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Study on the Phytoremediation Potential of Pharmaceutical Wastewater Spiked with Nutrients through Municipal Wastewater - A Case Study in Indian Context

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Environmental Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India
  • 2 Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Durgapur, INDIA
  • 3 Civil Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, INDIA
  • 4 School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, INDIA

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 3, Issue (1), Pages 83-89, January,22 (2014)

Abstract

Phytoremediation being a low cost treatment system has been attempted to mitigate effluent from a specific pharmaceutical industry manufacturing sodium oxalate. The effluent being too high in organic content (COD91264 mg/l) is chemically treated first with calcium oxide (CaO), so that organics in the wastewater contributing high COD forms salts and precipitates out. The optimum dosing of calcium oxide is found to be 2g/100 ml of the raw sample. COD reduction through chemical treatment is found to be approximately 19.35%. The chemically treated effluent having COD value 73,600 mg/l is subjected to anaerobic biological treatment and the COD value comes down to 12800 mg/l after 29 days. The fact that the plant species simply die, if they come in touch with this raw wastewater sample signifying excessive toxic effect of the ingredients of the wastewater to the plant, necessitates dilution of the anaerobically treated effluent 40 and 80 times by mixing municipal wastewater with it in the ratio 1:39 and 1:79 respectively, These dilutions are selected after some trial experiments ensuring sustenance of the aquatic macrophytes (Pistia stratiotes) meant for phytoremediation study, which has been conducted for 10 days. The plant sustains and grows in the test samples (both dilutions). The quantities of biomass at the beginning are 29.26g and 31.31g in 40 times and 80 times diluted test samples respectively and after 10 days the biomass have increased to 60.62g and 58.10 g respectively in the two dilutions. So it is examined that even in 40 times dilution (COD600 mg/l), the plant can survive and helps removal of organics (81.61%) after 10 days of phytoremediation, after which the plant starts decaying gradually. Hence this experiment cannot be continued beyond 10 days. The COD value still remains close to 100 mg/l, which needs further polishing before disposal.

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