Effect of Polyethylene Strips Surface Roughness on Its Efficiency for Enhancement of Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of roughness surface for polyethylene strips on its quality for enhancement the characteristics of wastewater treatment plant effluent as a very cheap method. The study was applied at Abu Rawash WWTP effluent channel using the smooth and rough polyethylene strips where a biofilm layer forms above its surface. The removal ratio for smooth polyethylene strips for BOD and TSS was 4.45 and 4.33% respectively, while for the rough polyethylene strips was 14.10 and 13.37 respectively. This shows the success of the polyethylene strips even smooth or rough to remove both the BOD and TSS from treated wastewater. The results show that the material roughness affected the treatment efficiency with proportional effect. And the rough surface has a good removal efficiency that makes it more applicable for such purpose of enhancing the treated wastewater with very low cost technique.