DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF LOW-COST FILTRATION MECHANISM FOR TREATMENT OF WASTE WATER FROM AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS
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ACHARYA NG RANGA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Water is a key element for the survival of life on this earth. The world population has increased considerably and the need for food and water is continually growing. Therefore, the use of nonconventional water resources and the overall management of water in an efficient and effective way became pressing problems in most of the countries. As fresh water resources become scarcer in many regions, wastewater use has become an attractive option to conserve and expand available water supplies. Irrigating crops with untreated wastewater can cause a major threat to both human and animal health, food safety and environmental quality. If appropriate treatment is given, waste water can be used for all purposes including irrigation of agricultural land, aquaculture, landscape irrigation, urban and industrial uses, recreational and environmental uses and artificial groundwater recharge for which freshwater is used. Agricultural waste water treatment is farm management agenda for controlling pollution from surface runoff that may be contaminated by chemicals present in fertilizers, pesticides, animal slurry, crop residues or irrigation water. Now-a -days, low cost filtering techniques had proved to be a best solution for managing water resources by treating waste water and can be adopted by small scale farmers. Since, many water treatment plants involve high cost technologies using chemicals and high cost materials such as perlite, nanocarbon etc., which cannot be afford by the rural people and hence, this study aimed to develop filtration techniques with low capital investment for treatment of waste water from agriculture and allied sectors.
Water quality analysis was conducted for the samples collected from aquaponds and agriculture drains in Guntur and Prakasam districts which are major centres for agriculture and aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh. Water quality parameters such as electrical conductivity, pH, total dissolved solids, calcium, magnesium, total hardness,
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carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides, sodium, potassium, sulphates, phosphates, ammonical nitrogen, nitrates nitrogen, dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand were determined using standard water quality procedures. From the water quality analysis, it was found that aquaculture waste water contains more salts and organic decomposition which can cause severe threat to environment. Agriculture drain water also contains nutrients and salts more than the permissible levels and hence it is wise to avoid drainage waters directly for irrigation and they should be treated before using for irrigation for better land and water management.
A horizontal filter with three chambers was fabricated with plexi glass sheet. The internal dimensions of the filter were 80 cm×30cm×45cm. Two nylon screens supported by a wooden frame of 10mm thickness were made for separating the media as well as to retain bigger particles and physical impurities in the flowing water. Filter media such as gravel, sand, coir, ceramic rings, wood chips and activated carbon were used to treat waste water. The filter was tested for various filter media combinations and media proportions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out in SPSS for EC reduction efficiencies and pH normalizing efficiencies for all the filter combinations and proportions in SPSS software. Duncan’s MRT method was used to rank the treatments. The rank of performance of filters in reducing EC and normalizing pH based on Duncan’s new multiple range test for aquaponds water was as follows: GCA> GCOS> GWA. For agriculture drain water, the trend indicated by Duncan’s MRT methods in reducing EC and normalizing pH was as follows: GCOS> GCA> GWA. With regard to proportions, 1:1:1, 1:2:3 and 2:3:1 were found to be best and hence best combinations (GCA and GCOS) and proportions (1:1:1, 2:3:1 and 1:2:3) were used further for comparing reduction efficiencies of other parameters. The best two filters were identified and the pollutant removal efficiencies of two filters such as GCA_1:1:1 and GCOS_1:1:1 was found out.
The Average total chemical removal efficiency of GCA_1:1:1 filter in treating aquaponds and agriculture drain water (Guntur district) was 41.25% and 19.96%, respectively. The average total chemical removal efficiency of GCA_1:1:1 filter in treating aquaponds and agriculture drain water (Prakasam district) was 34.37% and 22.28%, respectively. On the other hand, the average total chemical removal efficiency of GCOS_1:1:1 filter in treating aquaponds and agriculture drain water (Guntur district) was 35.42% and 29.10%, respectively. The average total chemical removal efficiency of GCOS_1:1:1 filter in treating aquaponds and agriculture drain water (Prakasam district) was 30.60% and 20.90%, respectively. Combined effect of dilution and treatment on chemical reduction for aquaculture waste water was also studied and observed that pollutants were removed to a great extent. Benefit cost analysis was carried out for GCOS filter and obtained B-C ratio greater than one which indicates establishing such filters will be profitable. Multi linear regression analysis in SPSS software was carried out in order to find out the relationship among the individual variables and their combined effect on dependent variable. The developed low cost filter can be used for reuse of agriculture waste water and also found profitable. In case of aquaponds water, the developed filter can reduce the pollutant concentration in aquaculture waste water and the treated water can be used for salinity tolerant crops. Dilution of aquaculture waste water also reduced the pollution to a great extent.
Keywords: Agriculture drain water, Aquaculture waste water, Low cost filter, Water quality, Water management.
Description
DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF LOW-COST FILTRATION MECHANISM FOR TREATMENT OF WASTE WATER FROM AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS