Chapter 1
Applicability of Vermifiltration
for Wastewater Treatment and Recycling
Bhavini, Kavita Kanaujia, Amber Trivedi, and Subrata Hait
Abstract With the rapid population growth and wastewater generation due to
anthropogenic activities, availability of freshwater is decreasing annually. Untreated
wastewater discharged from the municipal and industrial sectors reaches to the local
surface water bodies and degrades water quality. Conventional wastewater treatment
systems possessing high carbon footprint require mechanistic operations and need to
be made affordable with ease of operation. To overcome the impediments associated
with the conventional treatment systems, vermifiltration technique employing earthworms in a filter bed has emerged as an alternative for wastewater treatment and
recycling. Further, the potential of macrophyte has also been explored by integrating
with the vermifiltration system for wastewater treatment. This chapter presents the
applicability of vermifiltration technique with various filter design configurations
and mechanisms involved for the treatment and recycling of both sewage and
industrial effluents. Further, the influence of different operational parameters like
hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic loading rate
(HLR), filter media bed design, earthworm density and flow mode on organic,
nutrient and pathogen removals from domestic and industrial wastewater is
discussed concisely. Moreover, future perspectives have been provided towards
the improvement of the efficacy of the vermifiltration system for wastewater treatment and recycling.
Keywords Vermifiltration · Earthworms · Macrophytes · Integrated system ·
Wastewater treatment and recycling
Bhavini · K. Kanaujia · A. Trivedi · S. Hait (*)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna,
Patna, Bihar, India
e-mail: shait@iitp.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_1
3
Applicability of Vermifiltration
for Wastewater Treatment and Recycling
Bhavini, Kavita Kanaujia, Amber Trivedi, and Subrata Hait
Abstract With the rapid population growth and wastewater generation due to
anthropogenic activities, availability of freshwater is decreasing annually. Untreated
wastewater discharged from the municipal and industrial sectors reaches to the local
surface water bodies and degrades water quality. Conventional wastewater treatment
systems possessing high carbon footprint require mechanistic operations and need to
be made affordable with ease of operation. To overcome the impediments associated
with the conventional treatment systems, vermifiltration technique employing earthworms in a filter bed has emerged as an alternative for wastewater treatment and
recycling. Further, the potential of macrophyte has also been explored by integrating
with the vermifiltration system for wastewater treatment. This chapter presents the
applicability of vermifiltration technique with various filter design configurations
and mechanisms involved for the treatment and recycling of both sewage and
industrial effluents. Further, the influence of different operational parameters like
hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic loading rate
(HLR), filter media bed design, earthworm density and flow mode on organic,
nutrient and pathogen removals from domestic and industrial wastewater is
discussed concisely. Moreover, future perspectives have been provided towards
the improvement of the efficacy of the vermifiltration system for wastewater treatment and recycling.
Keywords Vermifiltration · Earthworms · Macrophytes · Integrated system ·
Wastewater treatment and recycling
Bhavini · K. Kanaujia · A. Trivedi · S. Hait (*)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna,
Patna, Bihar, India
e-mail: shait@iitp.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_1
3