Abstract
A study was undertaken to investigate the capability of water hyacinths (Eichhomia Crassipes) to treat high strength dairy wastewater in subtropical climate. A chain of experiments was conducted, outdoors, in different seasons, between 1980 and 1990 at the Faculty of Engineering, Montevideo, Uruguay.Individual and series pilot scale systems with semicontinuous flow regime were employed Dairy wastewater with surface load from 170 to 560Kg COD/ha.d was sucessfully treated. CODremoval efficiencies of more than 80% at hydraulic retentiontimes lower than those commonly used in conventional pondswere achieved.
The treatment results manifested that high strength dairywastewater could be effectively by pond systems with waterhyacinths rendering it as a possible means of secondary treatment in subtropical areas.
