Resumen

MENDOZA GUERRA, Yoma Isabel; CASTRO ECHAVEZ, Fernando Luis; MARIN LEAL, Julio César  y  HEDWIG BEHLING, Elisabeth. Phytoremediation as an alternative for domestic wastewater treatment from Riohacha City (Colombia). Rev. Téc. Ing. Univ. Zulia [online]. 2016, vol.39, n.2, pp.071-079. ISSN 0254-0770.

A phytoremediation system at laboratory scale as alternative treatment for wastewater from the Riohacha city (Colombia), composed of six tanks operated to semi-continuous flow and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 7 days, was implemented. Three tanks were provided Eichhornia crassipes plants while the other three served as control (not plants). During tests effluent renewal rates of 25, 50 and 75% were applied, and the following physicochemical and bacteriological parameters were monitored: pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonium, orthophosphate, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ), total and fecal coliforms. The results show that treated effluent quality meets mostly with the permissible limits of Colombian legislation, obtaining the best system efficiency ́s to renewal rates of 75% in tanks with plants, for removal percentages of 99.9% ammonium, 93.1%, orthophosphate, 93.9% organic matter (COD), 91.6% organic matter (BOD 5 ), 99.9% total and fecal coliforms. Therefore, phytoremediation is an efficient and feasible alternative for treatment of domestic sewage from the Riohacha city, requiring only disinfection post-treatment to remove remaining pathogens.

Palabras clave : Biological treatment; domestic wastewater; Eichhornia crassipes; nutrient removal; phytoremediation.

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