Ecologically and Economically Sustained Vermifiltration Process as a Promising Option for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment
摘要
One of the world’s most pressing challenges is the treatment of waste water. There are several technologies to meet out the demand but the investment of those makes difficult to operate. There are few low-cost biological processes like constructed wetlands, stabilization ponds but these technologies require large area and energy. Vermifiltration is one of the processes which can be implemented at low cost without any energy input and does not require huge space. It is a natural system that relies on the combined activity of microorganisms and earthworms. Thus vermifiltration is an ecologically sustainable and accepted technology and it exhibits high removal rate for nutrients, organics, and odors. This chapter attempts to summarize the following aspects: (a) the design and performance evaluation of vermifilters in terms of efficiency in removing various pollutants (b) the mechanism, influencing factors, earthworms and microorganisms interaction for wastewater treatment (c) the advantages and limitations of the process.