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Domestic wastewater treatment efficiency of the pilot-scale trickling biofilter system with variable flow rates and hydraulic retention times

ABSTRACT In this study, a pilot-scale trickling biofilter (TBF) using pebbles and gravels media was evaluated for the treatment of domestic wastewater. The TBF system was installed in an open environment at residential area of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan, and was operated at three different recirculation flow rates (Q), i.e. 0.04, 0.072 and 0.1 m3/day and under three different HRTs, i.e. 48, 72 and 96 h. It was observed that the efficiency of pilot-scale TBF system in terms of pathogens removal was significant, i.e. at flow rates of 0.04, 0.072 and 0.1 m3/day, an average reduction of 39.8–62.5% (p = 0.007), 35.9–48.6% (p = 0.01) and 25.8–57.3% (p = 0.009) respectively were attained in CFU/mL under different HRTs. Moreover, it has been observed that due to high void spaces up to 30%, pebbles and gravels filter media in co-ordination allowing good microbial growth and increased the diversity of bacterial species. Furthermore, it also facilitate the removal of different pollutant indicators, i.e. chemical oxygen demand (COD) (74.2–80.5%), total dissolved solids (TDS) (60.3–69.5%), electric conductivity (EC) (62.8–68.6%) and phosphates (PO4) (45.3–60.3%). A significant reduction in total nitrogen (TN) (59–63.3%) was observed at flow rates of 0.04 and 0.072 m3/day (p = 0.005). The experimental data of this research study will be helpful for further modification in the TBF system using different filter media in association and selecting optimal HRTs and flow rates in future study to get maximum efficiency of TBF system while treating domestic wastewater. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT