crops. The future prospect of vermifiltration may also involve extension of the
technology in treatment of wastewater to remove persistent organic pollutants,
specific dyes, heavy metals, cations, anions, etc. as an alternative or in combination
with other conventional modes of treatment. A low expenditure and minimal
operation cost of the process is expected in the process. Future perspectives of this
technology will thus depend to a large extent on the cost-benefit analysis of the
process. The process could be made more cost efficient by incorporating the plants in
combination with the vermifiltration.
3.6 Conclusion
The conventional mode of treatment for municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater requires construction of sewage and effluent treatment plants. These treatment
plants require huge expenditure and availability of large land area. The operation
cost of these treatment plants is high. Hence, it becomes pertinent to use ecologically
safer and economically small-scale treatment plants. The process of vermifiltration
coupled with phytoremediation could prove to be an efficient and easy-to-adapt
technology that could be adopted at a community level. The best combination of
selected earthworm and plant species could be explored for an efficient treatment for
a given wastewater.
This manuscript describes the basic mechanism of vermifiltration, pathogen
removal, treatment of urban/domestic wastewater, dairy wastewater, and swine
wastewater. It is concluded that vermifilteration process is efficient in reduction of
BOD, COD, as well as suspended solids from municipal and industrial wastewater.
Based on the literature published, it is now realized that a vermifilter has enormous
potential to become a reliable treatment technology for wastewater generated from
various operations, especially for countries facing serious challenges such as lack of
investment and technical labor.
References
Adugna AT, Andrianisa HA, Konate Y, Ndiaye A, Maiga AH (2014) Greywater treatment by
vermifiltration for sub-Saharan urban poor. J Water Sanit Hyg De 4(4):625–632
Aira M, Domínguez J (2009) Microbial and nutrient stabilization of two animal manures after the
transit through the gut of the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826). J Hazard Mater 161
(2–3):1234–1238
Aira M, Monroy F, Domínguez J (2007) Earthworms strongly modify microbial biomass and
activity triggering enzymatic activities during vermicomposting independently of the application rates of pig slurry. Sci Total Environ 385(1–3):252–261
Arora S, Kazmi AA (2015) The effect of seasonal temperature on pathogen removal efficacy of
vermifilter for wastewater treatment. Water Res 74:88–99
Arora S, Rajpal A, Kumar T, Bhargava R, Kazmi AA (2014) Pathogen removal during wastewater
treatment by vermifiltration. Environ Technol 35(19):2493–2499
3 Treatment of Wastewater by Vermifiltration Integrated with Plants
47
technology in treatment of wastewater to remove persistent organic pollutants,
specific dyes, heavy metals, cations, anions, etc. as an alternative or in combination
with other conventional modes of treatment. A low expenditure and minimal
operation cost of the process is expected in the process. Future perspectives of this
technology will thus depend to a large extent on the cost-benefit analysis of the
process. The process could be made more cost efficient by incorporating the plants in
combination with the vermifiltration.
3.6 Conclusion
The conventional mode of treatment for municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater requires construction of sewage and effluent treatment plants. These treatment
plants require huge expenditure and availability of large land area. The operation
cost of these treatment plants is high. Hence, it becomes pertinent to use ecologically
safer and economically small-scale treatment plants. The process of vermifiltration
coupled with phytoremediation could prove to be an efficient and easy-to-adapt
technology that could be adopted at a community level. The best combination of
selected earthworm and plant species could be explored for an efficient treatment for
a given wastewater.
This manuscript describes the basic mechanism of vermifiltration, pathogen
removal, treatment of urban/domestic wastewater, dairy wastewater, and swine
wastewater. It is concluded that vermifilteration process is efficient in reduction of
BOD, COD, as well as suspended solids from municipal and industrial wastewater.
Based on the literature published, it is now realized that a vermifilter has enormous
potential to become a reliable treatment technology for wastewater generated from
various operations, especially for countries facing serious challenges such as lack of
investment and technical labor.
References
Adugna AT, Andrianisa HA, Konate Y, Ndiaye A, Maiga AH (2014) Greywater treatment by
vermifiltration for sub-Saharan urban poor. J Water Sanit Hyg De 4(4):625–632
Aira M, Domínguez J (2009) Microbial and nutrient stabilization of two animal manures after the
transit through the gut of the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826). J Hazard Mater 161
(2–3):1234–1238
Aira M, Monroy F, Domínguez J (2007) Earthworms strongly modify microbial biomass and
activity triggering enzymatic activities during vermicomposting independently of the application rates of pig slurry. Sci Total Environ 385(1–3):252–261
Arora S, Kazmi AA (2015) The effect of seasonal temperature on pathogen removal efficacy of
vermifilter for wastewater treatment. Water Res 74:88–99
Arora S, Rajpal A, Kumar T, Bhargava R, Kazmi AA (2014) Pathogen removal during wastewater
treatment by vermifiltration. Environ Technol 35(19):2493–2499
3 Treatment of Wastewater by Vermifiltration Integrated with Plants
47