Removal of BOD from Municipal Wastewater by Phytoremediation

with Two Aquatic Plants: Typha Latifolia and Saccharum

Spontaneum

Eng Diamant
25315701
Graduate Program of Environmental Engineering
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung
Jl.GaneshaNo. 10, Bandung, 40132
E-mail: engdiamant168@yahoo.com

Abstract - This work describes the application of two types of aquatic plant to the removal of
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from municipal wastewater in a laboratory-scale batch reactor. The
effect of different operational conditions, namely, Typha Latifolia (TL) and Saccharum Spontaneum (SS)
concentrations, pH and temperature taken from domestic wastewater. Working with an initial pH equal to
5.7, a temperature of 27.6C, and the concentration of BOD is 67mg/L. A removal kinetic study was
carried out using a modified of zero-order reaction and first order reaction. By using these two methods,
the value of regression coefficient R of TL and SS from first-order reaction as the rate constant is more
effective than those from zero-order reaction which given 0.9718 and 0.9017 respectively. Result showed
that municipal wastewater inhibits the growth of aquatic plants, Typha Latifolia (TL) more effective
compared to Saccharum Spontaneum (SS).

Keywords: Aquatic plants, BOD, Municipal wastewater, first-order reaction, kinetic, zero-order reaction.

Introduction

Municipal wastewater is the mixture of domestic wastewater, (the basic component),

small amounts of industrial and storm water, drain water, surface infiltration, and ground water.
It usually consists of a number of contaminants, such as suspended solids, biodegradable
organics, pathogens, nutrients, refractory organics, heavy metals and dissolved inorganics. Direct
discharge of untreated wastewater into the natural water bodies is not desirable, as the
decomposition of the organic waste would seriously deteriorate the water quality. In addition,
communicable diseases can be transmitted by the pathogenic microorganisms. Nutrients such as
nitrogen and phosphorous, along with organic material when discharged to the aquatic
environment can also lead to excessive growth of undesirable aquatic life when discharged in
excessive amounts on land can also lead to the pollution of groundwater. It was estimated that
nearly half a million organic compounds have been synthesized and some 10,000 new
compounds are added each year. As a result, many of these compounds are now found in the
wastewater from municipalities and communities. For these reasons, treatment of wastewater has
become necessary for the protection of the environment keeping in view public health,
economic, social and political concerns.
One of the challenging tasks faced by scientists and engineers today is to provide safe
water to support healthy human life. But human activities always generate wastewaters which
contain various pollutants that create problems to aquatic life and contaminate water resources.
Although wastewaters may come from various sources, it mostly consists of domestic
wastewaters. Currently, domestic wastewater is mostly is normally treated by aerated biological
methods. For example, the activated sludge, being the most famous biological method of
wastewater treatment, produces high quality effluent, i.e. 90% biological oxygen demand (BOD)
removal. There are some disadvantages of applying the biological method for wastewater
treatment, such as requiring continuous air supply, high operating costs, sensitivity against shock
toxic loads, longer treatment time and necessary sludge disposal.
One of the most commonly measured constituents of wastewater is the biochemical
oxygen demand, or BOD. Wastewater is composed of a variety of inorganic and organic
substances. Organic substances refer to molecules that are based on carbon and include fecal
matter as well as detergents, soaps, fats, greases and food particles (especially where garbage
grinders are used). These large organic molecules are easily decomposed by bacteria in the septic
system. However, oxygen is required for this process of breaking large molecules into smaller
molecules and eventually into carbon dioxide and water. The amount of oxygen required for this
process is known as the biochemical oxygen demand or BOD.
BOD has traditionally been used to measure of the strength of effluent released from
conventional wastewater treatment plants to surface waters or streams. This is because
wastewater high in BOD can deplete oxygen in receiving waters, causing fish kills and
ecosystem changes.
Phytoremediation, an emerging cleanup technology for contaminated soils, groundwater,
and wastewater, is both low-tech and low-cost. We define phytoremediation as the engineered
use of green plants, including grasses, forbs, and woody species, to remove, contain, or render
harmless such environmental contaminants as heavy metals, trace elements, organic compounds,
and radioactive compounds in soil or water. This definition includes all plant-influenced
biological, chemical, and physical processes that aid in the uptake, sequestration, degradation,
and metabolism of contaminants, either by plants or by the free-living organisms that constitute
the plant's rhizosphere. Phytoremediation takes advantage of the unique and selective uptake
capabilities of plant root systems, together with the translocation, bioaccumulation, and
contaminant storage or degradation abilities of the entire plant body.

Serious interests in natural methods for wastewater treatment have reemerged. The using
of aquatic plants as engineered systems in wastewater (domestic and industrial) treatment and
recycling has increased enormously over the past few years, they are designed to achieve specific
wastewater treatment and can simultaneously solve the environmental and sanitary problems and
may also be economically efficient (Bastian and Reed, 1979, OBrien, 1981, Oron et al.,
1985, Hussein et al., 2004 and Deng et al., 2006).
Water hyacinth systems are capable of removing high levels of BOD, suspended solids, nitrogen
and refractory trace organic matter (Orth and Sapkota, 1988) while phosphorus removal seldom
exceeds 5070% in wastewater, as it is mainly limited to the plant uptake (Dinges,
1976 and Bastian and Reed, 1979). In aquatic systems used for municipal wastewater the
carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and the suspended solids (SS) are removed
principally by bacterial metabolism and physical sedimentation. In systems used to treat BOD
and SS, the aquatic plants themselves bring about very little actual treatments of wastewater
(Tchobanoglous, 1987).

Materials and Methods

Flow chart of determining the removal of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from municipal
wastewater in a laboratory-scale batch reactor informs of graphs and analysis. Here is the order of
the process in determining the removal of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from municipal
wastewater.
 Start

Select the main journal (data), journal supporter material workmanship paper

Choose the methods to calculate/analysis the data take from the main journal

Plot the graphic using the data

Determine the rate constant following the methods used

Analysis the result

Finish

Figure 1: Flow chart for determining the rate constants

Materials

The wastewater used in this study was taken from anaerobic pond of Banda Aceh City.
The characteristics of the anaerobic pond wastewater were summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: Characteristic of wastewater

Parameter Level
BOD 67 mg/L
pH 5.7
Temperature 27.6
Source: http://www.ijeit.com/vol%202/Issue%206/IJEIT1412201212_59.pdf

Aquatic plants (Typha latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum) from the cultivication ponds
were exposed in wastewater taken from anaerobic pond of Municipal wastewater treatment plant
of Banda Aceh City for four weeks in sand gravel filter polybag contains soil, sludge, and coral
as a filter. Wastewater with a flow rate of 5ml/sec for 15 days flowed into each polybag of
planted crops and the aquatic plants growth was observed by measuring the increase of shoot at
specified interval times. Each polybags contained six stems of aquatic plants. During four weeks
of the experiment, the atmospheric air and water temperature (302 ) were
maintained.
Methods

The study of BOD removal from municipal wastewater were undertaken in laboratory
scale, which focuses on the reduction of BOD by aquatic plants (Typha latifolia and Saccharum
spontaneum) in a laboratory-scale of sand gravel filter. The study began by flowing wastewater
in the sand gravel filter polybag planted with aquatic plants, Typha latifolia and Saccharum
spontaneum continuously at HRT 24 hours. According to the initial concentration of BOD taken
from the wastewater, the removal kinetic of BOD can be determined by using the Rate laws.
Rate laws are used to predict the rates of chemical (abiotic) and biological (biotic)
processes. The rate law expresses the dependence of the reaction rate on measurable,
environmental parameters. The purpose of this study is to compare the rate of the zero-order
reaction and first-order reaction by the aquatic plants of two different species (Typha latifolia
and Saccharum spontaneum).
Zero-order reaction is always an artifact of the conditions under which the reaction is
carried out. For this reason, reactions that follow zero-order kinetics are often referred to as
pseudo-zero-order reactions. Clearly, a zero-order process cannot continue after a reactant has
been exhausted.

Differential form of the zero-order reaction rate law:

d [C ]
k Equation 1
dt

This is the rate law describing a zero-order reaction. The rate of disappearance of C with time is
zero order with respect to C and the overall order of the reaction is zero order. The Equation 2
below can be rearranged and integrated for the following conditions:

C t

d[C ] k dt
Co o
Equation 2

Integration of Equation 2 above yields:

[C ] [Co ] kt Equation 3
Where [C] : the concentration of (BOD) (mg/l)

[Co] : the influent concentration of C (BOD) (mg/l)

t : is the time (day)

k : a rate constant that has unit concentration/time

First-order reaction depends on the concentration of only one reactant. As such, a first-
order reaction is sometimes referred to a unimolecular reaction. While other reactants can be
presented, each will be zero-order, since the concentrations of these reactants do not affect the
rate. Thus, the rate law for an elementary reaction that is first order with respect to a reactant A is
given by the Equation 4:

d [C ]
k[C ] Equation 4
dt

This is the rate law for a first-order reaction. Here the rate of disappearance of C with time is first
order with respect to [C] and the overall order of the reaction is first order. The Equation 4 can
be rearranged and integrated for the same two conditions to obtain an expression that describes
the concentration of C with time:

[C ] [Co ]e kt Equation 5

where [C] : the concentration of (BOD) (mg/l)

[Co] : the influent concentration of C (BOD) (mg/l)

t : is the time (day)

k : a rate constant that has unit 1 .

Result and Discussion

BOD decreasing in wastewater by Typha latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum measured
daily for 9 days and the results are shown in Table 2. After 3 days exposing to the wastewater,
BOD concentration decreased to 46 mg/L due to the absorption of organic compound in
wastewater by the roots of Saccharum spontaneum, whereas absorption by Typha latifolia lead
BOD concentration decreased to 33 mg/L.
 Table 2: BOD removal concentration by Typha latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum
Concentration of BOD Concentration of BOD
Time (day)
By Typha (mg/L) By Saccharum (mg/L)
0 67 67
1 48 52
2 41 48
3 33 46
4 30 43
5 27 40
6 24 38.5
7 22 37
8 18 35.5
9 16 34.5

The graphic in Figure 2 shows that the decrease in BOD concentration for several time by
Typha latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum with initial concentration of 67 mg/L. This value
shows the difference BOD concentration reduction in with the use of two different aquatic
plants. BOD decreasing in wastewater by Typha latifolia was higher when compared to
Saccharum spontaneum.

BOD reduction from Municipal wastewater

80

70

60

50
BOD, mg/L

40 Saccharum
spontaneum
30
Typha
20 latifolia

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Time, (day)

Figure 2: Graphic of BOD removal concentration

 The highest reduction of BOD concentrations from water phase by Typha latifolia
reached 76.12% on day 9 with initial BOD concentration of 67 mg/L, whereas Saccharum
spontaneum highest decline reached 47.76% as shown in Figure 5. These results indicate that the
reductions of BOD concentrations of were also affected by aquatic plant activities involving
microorganisms that can break down the organic compounds in the process Phytoremediation.
The removal efficiency of BOD from municipal wastewater is followed with the formula
below:
Influent BOD mg / L effluent BOD mg / L
BOD removal efficiency, % = x 100% Equation 6
Influent BOD mg / L

Where the influent BOD mg/L and the effluent BOD mg/L are vary accordingly to each day of
BOD concentration measurement.
BOD removal efficiency
80

70
BOD removal efficiency, %

60

50

40 Typha

30

20 Saccharum

10

0
1 3 5 7 9
Time (day)

Figure 3: BOD removal efficiency

Phytoremediation process that occurs at this phase was phyto-reduction/rhizodegradation
that use of plant roots to absorb pollutants from wastewater. Other researcher also confirmed that
the reduction of BOD could be caused by oxidation of organic matter in wetlands system that
provides energy for microbial metabolism. The organic matter contained in the wastewater
provides a substrate for aerobic microbial metabolism and the length of culturization time could
lead to a decrease of BOD concentration in water phase. In addition, the reduction of BOD was
also influenced by the length of phytoremediation time.
Zero-order reaction, when the concentration data are plotted versus time and the result is
a straight line. The slop of the resulting line is the zero-order rate constant k, which has units of
concentration/time. Reduction of BOD concentration from water phase by Typha latifolia and
Saccharum spontaneum were taken from the Table 2 above. From the data in the Table 2, the
reduction of BOD concentration in wastewater plotted as shown in the Figure 4 below:

Zero order Reaction

80

70

60
y = -2.9606x + 57.473
50
BOD, mg/L

R = 0.8297 saccharum
40
typha
30

20 y = -4.8121x + 54.255
R = 0.8666
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time, day

Figure 4: Graphic of zero-order reaction

First-order reaction is a reaction when the natural logarithm of concentration data plotted
versus time results is a straight line. The slop of this resulting straight line is the first-order rate
constant k which has the unit of tim-1.
 First order Reaction
4.3

4.1
y = -0.064x + 4.0556
3.9
R = 0.9017
3.7
BOD, mg/L

3.5 saccharum

3.3 typha
3.1
y = -0.145x + 4.0441
2.9 R = 0.9718
2.7

2.5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time, day

Figure 5: Graphic of first-order reaction

The values of regression coefficient R2 are regarded as a measure of goodness of fit of the
experimental data to the isotherm models. From the graphic of BOD reduction by using Zero and
First order reaction, the values of R calculated by first-order reaction for both species Typha
latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum are closer to one than by zero-order reaction. From Table 3,
it is evident that both of two different type of aquatic plants fit the data reasonably well, but the
best was obtained with the first-order reaction by Typha latifolia. The zero and first order rate
constant is given as the results shown in the table below:

Table 3: The values of regression coefficient R2

Zero order reaction First order reaction

Aquatic plant Saccharum Typha Saccharum Typha
R2 0.8297 0.8666 0.9017 0.9718

Conclusion
The overall results of this study indicate that the application of two aquatic plants (Typha
latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum) is a feasible method to partially treat municipal
wastewaters allowing achieve a significant decrease of BOD. The aquatic plants at initial pH 5.7,
temperature = 27.6 C leads to a BOD reduction of 76.12% and 47.76% respectively. A simple
kinetic analysis based on BOD was carried out. A modified of zero-order equation and first-order
equation allowed to describe well the process and led to the determination of kinetic parameters
useful for the study of the efficiency of those two different aquatic plants. The regression
coefficient with zero-order reaction by Typha latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum are 0.8666
and 0.8297 respectively. The regression coefficient with first-order reaction by Typha latifolia
and Saccharum spontaneum are 0.9718 and 0.9017 respectively. Hence, results show that
although municipal wastewater inhibit the growth of aquatic plants (Typha latifolia and
Saccharum spontaneum), these plants potentially and effectively be used to phyto-reduction
process of BOD from wastewater. This study shows that Typha latifolia is more preferred than
Saccharum spontaneum depends upon the value of regression coefficient.

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