Rapid urbanization accompanying with the production of huge amount of wastewater without inadequate treatment facilities puts a huge strain on freshwater supply in India. This causes good quality freshwater shortages and poses significant health risks especially to the poor. Therefore, urgently, a novel holistic approach has to be adopted to treat urban wastewater efficiently in India in order to protect human and environmental health, and to the application of a novel filter media (rockwool or other hydroponic substrate). During the post-treatment, the VUF system will be optimized to remove conventional and emerging pollutants, including inorganic and organic micropollutants and pathogens from wastewater in order to produce nutrient-rich effluent safe for reuse in (peri-)urban- or down-stream agriculture and floricultural, non-edible products for a local trade. Since the VUF system is novel, various studies need to be conducted to develop and implement an efficient system. Some of the important aspects of the studies are 1) feasibility analysis on the application of the novel filter media to achieve a high quality treated wastewater for agricultural reuse 2) feasibility of the filter media to treat diluted drain water directly during the monsoon periods 3) development of compact, modular, adaptable, easily replaceable filters 4) the robustness of the system under the various loads and concentrations of the influent. foster productive, safe reuse.
This PhD research is a part of the project LOTUSHR which aims at demonstrating a novel holistic (waste-)water management approach for the recovery of water, energy and nutrients from urban wastewater. This PhD research line (one sub-project out of 5) focuses on the post-treatment of pre-treated wastewater by developing and validating an eco-engineered, Vital Urban Filter (VUF) along the Barapullah drain, located in Sarai Kale Kahn in the central part of New Delhi, that receives urban sewage and discharges it into Yamuna River, one of the country’s longest and most-sacred rivers.
The envisioned VUF is a hybrid between a conventional submerged vertical flow constructed wetland and intensified attached biomass growth system due