Best application of low-cost enhancement treatment for agricultural drain wastewater

This study aimed to apply a new technique of treatment inside stream using polyethylene sheets strips as a very cheap method for enhancing the quality of agriculture wastewater to meet the irrigation reuse needs. The study was carried out on a pilot plant that was constructed by EU research project named “drains water quality enhancement” inside Faqous Wastewater Treatment plant nearby Bahr El Bakar agricultural drain in El Sharqiyah Governorate, Egypt. Polyethylene strips were used as in stream media treatment where the operation program was made to determine the best positioning for applied serial lines to achieve the target water quality for reuse purposes, The study used four intervals first was 30 cm in channel 2 ,the second was 70cm in channel 3, the third was 100cm in channel 4 ,and the fourth was 150 cm in channel 5 to get the best enhancing efficiency and the removal ratios for Biochemical Oxygen demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen demand( COD) & Heavy metals (HM). Each channel contains six serial curtain lines to determine the study parameters. The results showed that the first interval 30 cm achieved removal ratios 44.6 %for BOD, 27 %for COD, and 41.7% for HM, while interval 70 cm produced removal ratios 46 %for BOD, 27.7 %for COD, and 43.3% for HM, for the third interval 100 cm the study get the removal ratios 51.6 %for BOD, 30 %for COD, and 46 % for HM, and finally for interval 150 cm the resulted removal ratio were 52.6 %for BOD, 30.5 %for COD, and 48 % for HM. The study proved that the curtain lines interval should be equal to or more than double the water depth in the stream to achieve higher removal efficiency in all measured parameters.