AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR AGRICULTURAL WASTE-WATER TREATMENT

The treatment of agroindustrial wastewaters gives the possibility of n oxious pollutant removal which otherwise would deteriorate the ecosyst em even more. The construction and start-up of Integrated Systems for the treatment of such wastes allow the reuse of the neared effluents, with the consequent production of useful by-products. Biological proce sses for the adequate treatment of 300 m(3)/day of mixed animal and hu man wastewaters allow also the production of 1200 m(3)/day of biogas a s an energy supplier and a source of CO2 for microalgae culture in a H igh Rare Algal Pond. On the ether hand, it can be possible to recover the digested sludge as biofertilizer and low grade water useful for cr op irrigation. The proposed Integrated System also provides the recove ry of 8.3 g/m(2)/d of algal biomass suitable for animal consumption an d the removal of an important amount of noxious pollutants with an ave rage efficiency of 80-98% (GOD basis). Copyright (C) 1996 IAWQ. Publis hed by Elsevier Science Ltd.