scholarly journals Evaluation of a Low-Cost Ceramic Filter for Sustainable Reuse of Urban Stormwater in Arid Environments

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 460
Author(s):  
Md. Shafiquzzaman ◽  
Husnain Haider ◽  
Yousry Mahmoud Ghazaw ◽  
Fawaz Alharbi ◽  
Saleem S. AlSaleem ◽  
...  

Sustainable reuse of urban stormwater is inevitable in the fight against water crises in arid regions. This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a low-cost ceramic filtration process for reuse applications of urban stormwater. Stormwater was collected from a storage pond located in Buraydah (Qassim, Saudi Arabia) for laboratory experiments. The filtration tests were performed in a continuous mode with constant pressure using a low-cost ceramic filter made of clay soil and rice bran. The removal rates of the contaminants (heavy metals) as well as the turbidity, suspended solids, and nutrients of the stormwater were assessed. High removal efficiencies for turbidity (97.4%), suspended solids (97.0%), BOD5 (78.4%), and COD (76.1%) were achieved while low removals were achieved for the nutrients: 19.7% for total nitrogen, 25.3% for nitrate, and 8.6% for phosphate. Removal efficiencies ranged between 36.2% and 99.9% for the heavy metals, i.e., iron, manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, copper, cadmium, selenium, and barium. Contaminant removal rates observed for the ceramic filter were also compared with the alum coagulation process operated in a continuous mode at an optimum alum dose of 50 mg/L. Similar removal behaviors for removal of turbidity, suspended solids, organics, nutrients, and heavy metals suggested that both ceramic filtration and alum coagulation can be effectively used for stormwater treatment. Effluent qualities of both the ceramic filter and alum coagulation met the standards, for recycling/reuse of wastewater, set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and World Health Organization for unrestricted irrigation and toilet flushing. The study results revealed that ceramic filtration is a low-cost, energy efficient, and easy to maintain technology which can be complimentary to best management practices for stormwater.

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 2799
Author(s):  
Md. Shafiquzzaman ◽  
Saleem S. AlSaleem ◽  
Husnain Haider ◽  
Mohammad T. Alresheedi ◽  
Hussein Thabit

Management of backwash water (BW) generated from sand filtration of groundwater naturally contaminated with iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and radium (Ra) remains a challenge worldwide. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a low-cost clay ceramic filter for BW recycling along with residual sludge utilization for Ra removal from BW. A 15 day continuous ceramic filtration process operated at a constant flux of 2000 L/m2/d (83 LMH) showed 99% removal of Fe, Mn, and turbidity. The treated BW was found suitable for recycling back to the sand filters. Subsequently, the residual sand filter backwash sludge (BS) was collected, characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction, and examined as a potential adsorbent to the Ra. Results showed that the sludge constituted heterogeneous basic elements, with higher percentages of iron and manganese oxides. The sludge can be classified as typical mesoporous and poorly crystalline minerals consisting primarily of quartz and Mn2O3. Over 60% of Ra from the initial 2.1 bq/L could be removed by sludge in 30 min at neutral pH. The adsorption kinetics of sludge described well by the pseudo-second order model and Ra adsorption on the sludge were mainly controlled by chemisorption rate-controlling steps, intraparticle diffusion, and external mass transfer processes. Treatment of BW by low-cost clay ceramic filters and the utilization the BS for Ra removal would be a sustainable sand filter BW management practice.


2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 2460-2467 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. K. F. Geronimo ◽  
M. C. Maniquiz-Redillas ◽  
J. A. S. Tobio ◽  
L. H. Kim

Particulates, inorganic and toxic constituents are the most common pollutants associated with urban stormwater runoff. Heavy metals such as chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead are found to be in high concentration on paved roads or parking lots due to vehicle emissions. In order to control the rapid increase of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff, the Korean Ministry of Environment proposed the utilization of low impact developments. One of these was the application of tree box filters that act as a bioretention treatment system which executes filtration and sorption processes. In this study, a tree box filter located adjacent to an impervious parking lot was developed to treat suspended solids and heavy metal concentrations from urban stormwater runoff. In total, 11 storm events were monitored from July 2010 to August 2012. The results showed that the tree box filter was highly effective in removing particulates (up to 95%) and heavy metals (at least 70%) from the urban stormwater runoff. Furthermore, the tree box filter was capable of reducing the volume runoff by 40% at a hydraulic loading rate of 1 m/day and below.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Simonis ◽  
A. K. Basson

Africa is one of the most water-scarce continents on earth and the lack of potable water is responsible for the death of approximately 4,900 children every day. An effective way of making sure that water is of good quality is by decontaminating it by means of a household ceramic water filter. The low-cost water filters suitable for the removal of suspended solids, pathogenic bacteria and other toxins from drinking water were developed using the traditional slip casting process. The locally produced filter has the advantage of low cost due to the usage of locally available raw materials, labour and expertise. Furthermore, the project provides opportunities for local financing and innovation. The product was tested using water contaminated with high concentrations of selected bacterial cultures as well as with water from local polluted streams. The ceramic filter was found to be highly effective in removing the bacteria and suspended solids from the contaminated water. With correct cleaning and basic maintenance, this filter can effectively provide clean drinking water for rural families affected by polluted surface water sources. This could provide a low-cost solution for the more than 250 million people without access to clean drinking water in Africa.


Author(s):  
Seroor Atalah Khaleefa Alia ◽  
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahimb ◽  
Hussein Ali Hussein

Adsorption is most commonly applied process for the removal of pollutants such as dyes and heavy metals ions from wastewater. The present work talks about preparing graphenic material attached sand grains called graphene sand composite (GSC) by using ordinary sugar as a carbon source. Physical morphology and chemical composition of GSC was examined by using (FTIR, SEM, EDAX and XRD). Efficiency of GSC in the adsorption of organic dyes from water was investigated using reactive green dye with different parameters such as (ph, temperature, contact time and dose). Adsorption isotherm was also studied and the results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity of dye is 28.98 mg/g. This fast, low-cost process can be used to manufacture commercial filters to treat contaminated water using appropriate engineering designs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-247

The removal of heavy metals from wastewaters is a matter of paramount importance due to the fact that their high toxicity causes major environmental pollution problems. One of the most efficient, applicable and low cost methods for the removal of toxic metals from aqueous solutions is that of their adsorption on an inorganic adsorbent. In order to achieve high efficiency, it is important to understand the influence of the solution parameters on the extent of the adsorption, as well as the kinetics of the adsorption. In the present work, the adsorption of Cu(II) species onto TiO2 surface was studied. It was found that the adsorption is a rapid process and it is not affected by the value of ionic strength. In addition, it was found that by increasing the pH, the adsorbed amount of Cu2+ ions and the value of the adsorption constant increase, whereas the value of the lateral interaction energy decreases.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 171-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Saqqar ◽  
M. B. Pescod

The performance of the primary anaerobic pond at the Alsamra Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jordan was monitored over 48 months. Overall averages for the removal efficiencies of BOD5, COD and suspended solids were 53%, 53% and 74%, respectively. An improvement in removal efficiency with increase in pond water temperature was demonstrated. A model, which takes into account the variability of raw wastewater at different locations, has been developed to describe the performance of a primary anaerobic pond in terms of a settleability ratio for the raw wastewater. The model has been verified by illustrating the high correlation between actual and predicted pond performance.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3056
Author(s):  
Baiqian Shi ◽  
Stephen Catsamas ◽  
Peter Kolotelo ◽  
Miao Wang ◽  
Anna Lintern ◽  
...  

High-resolution data collection of the urban stormwater network is crucial for future asset management and illicit discharge detection, but often too expensive as sensors and ongoing frequent maintenance works are not affordable. We developed an integrated water depth, electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature sensor that is inexpensive (USD 25), low power, and easily implemented in urban drainage networks. Our low-cost sensor reliably measures the rate-of-change of water level without any re-calibration by comparing with industry-standard instruments such as HACH and HORIBA’s probes. To overcome the observed drift of level sensors, we developed an automated re-calibration approach, which significantly improved its accuracy. For applications like monitoring stormwater drains, such an approach will make higher-resolution sensing feasible from the budget control considerations, since the regular sensor re-calibration will no longer be required. For other applications like monitoring wetlands or wastewater networks, a manual re-calibration every two weeks is required to limit the sensor’s inaccuracies to ±10 mm. Apart from only being used as a calibrator for the level sensor, the conductivity sensor in this study adequately monitored EC between 0 and 10 mS/cm with a 17% relative uncertainty, which is sufficient for stormwater monitoring, especially for real-time detection of poor stormwater quality inputs. Overall, our proposed sensor can be rapidly and densely deployed in the urban drainage network for revolutionised high-density monitoring that cannot be achieved before with high-end loggers and sensors.


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