Title: Recycling of domestic wastewater by subsurface flow constructed wetland for construction purposes

Authors: C. Ramprasad; Moly Kutty

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, BSA Crescent Engineering College, Vandaloor, Chennai - 48, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, BSA Crescent Engineering College, Vandaloor, Chennai - 48, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: The problem of water scarcity is increasing drastically all over the world. The case is still worse in developing and under-developed countries, where few countries faces drought during their monsoon. There is considerable increase in the use of treated water as non-potable water. The objective is to assess if the domestic wastewater treated by subsurface flow constructed wetland can be successfully recycle in the constructions. The aim of the study is achieved by fabricating a small scale plastic crate (0.6 m × 0.4 m × 0.5 m), and was filled with sand and planted with Phraghmities austarlis. The domestic wastewater is fed as the inlet at one end of the crate and the treated water is collected from the other end. The quality of both raw and treated water were evaluated using wet chemistry experiments. The treated water is reused in making concrete cubes, after 28 days of curing time the cubes were checked for compressive strength. It was observed that the strength of cubes did not vary much from the one made with normal water and one made with treated water. Our findings will encourage the builders association to rethink on water reuse and reduce the load on freshwater resource.

Keywords: compressive strength; constructed wetlands; organics; solids; water reclamation; wastewater recycling; domestic wastewater; subsurface flow; construction industry; water scarcity; Phraghmities austarlis; wastewater treatment; concrete cubes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2016.077374

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2016 Vol.15 No.3, pp.286 - 292

Received: 07 Apr 2015
Accepted: 21 Jun 2015

Published online: 29 Jun 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article