Study on Domestic Wastewater Treatment of the Horizontal Subsurface Flow Wetlands (HSSF-CWs) Using Brachiaria mutica

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of domestic wastewater treatment on the horizontal subsurface flow-constructed wetlands (HSSF-CWs) using Brachiaria mutica vegetation. We used two wetland models: one with plants and the other without plants. These models were built according to the following dimensions (L × W × H = 1.2 × 0.4 × 0.8 m) and operated at four organic loads (30, 60, 90, 120 kg COD/ha.day) for 3 months. Parameters including pH, COD, BOD 5 , TSS, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total coliforms were analyzed. The levels of pollutants in domestic wastewater after treatment were significantly reduced. The values of percentage removal (%) were as follows: COD 81.58%, BOD 5 93.3%, TSS 67.2%, TN 58.6%, TP 85.5%, and total coliforms 90.4%. Our results also indicate that the organic loading rate (OLR) ranging between 60 and 120 kg COD/ha.day is suitable to be implemented in the actual domestic wastewater treatment. Graphic Abstract