Feasibility of sand filters to wastewater treatment in rural areas in Algeria: experimental study

Abstract

The treatment of domestic wastewater by sand filters is a very interesting alternative technique to collective sewerage in rural areas. In order to assess the accuracy of this technique in Algeria, a feasibility study based on a statistical survey and an experimental study is carried out. The aim of the statistical survey is to determine the potential for the application of this technique by evaluating the rate of connection to collective sewerage networks and the existence of a sewage treatment system in rural areas. The purpose of the experimental study is to assess the suitability of the local sands for this type of process. In this paper the treatment performance over time of two different sands (medium and coarse) are evaluated. The chemical analyses of wastewater and filtered water showed a removal ranges between 57% and 74% for medium sand and between 7% and 49% for coarse sand.