Impact of meteorological conditions on the water quality of wastewater treatment systems: A comparative study of phytoremediation and membrane bioreactor system

Abstract

Two demonstration wastewater treatment systems, i.e. a phytoremediation system and a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, were studied for a six-month period from August 2016 to January 2017. The phytoremediation system consists of wetland cells implanted with diverse phytoremediation macrophyte species at NUST H-12 sector Islamabad, Pakistan, while the MBR system comprises primary clarifiers, membrane tanks and bio tanks that treat domestic wastewater through hybridization of biological and biomechanical techniques. The phytoremediation system receives domestic wastewater at the rate of 283 m3/d, and greater hydraulic efficiencies were achieved because of compartmentalization and higher aspect ratios, whereas the MBR system receives 50 m3/d. The present study was conducted to analyze and compare the correlation between water quality parameters of wastewater treatment systems and meteorological conditions. Statistically significant correlation was exhibited between eight water quality parameters (pH, EC, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total coliforms (TC)) and meteorological factors (ambient temperature and relative humidity). Predominant species isolated and identified through polymerase chain reaction and 16S rRNA sequencing from wastewater of the phytoremediation system and sludge of the MBR system belong to the phylum Proteobacteria with relatively higher abundance of Enterobacter, Shigella, Escherichia and Salmonella genera.