Abstract:
Water scarcity is a rising challenge around the world and it is essential to explore
non- conventional water resources for meeting increased clean water demand.
Public health and environmental problems may occur due to improper wastewater
disposal facilities. Therefore, wastewater treatment techniques provide vital
solution. Integrated constructed wetland (ICW) at NUST Islamabad was studied
from June 2021 to November 2021 to explore the treatment efficiency of domestic
wastewater. The present study involves estimating removal efficiency of
physicochemical and microbial parameters using standard procedures. Onsite
physicochemical parameters analyzed include pH, Temperature, Dissolved
Oxygen (DO). While removal efficiencies were recorded as electrical
Conductivity (EC) 5.6%, Turbidity 74.3%, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
41%, Phosphate 72.4%, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 20.3% and Total
Suspended Solids (TSS) 64.2% and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) 31.4%.
Removal efficiency of dominant microbial species was analyzed using
heterotrophic plate count and results revealed 96.6% removal. Furthermore, heavy
metals iron (Fe), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) were
tested using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Highest uptake of Fe was
observed in sediments and plants. It was concluded that ICWs are effective in
removing potential pollutants and able to efficiently treat domestic wastewater
and may be considered as suitable wastewater treatment system.
