Development and Performance Evaluation of a Low Cost Waste-Water Treatment Plant

Abstract

The design, development and performance evaluation of a low cost waste-water treatment plant had been carried out. The aim was to harness the usefulness of waste-waters from residential, institutional and
commercial sources. The facultative lagoon method of waste-water treatment was adopted. Biological analysis of treated effluents showed a decrease in coliform count from 18 x 10² to 16 x 10² per 100 ml after the first 28 days of treatment. There was a drastic reduction in viable plate count from 6.4 x 104 to 2.1 x 103 cfu ml^-1 after filtration through activated carbon, fine sand and coarse sand medium. A decrease in chemical constituents (Zinc, Manganese and Copper) of treated waste-water was observed. However, no significant reduction in Iron
and Nickel concentration was observed during the treatment period. Also, the pH of collected effluent samples which were found to be in the range of alkalinity before treatment become acidic to neutral after the 49 days of
treatment in the development treatment plant. This research is useful in the management of scarce water resource especially in areas where water poverty is significantly felt during dry seasons.

Keywords: Waste-water; Toxicity; Micro-organisms; Filtration tank; Low-cost; Colony forming Unit (CFU)