Development of a New Innovative Greywater Treatment Technique for Urban Agriculture: Drawer Compacted Sand Filter.

Rapid urbanization in the developing world is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Rates of urban poverty and food insecurity are increasing, whereas agricultural and urban water demand is exceeding supply leading to scarcity in many regions. Meanwhile, the speed of urban growth is outpacing the provision of water and sanitation infrastructure. This fact requires innovative interventions that could mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. Urban agriculture is presented as one significant measure to increase the food self-reliance and improve the livelihood of urban inhabitants, particularly poor. Given that freshwater provision in cities of most developing countries is already below standard, covering the water requirements for urban agriculture has been extremely difficult. Greywater is seen as a good option for urban agriculture. Greywater is less polluted than blackwater, thereby; treatment of greywater to make it suitable for local-food production tends to be safer, easier and less controversial. This study developed and tested a new treatment method for greywater called the Drawer Compacted Sand Filter (DCSF). This is a modified sand filter design in which the sand filter is broken down into several layers approximately 10 cm high, each of which is placed in a movable drawer that is stacked vertically, with each drawer separated by 10 cm of space. This treatment unit is seeking to overcome the problems commonly found in traditional sand filter designs, such as clogging, emission of bad odours and need for a large land area to house the filter. The new design was proposed and developed to be suitable in urban communities and could produce good quality water that matches the requirements of food production in urban areas. The response of drawer sand filters to variable hydraulic and organic loading rates in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total suspended Solid (TSS), pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) reductions was tested in laboratory under controlled conditions. Hydraulic Loading Rate (HLR) was studied by increasing it stepwise from 72 to 142 L m-2 day-1 and Organic Loading Rate (OLR) was studied by increasing it from 24 to 30 g BOD5 m-2 day-1 while keeping the HLR constant at 142 L m-2 day-1. Each loading regime was applied for 110 days. Results showed that DCSF was able to remove > 90% of organic matter and Total Suspended Solids for all doses. No significant difference was noticed in terms of overall filter efficiency between different loads for all parameters. Significant reduction in BOD5 and COD (P<0. 05) was noticed after water drained through the third drawer in all tested loads. Based on the laboratory tests, nine pilot DCSF units were operated at different locations in Jordan during the period of 2011-2013. Composite water samples from the inlet and outlets of the DCSF over a period of 16 months were taken periodically and tested for BOD5, COD, TSS, pH, EC and E. coli. A socio-economic study was conducted to evaluate the validity and feasibility of the DCSF. The results showed that DCSF removed 78-96% of BOD5 and COD and 98% of TSS and up to 6 logs reduction in E. coli. The socio-economic study and the cost-benefit analysis showed that DCSF unit was a feasible and reliable treatment method for greywater with a very low land footprint and minimal maintenance requirements, thus making it suitable for a wide range of geographical settings

Development of a New Innovative Greywater Treatment Technique for Urban Agriculture: Drawer Compacted Sand Filter.

Rapid urbanization in the developing world is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Rates of urban poverty and food insecurity are increasing, whereas agricultural and urban water demand is exceeding supply leading to scarcity in many regions. Meanwhile, the speed of urban growth is outpacing the provision of water and sanitation infrastructure. This fact requires innovative interventions that could mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. Urban agriculture is presented as one significant measure to increase the food self-reliance and improve the livelihood of urban inhabitants, particularly poor. Given that freshwater provision in cities of most developing countries is already below standard, covering the water requirements for urban agriculture has been extremely difficult. Greywater is seen as a good option for urban agriculture. Greywater is less polluted than blackwater, thereby; treatment of greywater to make it suitable for local-food production tends to be safer, easier and less controversial. This study developed and tested a new treatment method for greywater called the Drawer Compacted Sand Filter (DCSF). This is a modified sand filter design in which the sand filter is broken down into several layers approximately 10 cm high, each of which is placed in a movable drawer that is stacked vertically, with each drawer separated by 10 cm of space. This treatment unit is seeking to overcome the problems commonly found in traditional sand filter designs, such as clogging, emission of bad odours and need for a large land area to house the filter. The new design was proposed and developed to be suitable in urban communities and could produce good quality water that matches the requirements of food production in urban areas. The response of drawer sand filters to variable hydraulic and organic loading rates in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total suspended Solid (TSS), pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) reductions was tested in laboratory under controlled conditions. Hydraulic Loading Rate (HLR) was studied by increasing it stepwise from 72 to 142 L m-2 day-1 and Organic Loading Rate (OLR) was studied by increasing it from 24 to 30 g BOD5 m-2 day-1 while keeping the HLR constant at 142 L m-2 day-1. Each loading regime was applied for 110 days. Results showed that DCSF was able to remove > 90% of organic matter and Total Suspended Solids for all doses. No significant difference was noticed in terms of overall filter efficiency between different loads for all parameters. Significant reduction in BOD5 and COD (P<0. 05) was noticed after water drained through the third drawer in all tested loads. Based on the laboratory tests, nine pilot DCSF units were operated at different locations in Jordan during the period of 2011-2013. Composite water samples from the inlet and outlets of the DCSF over a period of 16 months were taken periodically and tested for BOD5, COD, TSS, pH, EC and E. coli. A socio-economic study was conducted to evaluate the validity and feasibility of the DCSF. The results showed that DCSF removed 78-96% of BOD5 and COD and 98% of TSS and up to 6 logs reduction in E. coli. The socio-economic study and the cost-benefit analysis showed that DCSF unit was a feasible and reliable treatment method for greywater with a very low land footprint and minimal maintenance requirements, thus making it suitable for a wide range of geographical settings

Combined Vertical-Horizontal Flow Biochar Filter for Onsite Wastewater Treatment—Removal of Organic Matter, Nitrogen and Pathogens

This study investigated the performance of a combined vertical-horizontal flow biochar filter (VFF-HFF) system in terms of organic matter, total nitrogen (Tot-N), Escherichia coli and Salmonella removal and explored the effects of hydraulic loading rate (HLR) on pollutant removal. The combined VFF-HFF system used biochar as the filter medium and comprised two stacked sections: (i) an aerobic vertical flow filter (VFF) in which the wastewater percolated through the biochar medium in unsaturated mode and (ii) a horizontal flow filter (HFF), in which the biochar was saturated with water and had limited access to air, to enable anaerobic conditions and enhance the denitrification process. The system was tested over 126 weeks using real wastewater applied at different HLR (23, 31, 39 L m&minus;2 day&minus;1). The results showed that long-term removal of organic matter in the entire system was 93 &plusmn; 3%, with most (87 &plusmn; 5%) occurring in the VFF. For Tot-N, the long-term removal was 71 &plusmn; 12%, with increasing trends for nitrification in the VFF and denitrification in the HFF. Mean long-term nitrification efficiency in the VFF was 65 &plusmn; 15% and mean long-term denitrification efficiency in the HFF 49 &plusmn; 14%. Increasing HLR from 23 to 31 L m&minus;2 day&minus;1 increased the nitrification efficiency from 42 to 61%. Increasing the HLR further to 39 L m&minus;2 day&minus;1 decreased the denitrification efficiency from 45 to 25%. HLR had no significant effects on VFF and HFF performance in terms of E. coli and Salmonella removal, although the VFF achieved a 1.09&ndash;2.1 log10 unit reduction and the HFF achieved a 2.48&ndash;3.39 log10 unit reduction. Thus, long-term performance, i.e., removal of pollutants measured during the last 52 weeks of the experiment, was satisfactory in terms of organic matter and nitrogen removal, with no signs of clogging, indicating good robustness of the combined VFF-HFF biochar filter system

Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Pollutant Levels in Wastewater and the Waters of the Zarqa River, Jordan

Assamra wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is the largest treatment facility in Jordan. Treated wastewater is discharged into the Zarqa River (ZR) and used to irrigate fodder and vegetables. ZR also includes surface runoff, stormwater, and raw wastewater illegally discharged into the river. This study examined pharmaceutically active compounds (PhAC) in water resources in the ZR basin. Samples of WWTP influent and effluent and river water from four sites along ZR were collected. Concentrations of 18 target antibiotics, one stimulant, and 15 other PhACs were determined in the samples. Five antibiotics were detected in WWTP influent (510-860 ng L-1 for n-ary sumation Antibiotics) and six in the effluent (2300-2600 ng L-1 for n-ary sumation Antibiotics). Concentrations in the effluent of all antibiotics except clarithromycin increased by 2- to 5-fold compared with those in influent, while clarithromycin concentration decreased by around 4- fold (from 308 to 82 ng L-1). WWTP influent and effluent samples contained 14 non-antibiotic PhACs, one simulant, and six antibiotics at detectable concentrations. The dominant PhACs were paracetamol (74% of n-ary sumation PhACs) in the influent and carbamazepine (78% of n-ary sumation PhACs) in the effluent. At ZR sampling sites, carbamazepine was the dominant PhAC in all cases (800-2700 ng L-1). The antibiotics detected in WWTP effluent were also detected at the ZR sites. In summary, water in ZR is contaminated with PhACs, including antibiotics, and wastewater discharge seems to be the main pathway for this contamination. The occurrence of antibiotics and other PhACs in the irrigated soil requires investigation to assess their fate

Industry 4.0 in Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production: A case study from the food sector in Jordan

The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has reached 400ppm, a higher level than at any time in the history. As clearly referred at IPCC reports, human activity has been behind this extraordinary increase. Transition to a net-zero at industries is one of the crucial measures to meet the international commitments regarding climate change and thus keep the global warming below the 1.5C° limit. Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) provides practical example of de-coupling between economic growth from environmental degradation and thus support achieving the net zero transition. In that context, RECP has been applied at 12 industries in Jordan resulted in saving of over 1.6 million Jordanian Dollars (JOD) annually, 22,181 MWh/yr of energy; 63,844 m3/yr of water; 404 tons/yr of raw material and reduction of 8,086 tons/yr of CO2 emissions. Integrating industry 4.0 tools into RECP has been shown to be very efficient as the industries have become able to monitor and validate all saving data on real time bases and optimize using natural resources accordingly. Saving measures and performance evaluation were linked with IoT sensors and Blockchain at one food industry in Jordan and found to be accurate and very helpful to assess input-output outflow within the industry boundary. Employing IoT with blockchain to facilitate collecting data related to RECP at industry level can be a great advantage to RECP and help in monitoring carbon footprint accurately. It is recommended to scale up RECP-industry 4.0 model to other industries and leverage this experience to expedite transition to circular economy

Industry 4.0 in Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production: A case study from the food sector in Jordan

The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has reached 400ppm, a higher level than at any time in the history. As clearly referred at IPCC reports, human activity has been behind this extraordinary increase. Transition to a net-zero at industries is one of the crucial measures to meet the international commitments regarding climate change and thus keep the global warming below the 1.5C° limit. Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) provides practical example of de-coupling between economic growth from environmental degradation and thus support achieving the net zero transition. In that context, RECP has been applied at 12 industries in Jordan resulted in saving of over 1.6 million Jordanian Dollars (JOD) annually, 22,181 MWh/yr of energy; 63,844 m3/yr of water; 404 tons/yr of raw material and reduction of 8,086 tons/yr of CO2 emissions. Integrating industry 4.0 tools into RECP has been shown to be very efficient as the industries have become able to monitor and validate all saving data on real time bases and optimize using natural resources accordingly. Saving measures and performance evaluation were linked with IoT sensors and Blockchain at one food industry in Jordan and found to be accurate and very helpful to assess input-output outflow within the industry boundary. Employing IoT with blockchain to facilitate collecting data related to RECP at industry level can be a great advantage to RECP and help in monitoring carbon footprint accurately. It is recommended to scale up RECP-industry 4.0 model to other industries and leverage this experience to expedite transition to circular economy