PROCESSING OF WASTEWATER FOR AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION, USINGEXPEDITIOUS DICOTS

Disposal of effluent or wastewater into lakes, ponds etc. can pollute the water causing eutrophication, biomagnification etc. By incorporating the properties of water purification by soil and rhizosphere we have devised a method for processing wastewater and effluents for agricultural irrigation by utilizing the fast growing dicots from the plant family Fabaceae namely, Pisum sativum (Pea plant) and Arachis hypogea(Ground nut) along with sand and pebbles. The rapid growing root network of these plants provides rhizofiltration of particulates and complex organic matter of wastewater. Our observations indicated that this method is useful for plant growth and simultaneously treating the wastewater with an efficiency of 65-75 %, thus ruling this method as environmental friendly and cost effective.