Treatment of segregated black/grey domestic wastewater using constructed wetlands in the Mediterranean basin: the zer0-m experience

• Published in: Water science and technology Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 97 - 105
• Main Authors: Masi, F, El Hamouri, B, Abdel Shafi, H, Baban, A, Ghrabi, A, Regelsberger, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IWA Publishing 2010
• Subjects: Artificial wetlands; Chemical oxygen demand; Design parameters; Developing countries; Domestic wastewater; Drinking water; Effluents; Greywater; LDCs; Mediterranean Region; Morocco; Nitrification; Organic Chemicals - isolation & purification; Pilot Projects; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - isolation & purification; Rain; Recycling; Toilet facilities; Turkey; Waste Disposal, Fluid - methods; Wastewater treatment; Water management; Water pollution; Water Purification - methods; Water quality; Water shortages; Water Supply - standards; Water treatment; Wetlands; Morocco; Turkey; Mediterranean Region; Mediterranean Area; ASE, Morocco; MED, Tunisia; MED, Turkey; MED, Western Mediterranean; MED; MED, Egypt, Arab Rep
• ISSN: 0273-1223; 1996-9732
• DOI: 10.2166/wst.2010.780

Concerns about water shortage and pollution have received increased attention over the past few years, especially in developing countries with warm climate. In order to help local water management in these countries, the Euro-Mediterranean Regional Programme (MEDA) has financed the Zer0-m project (E-mail: www.zer0-m.org). As a part of this project, several constructed wetland (CW) pilot systems with different pre-treatments have been implemented in four Technological Demonstration Centres in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. The aim of this research was to establish appropriate designs for treatment of segregated domestic black (BW) and grey water (GW). We tested several different multistage CW configurations, consisting of horizontal and vertical subsurface flow CW for secondary treatment and free water systems as tertiary stage. CW removal efficiencies of TSS, COD, BOD(5), N-NH(4)(+), N-NO(3)(-), N(tot), total coliforms (TC) were evaluated for each of the implemented systems. The results from this study demonstrate the potential of CWs as a suitable technology for treating segregated domestic wastewater. A very efficient COD reduction (up to 98%) and nitrification (92-99%) was achieved for BW and GW in all systems. CW effluent concentrations were below 15 mg/L for BOD(5), 1 mg/L for N-NO(3)(-) and 0.5 mg/L for N-NH(4)(+) together with acceptable TC counts. Based on these results, we suggest adopting the design parameters used in this study for the treatment of segregated wastewater in the Mediterranean area.