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Treatment process and toxicities assessment of wastewater issued from anaerobic digestion of household wastes

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Abstract

Modern society grapples with large amounts of household waste. The anaerobic digestion of this waste offers a promising source for energy-rich biogas production but generates high toxic effluents that require treatment before reuse or disposal into the environment. This study aimed to investigate three techniques, namely coagulation/flocculation, electro-coagulation, and activated sludge, in terms of efficiency in the treatment of these effluents. It also aimed to assess their toxicity effects on the germination and growth of durum wheat Triticum aestivum L. seeds before and after 6 days of treatment. Activated sludge was most efficient in reducing chemical oxygen demand, turbidity, and conductivity (95.7 %, 15.8 %, and 37.5 %, respectively). The effluent treated with this technique induced a marked delay in germination (low mean time of germination) and a significant reduction in the percentages of seed germination and root and leaf growths. It was also noted to strongly induce lipid peroxidation in roots and leaves, which presumably explained the germination/growth inhibition of the wheat seeds. The effluent also induced marked lipid peroxidation effects and strongly inhibited the activities of butyrylcholinesterase in mice bone marrows. The effluent shows a high ability to inhibit the growth of three microalgae; these endpoints are useful tools to biomonitor the physico-chemical quality of this wastewater. Overall, while no significant alterations were observed in terms of animal and vegetable toxicities when the effluent was treated by coagulation/flocculation, activated sludge treatment proved efficient in reducing the toxicities induced by the untreated effluents. The results indicate that the application of this technique is promising with regards to attaining efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective strategies for the management and treatment of household waste.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole des Métiers de l’Environnement, Campus de Ker Lann, 35170, Bruz, France

    Hayet Djelal & Audrey Cabrol

  2. Université Européenne de Bretagne, 5 Boulevard Laënnec, Rennes, France

    Hayet Djelal

  3. Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et Valorisation de Bio Géo Ressources Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie, Université de la Manouba BioTechPole Sidi Thabet, 2020, Sidi Thabet Ariana, Tunisia

    Leyla Tahrani & Hedi Ben Mansour

  4. Laboratoire d’Aquaculture–Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer BP59, route de Khniss, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia

    Salem Fathallah

Authors
  1. Hayet Djelal
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  2. Leyla Tahrani
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  3. Salem Fathallah
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  4. Audrey Cabrol
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  5. Hedi Ben Mansour
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Correspondence to Hedi Ben Mansour.

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Responsible editor: Henner Hollert

Hayet Djelal and Yosra Mani contributed to this work equally and should be considered as the principal co-authors.

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Djelal, H., Tahrani, L., Fathallah, S. et al. Treatment process and toxicities assessment of wastewater issued from anaerobic digestion of household wastes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 2437–2447 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2158-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2158-z

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