Effectiveness of Vetiver system in improving biological characteristics and electrical conductivity of wastewater

Abstract

The increasing population and development of agricultural and industrial activities have put excessive pressure on freshwater resources. As a result, wastewater treatment has received growing attention in recent years. It seems more necessary in arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran, where we face climate change and a lack of rainfall (Mohammadi Moghadam et al., 2015; Nikmanesh et al., 2018). However, wastewater is one of the most critical environmental pollutants. If the microbial quality of the effluent and its hygienic aspects are not taken into account, its reuse poses a severe risk to human health and the environment (Abedi-Koupai et al., 2021). Therefore, the primary purpose of disinfection effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants is to reduce the concentration of water-borne pathogens to less than the amount of infectious. Disinfection is done by physical and chemical methods. In most parts of the world, chlorine is the premier option for disinfecting effluents. That said, the adverse effects of chlorine effluent disinfection on humans and the environment have led to the possibility of using phytoremediation to improve the biological properties of water (Keddy, 2010). The Vetiver (VS) system for wastewater treatment is an innovative phytoremediation technology that has fantastic potential. This plant can grow in saline environments (Sanicola et al., 2019). Moreover, it can significantly improve the water quality parameters (Abedi-Koupai et al., 2021). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the possibility of using Vetiver in urban wastewater hydroponically to evaluate its efficiency in removing and refining pathogens, especially gastrointestinal coliforms. Our purpose is to use the treated water in the agriculture sector for irrigation.

Keywords

• hydroponic cultivation
• phytoremediation
• removal of pollutants
• vetiver grass