Mr. Sagar Kolekar will present his APS as per the detail below:
Date: 28th Feb 2023
Time: 1000 - 1100 hrs.
Venue: Conference Room No.1
Topic: To assess the techno-financial and environmental sustainability of constructed wetlands to reduce water pollution and support small scale irrigation
Guide: Prof. Pennan Chinnasamy
RPC members: Prof. Eldho T. I. and Prof. Pankaj Sekhsaria
Abstract:
The availability of water is decreasing, especially in areas where natural water supplies are severely depleted. Of the water uses, agricultural water use accounts are the highest, and there is a constant need to augment agricultural water resources. However, the use of wastewater for crops is still not well understood, and in some regions not accepted. It is found from the literature that mostly the wastewater which is reused for agriculture is generally treated up to secondary treatment. In this study, a combination of artificial and natural wastewater treatment methods followed by tertiary treatment is provided. It includes Anaerobic System (AnSys) as an artificial and Constructed Wetland (CW) as a natural wastewater treatment method. The site suitable for selected wastewater treatment was identified at the Symbiosis campus in Lavale village. The beneficiaries are the farmers having farms nearby Symbiois campus. The treated wastewater is reused for growing tomatoes. The randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two treatments of irrigation, three levels, and three replications are considered for the design of the experiment. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of treated wastewater, soil, and tomato fruit have been tested. The fortnightly sampling and testing of wastewater were done at four locations an anoxic tank, the outlet of the anaerobic system (an inlet of cw), the outlet of cw, and the outlet of dual media filter (DMF) + ultra violet (UV). The results indicate that the total phosphate, total nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS) removal efficiency for the wastewater treatment system is 62 %, 40%, 88 %, 91 %, and 96 % respectively.
The average crop height, number of branches, tomato fruits, and yield are 1.2, 1.8, 2.5, and 2.99 times more for the tomatoes grown with treated wastewater (TWW) in comparison with the freshwater (FW). The chemical and biological properties of soil and tomato fruits are also checked. It was also observed that nutrient uptake is slightly more for TWW soil and tomato fruits. The presence of heavy metals and pathogens are not observed in treated wastewater, soil, and tomato fruits. It can be concluded that there is no negative impact on soil and fruit quality due to the application of treated wastewater. However, there is a positive impact with the application of treated wastewater as crop growth and yield is increased with the application of treated wastewater.
Keywords: Treated Wastewater, Wastewater Reuse, Agriculture, Tomato, Constructed Wetlands