Abstract
This work aims to valorize a considerable part of solid waste that accumulates in the environment as well as the safe reuse of the treated wastewater. A non-woven fabric of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was coated with a thin layer of a nano-ceramic material. The inhibitory effect of the nano-ceramic material was evaluated against gram +ve (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram -ve bacteria (Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli) using the spread plate technique. Domestic wastewater was treated using a combined upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) followed by a downflow hanging non-woven fabric (DHNW) reactor. The DHNW consisted of four segments (compartments). The hydraulic residence time (HRT) of the UASB reactor was 5 h. The coated sheets were used as a packing material for the DHNW reactor. The levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS) were decreased in the final treated effluent (UASB/DHNW) from 386, 293, and 192 mg/L to 45, 30, and 12 mg/L with total removal states of 88%, 90%, and 90%, respectively. The fecal coliform and E. coli counts were reduced from 4.6 x 10(7) and 3.5 x 10(5) to 4.8 x 10(6) and 7 x 10(4) MPN/100 mL, respectively. The results showed that the effluent of the combined UASB/DHNW treatment system with the nano-ceramic sheets could be safely reused for different purposes.