A simple field essay for detecting departures from expected performance in small-scale, remote or rural wastewater treatment plants.

A scientific basis is given to the traditional method of inferring effluent quality based on visualization of samples in transparent flasks. A scale of 1-6, with different printed grey intensities, is placed behind transparent PET bottles containing the sample, and gives an indication of the range of turbidity in the sample (1 is the most transparent and can only be visualized if the effluent is well clarified; in the other spectrum, 6 is the darkest and indicates highly turbid effluents). Turbidity has been correlated with total suspended solids (TSS), particulate biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and particulate chemical oxygen demand (COD) based on thousands of monitored data collected in the effluent from seven different treatment processes in Brazil: upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, trickling filters, activated sludge, horizontal wetland, vertical wetland, polishing ponds and coarse filter after pond. The method is simple and instantaneous, can be used in virtually all places and in every visit of the operator to the remote treatment plant, allows recording of the image in smartphones, does not use any equipment, chemicals or energy, and has been showed to represent well the effluent quality of existing treatment plants. This essay is complementary and does not substitute specific traditional sampling and analysis, but allows easy inference of deterioration of effluent quality.

Outflow dynamics in a French system of vertical wetlands operating with an extended feeding cycle.

The possibility of using the first stage of the French System (FS) of vertical wetlands composed of only two units in parallel requires hydraulic investigations to allow a better understanding of its operation under tropical climatic environments. This study evaluated the pattern of the outflow hydrograph along an extended cycle of operation (seven days of feeding) and the influence of the sludge deposit, rainfall occurrence and duration of pulse application on the outflow hydrograph in a modified full-scale FS in Brazil. The results indicated that, as the feeding cycle days increased, there was an increase in the time of filtration and the internal storage of the liquid volume, probably due to a reduction in the filter permeability. Greater hydraulic gradient favoured the infiltration velocity, decreased the amount of liquid stored within the system, and delayed the loss of permeability. The sludge layer contributed to a momentary liquid retention, and also allowed greater evapotranspiration, reducing the liquid volume to be treated. The sludge deposit seemed to hinder the liquid percolation, especially at the end of the cycle, modifying the hydraulic conductivity of the filter as a whole. Intense rainfall events demonstrated that precipitation could modify the flow dynamics within the system.

Performance of a French system of vertical flow wetlands (first stage) operating with an extended feeding cycle.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the treatment performance in the first stage of a vertical flow constructed wetland - French system (VCW-FS) over an extended feeding period (seven days), in two parallel units, for a population equivalent (p.e.) around 100 inhabitants (total of 0.6 m²·p.e.-1), under Brazilian tropical climatic conditions. One of the units had a greater surface sludge deposit layer, accumulated over nine years of operation, while the other unit had its sludge removed prior to the experiments. Four intensive monitoring campaigns covering all days of the feeding cycle were undertaken and the results were compared with those obtained from the conventional monitoring. The results indicated that, over the days of the feeding cycle, dissolved oxygen concentrations decreased, but were still kept at sufficiently high values for the removal of organic matter. Therefore, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, although not high, remained acceptable for compliance with local discharge standards during the whole the period. The NH4 +-N removal efficiency and NO3 --N production were higher at the beginning of the feeding cycle, as a result of the more well-established aerobic conditions, with the nitrification rate decreasing from the third day of feeding. The sludge deposit seemed to hinder liquid percolation, especially at the end of the feeding cycle, thus affecting oxygen transfer. Due to the variability of the results over the feeding cycle, if sampling is to be done once a week, it is important to identify the sampling day that best represents the system's performance.