An Innovative Green Technology for Treating Municipal and Industrial Wastewater entering Rivers and Streams

In many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, untreated or partially-treated municipal and industrial wastewater is directly discharged into natural water bodies and streams. The wastewater may contain many organic as well as inorganic contaminants which may be then introduced to rural communities downstream. The contaminated water may be used for washing, drinking and for farming. The contaminants can eventually enter humans and cause variety of health problems. Remediation techniques such as use of natural and constructed wetlands are cost-effective as well as efficient, but require large areas of land. Efforts have been made to mimic the workings of wetlands by employing water treatment systems within water bodies. In our current IC-Impacts project, we determined that biochar generated from agricultural waste, was effective in removing heavy metals and organic pollutants in wastewater, and not releasing it back into the water readily. The proposed demonstration project would involve implementation of a anchored biochar water treatment (ABWT) concept where a mixture of bagged biochar, anchored in a watercourse, would serve to remove both organic and inorganic pollutants. Sorption isotherms having been determined for various types of biochar, their respective sorption capacities for different pollutants have been determined […]

Faculty Supervisor:

Shiv Prasher

Student:

Partner:

Lovely Professional University

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Sustainability & the Environment; Water; Environmental Science and Technology

University:

McGill University

Program: