Slow sand filtration of UASB reactor effluent: A promising post treatment technique

The study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of slow sand filtration as a promising post treatment method for the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor effluent. Laboratory scale filter column of 10 cm diameter and 0.54 m sand media depth was used to study the process performance. It was found out that slow sand filtration with 0.43 mm effective sand size is the most effective at a filtration rate of 0.14 m/h. It is capable of removing 91.6% of turbidity, 89.1% of suspended solids (SS), 77% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 85% of bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), 99.95% of total and fecal coliforms (TC and FC) and 99.99% of fecal streptococci (FS). Slow sand filters efficiently reduce the mass of suspended material and extend the filter run for more time (7 days) at a hydraulic load of 0.14 m/h as compared to the hydraulic load of 0.19 m/h and 0.26 m/h. Therefore, due to excellent effluent quality, it can be said that slow sand filtration would be a promising technology for the post treatment of small-scale UASB reactor effluent in developing countries, where treated effluent can be reused for various recreational purposes i.e. gardening and irrigation, as well as for safe discharge.