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Potency of constructed wetlands for deportation of pathogens index from rural, urban and industrial wastewater

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology volume 15, pages 637–648 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Pathogen removal is essential for wastewater treatment and its potential reuse in agriculture. Three field-scale wastewater treatment systems consisting of free surface flow were operated around 1.5 years receiving water from urban domestic, rural domestic and industrial sources. The study was conducted to evaluate seasonal performance of constructed wetland systems in removing Escherichia coli, Enterococci and total coliforms under continuous hydraulic flow. Results displayed that all three wetlands gain recognition in removing pathogen load with high removal efficacy till water reaches output ports. Removal efficiencies were even higher, 66–93, 78–92 and 80–94% for E. coli, Enterococci and total coliforms, respectively, within constructed wetlands. Remarkably at shorter temporal scales in CW-A, greater homogeneity of pathogen concentrations was assessed at wetland outlet sites. In outlet ports, results displayed a highly effective removal of E. coli concentration 80–90% (June 2015), 86–92% (October 2015) and 79–92% (February 2016), Enterococci 80–94% (June 2015), 83–94% (October 2015) and 80–94% (February 2016) and total coliforms 85–93% (June 2015), 87–95% (October 2015) and 88–96% (February 2016). Positive correlation was observed between bacterial indicators (E. coli–Enterococci, r = 0.038; p < 0.01 and E. coli–total coliforms, r = 0.142; p < 0.01). Removal of bacterial indicators in constructed wetland was also displayed by PCA in which three-component analysis of variance was 98.39% and showed a clear decrease in measured parameter gradients toward samples from outlet ports. Constructed wetlands provide cost-effective treatment systems for reducing the pathogen load in wastewater in variable agro-climatic conditions and thus improve water quality.

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge Water4Crops (EU) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, ‘integrating bio-treated wastewater reuse and valorization with enhanced water use efficiency to support the Green Economy in Europe and India’ for financial support to carry out this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Program – Asia, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru, 502324, India

    M. Kaushal, M. D. Patil & S. P. Wani

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  1. M. Kaushal
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  2. M. D. Patil
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  3. S. P. Wani
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Correspondence to M. Kaushal.

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Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

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Kaushal, M., Patil, M.D. & Wani, S.P. Potency of constructed wetlands for deportation of pathogens index from rural, urban and industrial wastewater. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 637–648 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1423-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1423-y

Keywords

  • Pathogen removal
  • Water reclamation
  • E. coli
  • Enterococci
  • Total coliforms
  • Principal component analysis

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