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The use of biochar and crushed mortar in treatment wetlands to enhance the removal of nutrients from sewage

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Abstract

An experimental study was carried out using in pilot-scale constructed wetland systems, operated in parallel to treat raw sewage. Each system consisted of a vertical flow (VF) unit that was filled with biochar as the main media, followed by a horizontal flow (HF) unit filled with crushed cement mortar. Hydraulic loading (HL) ranged 340–680 mm/day was applied on the VF wetland units, where high total nitrogen (TN) mass removal rate (20–23 g N/m2 d) was obtained, demonstrating that biochar media had a beneficial effect on the degradation of nitrogenous pollutants. Total phosphorus (TP) removal percentage (concentration based) was ≥ 86% in HF wetlands packed with mortar materials. In one system, the flow direction of the sewage was directed by the deployment of downflow pipes and vertical baffles, aiming to facilitate the formation of aerobic and anaerobic zones in the wetland matrices. The effects of such arrangement were analyzed by comparing pollutant removal efficiencies in the two systems. On average, 99, 96, 93, and 86 percentage removals were obtained for ammonia (NH4-N), TN, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and TP, respectively, during the experiments. Biochar and crushed mortar proved to be a highly effective combination as media in subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the facilities provided by Department of Civil Engineering, UAP, to undertake this research study. We also extend our gratitude to Mr. Shahadat Hossain, technical assistant of Environmental Engineering and Chemistry Laboratory, for the sample analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Tanveer Saeed, Nilufar Yasmin & Ariful Hasnat

  2. School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, 6027, Australia

    Guangzhi Sun

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  1. Tanveer Saeed
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  2. Nilufar Yasmin
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  3. Guangzhi Sun
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  4. Ariful Hasnat
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Correspondence to Tanveer Saeed.

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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang

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Saeed, T., Yasmin, N., Sun, G. et al. The use of biochar and crushed mortar in treatment wetlands to enhance the removal of nutrients from sewage. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 586–599 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3637-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3637-z

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