Monitoring of wastewater within the sewage system of university

Abstract

Abstract Rapid increase in population and industrialization has not only improved the lifestyle but adversely affected the quality and availability of water leading to ample amount of wastewater generation. The major contribution towards wastewater production is from sewage. Regular monitoring and treatment of sewage water is necessary to conserve and enhance the quality of water. The present study focuses on monitoring of sewage water within the sewage system of a residential university. A total of 16 samples from different manholes were collected for physicochemical and heavy metals analysis and compared with final effluent collected from integrated constructed wetland (ICWs) to assess its removal efficiency. The mean concentrations of influent and effluent were compared with national environmental quality standards (NEQS) for municipal discharge and international agricultural reuse standards (IARS), respectively. Among all physicochemical parameters, influent values for chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeded the limit of NEQS for discharge into sewage treatment plant (STP) and inland water, whereas for total suspended solids (TSS) it exceeded for discharge into STP. However, effluent concentrations for all the parameters were found within the permissible limit set by IARS. The removal efficiency for different parameters such as phosphate- phosphorus (PO43-P), COD, TSS, total dissolved solids (TDS) and total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) were 52, 53, 54, 35, and 36%, respectively. Heavy metal concentrations were compared with WHO guidelines among which lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) exceeded the limit (Pb 0.01 and Cr 0.05 mg/L). Interpolation results showed that zone 2 was highly contaminated in comparison to zone 1 & 3. Statistical analysis showed that correlation of physicochemical parameters and heavy metals was found significant (p < 0.05). ICWs are efficient, cost effective and environment friendly treatment methods for sewage water treatment.