Potential Use of Constructed Wetland Systems for Rural Sanitation and Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture in the Moroccan Context

Located in a semi-arid to arid region, Morocco is confronting increasing water scarcity challenges. In the circular economy paradigm, the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture is currently considered a possible solution to mitigate water shortage and pollution problems. In recent years, Morocco has made significative progress in urban wastewater treatment under the National Wastewater Program (PNA). However, rural sanitation has undergone significant delays. Therefore, an alternative technology for wastewater treatment and reuse in rural areas is investigated in this review, considering the region’s economic, social, and regulatory characteristics. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are a simple, sustainable, and cost-effective technology that has yet to be fully explored in Morocco. CWs, indeed, appear to be suitable for the treatment and reuse of wastewater in remote rural areas if they can produce effluent that meets the standards of agricultural irrigation. In this review, 29 studies covering 16 countries and different types of wastewater were collected and studied to assess the treatment efficiency of different types of CWs under different design and operational parameters, as well as their potential application in agricultural reuse. The results demonstrated that the removal efficiency of conventional contamination such as organic matter and suspended solids is generally high. CWs also demonstrated a remarkable capacity to remove heavy metals and emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, care products, etc. The removal of microbial contamination, on the other hand, is challenging, and does not satisfy the standards all the time. However, it can be improved using hybrid constructed wetlands or by adding polishing treatment. In addition, several studies reported that CWs managed to produce effluent that met the requirements of wastewater reuse in agriculture of different countries or organisations including Morocco.

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Wastewater Reuse Potential in Turkey: Legal and Technical Aspects

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0187 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 27 (9) ◽

pp. 131-137 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hasan Z. Sarikaya ◽

Veysel Eroglu

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Wastewater Reuse ◽

Water Shortage ◽

World Health ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Residual Chlorine ◽

Effluent Quality ◽

Marine Outfall ◽

Health Organization ◽

Activated Sludge Processes

Treated wastewater is one of the potential water resources in especially arid and semi arid regions. Overall, Turkey is not poor in terms of water sources. However, due to distribution of water in time and in space water shortage is felt. Wastewater reuse potential is especially high during summer months for agricultural and recreational purposes. In coastal areas of Turkey treated wastewaters from the coastal settlements are reused to irrigate the green areas and parks. Surplus effluents are discharged into the sea by use of marine outfall pipes. Extended aeration type of activated sludge processes followed by chlorination is the most common form of the treatment. Agricultural reuse is encouraged in inland rural regions. Simple wastewater treatment methods such as stabilization ponds are popular in rural areas. Water quality standards regulating irrigational wastewater reuse are recently set in Turkey. Guidelines given by World Health Organization (WHO) are generally adopted except the limits for the intestinal nematodes and the residual chlorine. Irrigational reuse standards as well as the degree of the treatment have to be revised based on the local experiences. Assurance of a given effluent quality is one of the major problems in management of the wastewater reuse in rural areas. Local examples are presented to illustrate this point.

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Removal of Organic Compounds Using Improved Wetland Systems for Wastewater Reuse As an Example of Local Sustainable Water Management

Environmental Management and Sustainable Development ◽

10.5296/emsd.v5i2.10357 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 319

Author(s):

Wojciech Halicki ◽

Katarzyna Kita

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Organic Compounds ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Water Reuse ◽

Wastewater Reuse ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Treated Wastewater Reuse ◽

Wetland System ◽

Reuse Of Treated Wastewater ◽

Wastewater Treatment Systems

This paper discusses the efficiency of the removal of organic compounds using Improved Wetland System (IWS). IWS is used in Poland and enables reuse of treated effluent in landscape irrigation and toilet flushing. The first section of this paper discusses the advisability of removing organic compounds at the highest level. Additionally, the first section discusses the increase in frequency of treated wastewater reuse. So far, reuse of treated wastewater in local wastewater treatment systems included treatment and reuse of graywater only. The second section of this paper presents the average concentrations of organic compounds in domestic wastewater and the relationship existing between concentration of organic compounds in raw wastewater and water consumption. The second section discusses requirements for local (to 2000 population equivalent) wastewater treatment systems relating to reduction of organic compounds. The third section presents the current situation in rural areas in Poland and indicates the necessity of treated wastewater reuse mainly in these places. In Poland 43 % of the overall population occupies rural areas and about 70 % of them are not connected to a wastewater network. Implementation of water reuse technology (mainly IWS) is the easiest and the cheapest in rural areas. The fourth section presents the principle and the construction of the Improved Wetland System with water reuse. This part shows defects of Constructed Wetlands hindering reuse of treated wastewater. Additionally, this section discusses different steps and efficiency of wastewater treatment. The fifth section discusses results of removing organic compounds depending on hydraulic and contaminant loads. In addition, this section presents guidance on designing the IWS with technology that enables water reuse for flushing toilets and landscape irrigation. The last part of this paper discusses the summary and economic aspects of IWS used in Poland. In addition, the last part shows existing IWS objects in Poland which provides water reuse to flushing toilets, landscape irrigation and for retention and recreational uses.

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Evaluation of Small Wastewater Treatment Plants in the County of Århus – Denmark

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0201 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (10) ◽

pp. 33-41

Author(s):

Jes la Cour Jansen ◽

Bodil Mose Pedersen ◽

Erik Moldt

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Constructed Wetlands ◽

Biological Treatment ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Chemical Precipitation ◽

Common Type ◽

Treatment Efficiency ◽

Effluent Quality ◽

Different Types

Influent and effluent data from about 120 small wastewater treatment plants (100 - 2000 PE) have been collected and processed. Seven different types of plants are represented. The effluent quality and the treatment efficiency have been evaluated. The most common type of plant is mechanical/biological treatment plants. Some of them are nitrifying and some are also extended for chemical precipitation of phosphorus. Constructed wetlands and biological sandfilters are also represented among the small wastewater treatment plants.

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Optimal Implementation of Wastewater Reuse in Existing Sewerage Systems to Improve Resilience and Sustainability in Water Supply Systems

Water ◽

10.3390/w13152004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 2004

Author(s):

Aakash Dev ◽

Timo C. Dilly ◽

Amin E. Bakhshipour ◽

Ulrich Dittmer ◽

S. Murty Bhallamudi

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Water Supply ◽

Wastewater Reuse ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Water Supply Systems ◽

Test Cases ◽

Decentralized Wastewater Treatment ◽

Graywater Reuse ◽

The Cost ◽

Supply Systems

A transition from conventional centralized to hybrid decentralized systems has been increasingly advised recently due to their capability to enhance the resilience and sustainability of urban water supply systems. Reusing treated wastewater for non-potable purposes is a promising opportunity toward the aforementioned resolutions. In this study, we present two optimization models for integrating reusing systems into existing sewerage systems to bridge the supply–demand gap in an existing water supply system. In Model-1, the supply–demand gap is bridged by introducing on-site graywater treatment and reuse, and in Model-2, the gap is bridged by decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse. The applicability of the proposed models is evaluated using two test cases: one a proof-of-concept hypothetical network and the other a near realistic network based on the sewerage network in Chennai, India. The results show that the proposed models outperform the existing approaches by achieving more than a 20% reduction in the cost of procuring water and more than a 36% reduction in the demand for freshwater through the implementation of local on-site graywater reuse for both test cases. These numbers are about 12% and 34% respectively for the implementation of decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse.

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Bio-Methanol Production Using Treated Domestic Wastewater with Mixed Methanotroph Species and Anaerobic Digester Biogas

Water ◽

10.3390/w10101414 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1414 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

I-Tae Kim ◽

Young-Seok Yoo ◽

Young-Han Yoon ◽

Ye-Eun Lee ◽

Jun-Ho Jo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Municipal Wastewater ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Culture Solution ◽

Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽

Mineral Salts ◽

Methanol Production ◽

Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

The development of cost-effective methods, which generate minimal chemical wastewater, for methanol production is an important research goal. In this study, treated wastewater (TWW) was utilized as a culture solution for methanol production by mixed methanotroph species as an alternative to media prepared from commercial or chemical agents, e.g., nitrate mineral salts medium. Furthermore, a realistic alternative for producing methanol in wastewater treatment plants using biogas from anaerobic digestion was proposed. By culturing mixed methanotroph species with nitrate and phosphate-supplemented TWW in municipal wastewater treatment plants, this study demonstrates, for the first time, the application of biogas generated from the sludge digester of municipal wastewater treatment plants. NaCl alone inhibited methanol dehydrogenase and the addition of 40 mM formate as an electron donor increased methanol production to 6.35 mM. These results confirmed that this practical energy production method could enable cost-effective methanol production. As such, methanol produced in wastewater treatment plants can be used as an eco-friendly energy and carbon source for biological denitrification, which can be an alternative to reducing the expenses required for the waste water treatment process.

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Disinfection behavior of a UV-treated wastewater system using constructed wetlands and the rate of reactivation of pathogenic microorganisms

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2020.007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 80 (10) ◽

pp. 1870-1879

Author(s):

Yenifer González ◽

Pablo Salgado ◽

Gladys Vidal

Keyword(s):

Constructed Wetlands ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Fecal Coliform ◽

Fecal Coliforms ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽

Visible Radiation ◽

Artificial Wetlands ◽

System A ◽

Reduction Efficiency

Abstract The use of constructed wetlands as a wastewater treatment system is a feasible solution for rural areas. However, these systems do not efficiently eliminate pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, it is necessary to implement disinfection systems such as ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems in constructed wetlands. To evaluate the behavior of a UV system, a pilot system of artificial wetlands connected to one such disinfection system was operated. The results show that when the total suspended solids (TSS) of the influent (already treated by the system of constructed wetlands) reached values of 26.7 mg/L, a reduction of 2.03 uLog in fecal coliforms was obtained. However, when the TSS increased to 34.7 mg/L, the reduction was only 0.33 uLog. In addition to the influence of the TSS on the fecal coliform reduction efficiency, there is a direct relationship between the transmittance and the sizes of the particles present in the influent. After UV treatment, the microorganisms showed a peak in photoreactivation of 27.8% at 4 h after irradiation with visible radiation, while under conditions of darkness, no reactivation was observed.

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A Mini-Review of Urban Wastewater Treatment in Greece: History, Development and Future Challenges

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12156133 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 6133

Author(s):

Charikleia Prochaska ◽

Anastasios Zouboulis

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Septic Tank ◽

Urban Wastewater ◽

Tourism Sector ◽

Future Challenges ◽

Urban Wastewater Treatment

Although Greece has accomplished wastewater infrastructure construction to a large extent, as 91% of the country’s population is already connected to urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), many problems still need to be faced. These include the limited reuse of treated wastewater and of the surplus sludge (biosolids) produced, the relative higher energy consumption in the existing rather aged WWTPs infrastructure, and the proper management of failing or inadequately designed septic tank/soil absorption systems, still in use in several (mostly rural) areas, lacking sewerage systems. Moreover, the wastewater treatment sector should be examined in the general framework of sustainable environmental development; therefore, Greece’s future challenges in this sector ought to be reconsidered. Thus, the review of Greece’s urban wastewater history, even from the ancient times, up to current developments and trends, will be shortly addressed. This study also notes that the remaining challenges should be analyzed in respect to the country’s specific needs (e.g., interaction with the extensive tourism sector), as well as to the European Union’s relevant framework policies and to the respective international technological trends, aiming to consider the WWTPs not only as sites for the treatment/removal of pollutants to prevent environmental pollution, but also as industrial places where energy is efficiently used (or even produced), resources’ content can be potentially recovered and reused (e.g., nutrients, treated water, biosolids), and environmental sustainability is being practiced overall.

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Hydraulic behaviour and removal efficiencies of two H-SSF constructed wetlands for wastewater reuse with different operational life

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2011.553 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 64 (5) ◽

pp. 1032-1039 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

S. Barbagallo ◽

G. L. Cirelli ◽

A. Marzo ◽

M. Milani ◽

A. Toscano

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Constructed Wetlands ◽

High Reliability ◽

Wastewater Reuse ◽

Treatment Plant ◽

Breakthrough Curves ◽

E Coli ◽

Hydraulic Behaviour ◽

Operational Life ◽

The Mean

This work focuses on the performance evaluation of two full-scale horizontal suburface flow constructed wetlands (H-SSF CWs) working in parallel, which have an almost equal surface area (about 2,000 m2) but with different operational lives: 8 and 3 years. Both H-SSF CWs, located in Southern Italy (Sicily), are used for tertiary treatment of the effluent of a conventional wastewater treatment plant. This study evaluates and compares H-SSF CW efficiency both in terms of water quality improvement (removal percentage) and achievement of Italian wastewater discharge and irrigation reuse limits. The mean removal percentage, for the overall operational life, of TSS, COD and BOD (80%, 63%, 58% obtained for H-SSF1 and 67%, 38%, 41% for H-SSF2), confirm the high reliability of CWs for wastewater treatment. However, despite the satisfactory removal of microbial indicators (the mean E. coli removal was up to 2.5 log unit for both beds), CWs didn't achieve the Italian limits for wastewater reuse. Information on hydraulic properties of the CWs were extracted from breakthrough curves of a non-reactive tracer (NaCl). By comparing the nominal (τn) and actual residence time (τ), hydraulic behaviour was revealed.

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Natural treatment system models for wastewater management: a study from Hyderabad, India

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2017.565 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 77 (2) ◽

pp. 479-492 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sahebrao Sonkamble ◽

Md. Wajihuddin ◽

Mahesh Jampani ◽

S. Sarah ◽

V. K. Somvanshi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Global Scale ◽

Organic Content ◽

Pollutant Removal ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Urban Habitat ◽

Wastewater Management ◽

Natural Treatment

Abstract Wastewater generated on a global scale has become a significant source of water resources which necessitates appropriate management strategies. However, the complexities associated with wastewater are lack of economically viable treatment systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. While many types of treatment systems are needed to serve the various local issues, we propose natural treatment systems (NTS) such as natural wetlands that are eco-friendly, cost-effective, and can be jointly driven by public bodies and communities. In order for it to be part of wastewater management, this study explores the NTS potential for removal of pollutants, cost-effectiveness, and reuse options for the 1.20 million m3/day of wastewater generated in Hyderabad, India. The pilot study includes hydro-geophysical characterization of natural wetland to determine pollutant removal efficiency and its effective utilization for treated wastewater in the peri-urban habitat. The results show the removal of organic content (76–78%), nutrients (77–97%), and microbes (99.5–99.9%) from the wetland-treated wastewater and its suitability for agriculture applications. Furthermore, the wetland efficiency integrated with engineered interventions led to the development of NTS models with different application scenarios: (i) constructed wetlands, (ii) minimized community wetlands, and (iii) single outlet system, suitable for urban, peri-urban and rural areas, respectively.

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On the Limitation of Fenton Oxidation Operational Parameters: A Review

International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering ◽

10.1515/1542-6580.2913 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Basheer Hasan Diya'uddeen ◽

Abdul Aziz A.R. ◽

W.M.A.W. Daud

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Organic Contaminants ◽

Advanced Oxidation Process ◽

Catalytic Decomposition ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Fenton Oxidation ◽

Treated Wastewater ◽

Operational Parameters ◽

Fenton Reagents ◽

The Many

Abstract The literature on the use of Fenton oxidation in wastewater treatment has established the method as one of the most effective and suitable methods for recalcitrant wastewater treatment. It is an advanced oxidation process (AOP) that utilises the highly reactive hydroxyl radical (OH) to aggressively and non-selectively destroy organic contaminants. The Fenton oxidation possesses environmental and economic benefits coupled with effective mineralisation of most wastewater organics. Broadly, the Fenton oxidation encompasses three types of oxidation routes for the production of OH: (i) through the use of Fenton reagents alone, termed classical Fenton oxidation (CFO), (ii) assisted by means of UV (photo-Fenton), or (iii) electron beams (electro-Fenton). However, this review is limited to CFO, which involves the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by suitable transition metals to generate OH. Despite the many advantages of the CFO process, there are issues related to operational parameters and the final treated wastewater, the most notable being pH modulation, the presence of the catalyst and the cost of the oxidant (H2O2). Furthermore, sludge generation constitutes an apparent drawback to the utilisation of this technology. This paper attempts to review the highlighted limitations and presents researches and advances reported in the literature addressing these issues.

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