Agava sisalana as a fixed bed for treating domestic wastewater and to know
the comparative removal efficiency of COD, BOD ,nitrate, sulphate, chloride
with conventional gravel bed in a small volume reactor. Areca husk fibre is a
versatile natural fibre extracted from mesocarp tissue, or husk of the areca
fruit. It belongs to the species areca catechu L., under the family palmacea
and originated in Malaya Peninsular, east India. Sisal fibre (Agave sisalana
species) is obtained from the leaves of this plant. The lustrous strands,
usually creamy white, average from 80 to 120 cm in length and 0.2 to 0.4 mm in
diameter. Sisal fibre is fairly coarse and inflexible. It is valued for cordage
use because of its strength, durability, ability to stretch, affinity for
certain dyestuffs, and resistance to deterioration in saltwater. This method of
treatment adopted using Areca husk and Agava sisalana fibres as a filter media
follows the principle of trickling filter in which wastewater is made to
trickle over a filter media containing seeding agent, due to biological action,
the inorganic compounds present in wastewater gets decomposed resulting in the
reduction of strength of the wastewater.