SHEFROL

One of the greatest challenges being faced by environmental technologists today is to develop greener and cheaper wastewater treatment systems. In addition, there is an even greater need to develop wastewater treatment systems appropriate for small-sized neighborhoods, peri-urban areas, and rural areas which lie out of the coverage of centralized wastewater treatment facilities. With the aim to bridge this vital gap, Prof S.A. Abbasi and his team have conceived and developed a novel bioreactor SHEFROL® (SHEeet Flow Root Level) system. It is also several times faster and more space-efficient than any other systems developed before which utilize weeds and other vascular plants. The appropriateness of the recently patented phytoremediation technology based on SHEFROL® bioreactor was tested by installing and operating a pilot plant. The system was able to handle significant diurnal variations in greywater inflows and strength with remarkable robustness. It reduced suspended solids, chemical and biological oxygen demands and total Kjeldahl nitrogen of the greywater to the extents of 96.1±1.5, 79.8±3.3, 77.7±0.4 and 41.8±3.9% at hydraulic retention time of just 2.2±0.3 hr. The treated water met the standards of discharge on land set by India’s Central Pollution Control Board.