The Efficiency of Grey Water Treatment by Using Selected Sand Bed Bioreactors in South West Nigeria

Abstract

The In drinking or treated water, filtration plays a relevant role in the multi barrier approach used for the removal of pathogens. The presence of suspended solids and other particulate matter in grey water increases the resistance of most microbes to disinfection. These study aimed to determine the most suitable sand that can be utilized in the construction of sand bed bioreactor in grey water treatment. The bioreactor is expected to remove significant amount of grey water physical properties (odor, color, turbidity), physicochemical properties (pH, total solids, total dissolved solids, hardness, Nitrate, Magnesium, etc) and heavy metals (Iron, Cadmium, Chromium, Biological Oxygen Demand or BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand or COD). Sand samples are collected from four different locations in southwest Nigeria to serve as the filter media in the bioreactor. Soil physical property test is carried out on all sand samples that was collected across southwest. The result of the study showed an improvement in physical property, about 80% improvement in physicochemical property and heavy metals. Eleyele soil sample effectively improved water quality compared to other soil samples.