Abstract
Rapid increase in population and industrialization has not only improved the lifestyle but adversely affected the quality and availability of water leading to ample amount of wastewater generation. The major contribution towards wastewater production is from sewage. Regular monitoring and treatment of sewage water is necessary to conserve and enhance the quality of water. The present study focuses on monitoring of sewage water within the sewage system of a residential university. A total of 16 samples from different manholes were collected for physicochemical and heavy metals analysis and compared with final effluent collected from integrated constructed wetlands (ICWs) to assess its removal efficiency. The mean concentrations of influent and effluent were compared with national environmental quality standards (NEQS) for municipal discharge (pH 6–9, COD 150 mg/L, TSS 200 mg/L and TDS 3500 mg/L) and international agricultural reuse standards (IARS) (pH 6–8, COD <150 mg/L, TSS < 100 mg/L) respectively. Among all physicochemical parameters, influent values for chemical oxygen demand (COD) (169.56–258.36) mg/L exceeded the limit of NEQS for discharge into inland waters, whereas for total suspended solids (TSS) the concentration exceeded for discharge into STP (406 mg/L) and inland waters (202.33 mg/L). However, effluent concentrations for all the parameters were found within the permissible limit set by IARS. The removal efficiency for different parameters such as phosphate- phosphorus (PO43-P), COD, TSS, total dissolved solids (TDS) and total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) were 52, 53, 54, 35, and 36%, respectively. Heavy metal concentrations were compared with WHO guidelines among which lead (Pb) in effluent and chromium (Cr) in influent exceeded the limit (Pb 0.01 and Cr 0.05 mg/L). Interpolation results showed that zone 2 was highly contaminated in comparison to zone 1 & 3. Statistical analysis showed that correlation of physicochemical parameters and heavy metals was found significant (p < 0.05).
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2 authors conducted this research. Talyaa Najam collected and analyzed the samples as well as writeup of research paper. Imran Hashmi planned research, ensured provision of the required instruments, chemicals, supplies, imparted training to Talyaa Najam on sample collection, analysis and writeup of research paper besides liaison with Project Management Office (PMO) NUST for provision of support staff to assist in sample collection. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Najam, T., Hashmi, I. Monitoring of university wastewater within the sewage system and its performance evaluation through integrated constructed wetlands. Environ Monit Assess 196, 403 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12575-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12575-5