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Uprating and rescuing small wastewater treatment facilities by adding tertiary treatment reed beds
Author(s) -
Green M.B.,
O'Connell P.J.,
Griffin P.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143098x123697
Subject(s) - effluent , secondary treatment , biochemical oxygen demand , environmental engineering , environmental science , sewage treatment , water quality , wastewater , remedial action , stormwater , waste management , total suspended solids , suspended solids , engineering , surface runoff , chemical oxygen demand , environmental remediation , ecology , contamination , biology
A water utility developed use of gravel‐filled constructed reed beds operating in a subsurface flow mode to polish secondary effluent to meet demanding standards for 5‐day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) and total suspended solids. Results collected by the regulatory environmental agency (EA) for 43 sites completed before the end of 1993 are given. The average BOD 5 concentration was 1.9 mg/L. The benefit of effluent polishing is further demonstrated by influent and effluent data from two sites that have operated since June 1990 and September 1991, respectively. Environmental agency effluent quality data are also given for 39 sites at which reed beds either treat stormwater and secondary effluent together or have been installed as remedial treatment for works struggling to meet secondary treatment standards. The average BOD 5 concentration for these sites was 3.0 mg/L. Remedial, or treatment plant rescue, application is illustrated by four contrasting case studies where constructed reed beds brought facilities back into compliance.