Sustainable and effective microorganisms method for wastewater treatment
Bhupinder Kaur, Raveena Choudhary, Gaurav Sharma, Loveleen K. Brar
Abstract
Existing wastewater treatment systems face a number of significant challenges, including aging infrastructure, climate change, emerging pollutants, and higher consumption of energy due to population growth. In order to solve these issues, comprehensive and long-term water management strategies are required. This study describes a pathogen-free water solution for wastewater treatment that uses effective microorganisms (EM) technology to improve water quality index in an on-site experimentation area. The physical and chemical characteristics were examined using the American Public Health Association (APHA) standard procedures and compared to world health organization (WHO) standards. The implementation of EM technology resulted in pH, total suspension solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total phosphorus levels shifting (after 105 days) below WHO limits to 7.30, 48.00, 1114.00, 43.00, and 4.36 mg/L, respectively. O and G levels decreased from 10.9 mg/L to 3.1 mg/L, while the values of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen were 242 and 45.8 mg/L, respectively. Lead and mercury were below detection limits. The study found > 99% reduction in total plate count and fecal coliform as well as no detectable E. coli in the final effluent after 105 days of application. EM technology offers a sustainable, eco-friendly solution for on-site wastewater treatment, controlling microbial and organic pollution loads. This approach to addressing microbiological and physicochemical aspects is both cost-effective and a significant method for restoring freshwater ecosystems.