Study on a stepped eco-filter for treating greywater from single farm household

Abstract

A stepped eco-filter based greywater treating facility was built on-site in a typical farm house of China. This study was aimed to investigate the hydraulic loading rate (HLR) for the optimal removal efficiency and to analyze the processing performance throughout an entire year. The results showed that, the average value of TP from the influent was much lower while the linear alkylbenzene sulfonate was a little higher compared with other related studies. The removal rates of the indexes were all showed a distinct decline and dropped to a low level while the HLR was raised from 0.2 m3/(m2 day) to 0.4 m3/(m2 day). Therefore, the optimal HLR of the process ought to be in the range of 0.2–0.4 m3/(m2 day). The average system removal rates in summer were all higher than that in winter, but the facility still performed well in winter. Clogging has never occurred in the facility during the operation over an entire year. Together with the good performance, advantaged of lower cost and easier maintenance, this process has shown good applicability for greywater treatment in rural area.