PHYTOREMEDIATION PERFORMANCE OF URBAN WASTEWATER BY THE PAPYRUS ALTERNIOFOLIUS IN EL-OUED REGION (SOUTHEAST OF ALGERIA

Abstract

The aim of this study is to highlight the ability of plants to purify wastewater with a horizontal flow system under a dry and hot climate. The process consists of circular beds with a capacity of 30 L filled with superimposed layers of gravel (25/15) mm, sand, 45 cm and 10 cm deep respectively. The first bed was planted with freshly collected stems of the plant Papyrus alterniofolius (40 stems/m2) and an unplanted bed was taken as a witness. The results revealed important removal fractions of the main pollutants namely: chemical oxygen demand COD (70,59%), biochemical oxygen demand BOD5( 97,25%) total suspended solids TSS (97.16%), nitrite NO2– ( 65.55%), nitrate NO3-(86.16 %), E. coli (99.41%), total coliforms (99.97 %) and total streptococcus (99.90 %). The considerable decrease of pollutants content and harmful organisms enables the reuse of the treated water in agriculture and industry.