Treatment of wastewater by vermifiltration integrated with macrophyte filter: A review

Vermifiltration is an economically affordable and environmentally sustainable technology for treatment of wastewater. However, the long-term effective performance and field scale application of this system still remains a challenge due to some structural and functional limitations. Therefore, the recent researches are being focused on integrating vermifilters with macrophyte filters for efficient treatment of wastewater, its steady operation and large scale applications. The present review describes the mechanism and the effectiveness of vermifiltration alone and in combination with macrophytes filter for removal of various pollutants from wastewater such as organics, nutrients and pathogens. In addition to this, effect of various parameters on treatment process like hydraulic loading rate, feeding mode, earthworm density, mixed culture plant, filter media, organic carbon source, etc. have been discussed briefly. Based on the reviews, recommendations have been made for improving the performance and sustainability of the existing practices.