Early view

Nadjiba Boulahia, Dalila Hank, Fouad Sellam, Abdelmalek Chergui

Abstract

This study develops an economical hybrid treatment process for removing organic compounds from wastewater, along with the assessment of the treated effluent for potential agricultural reuse. The research first investigated the decontamination of water from phenol, Gallic acid, and humic substances through two methods: adsorption onto activated acorn barks and coagulation-flocculation using aluminum sulfate. To maximize treatment efficiency, a hybrid system was developed. The optimal operating conditions was determined using a factorial design methodology.
Under optimized parameters conditions (50 mg/L of aluminum sulfate and 1.5 g of activated acorn barks) the treatment efficiency achieved a high organic matter removal rate of 96.36%. In the context of water scarcity in Algeria, a localized irrigation trial was conducted on green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) to evaluate the suitability of the treated effluent for agricultural reuse. This experiment served to validate the non-phytotoxicity of the hybrid process.
The experimental design compared water quality, soil properties, and plant growth across three sources: physicochemically treated wastewater (PCTW), biologically treated wastewater, and conventional water. Results confirmed that PCTW complied with international standards for agricultural reuse. Furthermore, the irrigation trial demonstrated that PCTW significantly improved soil fertility, while promoting superior vegetative growth compared to conventional water. These findings highlight the efficiency of this hybrid approach in providing a nutrient-rich water alternative for sustainable irrigation in arid agricultural systems.

Keywords

Wastewater treatment, coagulation-flocculation, adsorption, factorial design, sustainable agriculture, irrigation

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