Treatment of wastewater using vermifiltration technology

This chapter focuses on an alternative biological method for wastewater treatment using the vermifiltration system. The vermifiltration system must meet the desired process and design parameters for optimum wastewater treatment. A case study for swine wastewater treatment using a 3-stage vermifiltration process was used. Three vermifilters with media which is comprised of Eisenia fetida earthworms, garden soil, sand and quartz stones were used as the filtration media. The swine wastewater chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and dissolved oxygen (DO) values were measured before and after treatment with the vermifiltration at each stage. The parameters were measured using standard methods. Treatment using a 3-stage vermifilter connected in series resulted in 99.2% reduction in COD, 99.4% in BOD₅, 99.2% in TSS, 80.2% in TDS and 86.9% in EC. The DO concentration increased by > 345.5%. Application of the vermifiltration technology in swine wastewater treatment allows for effective biological contaminants, and the technology is easily adoptable in developing countries due to its simplicity and treats water to acceptable standards.