Quaternary treatments on WWTP effluents. Creation of activated carbon filters from rice industry residues and from biological sludge coming out of purification plants.
Due to the decrease in rainfall, drought is an environmental problem that is becoming more alarming every year around the world. It is universally known that (i) the purified effluents of purification plants (WWTP), in compliance with regulatory obligations, can be discharged into surface water bodies and (ii) the waters of the latter are normally used for irrigation of fields. The direct reuse of purified waste water (WW) for irrigation purposes is an increasingly shared approach at European level. However, urban discharges may not comply with the set regulatory limits. This problem could be solved by inserting quaternary treatments in the water line. Activated carbon filters from residues from (i) the rice industry and (ii) water purification/aqueous waste could be a possibility. More in detail, (i) biological sewage sludge or (ii) rice chaff/straw can be thermochemically treated (pyrolysis at different temperatures and chemical activation) to obtain biochar. At each treatment step, the biochar must be analyzed to study the transformations of its chemical-physical characteristics and the evolution of its adsorbent properties.
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