O BAMBU COMO ALTERNATIVA AOS SISTEMAS DE TRATAMENTO DE ÁGUAS RESIDUAIS CONVENCIONAIS

Bamboo is a fast-growing plant, with several uses in the daily lives of countries in the southern hemisphere, from urban buildings to everyday utensils, allowing its valorisation. However, its use in constructed wethlands to treat urban wastewater is still poorly studied. The main objective of the study was to design a low-cost wastewater treatment system, on a pilot scale. For this purpose, 5 beds with 1m2 were built, placed in a greenhouse under controlled temperature and humidity conditions, using two species of plants: Bambusa tuldoides and Phragmites australis. The beds were fed with synthetic wastewater, 0.32m3 / day, using a discharge system to control the liquid sheet in the bed. The treatment efficiency was evaluated based on the parameters referred to in the current legislation, revealing the positive performance of Bambusa tuldoides in the treatment of nitrogen and phosphorus.