A fundamental study was conducted to assess removal and filtration capacity
of waste and natural indigenous materials as treatment mediums e.g., shell
, limestone, waste paper mixed with refuse concrete, refuse cement, also pr
ocessed nitrolite, charcoal-bio and charcoal. Under room temperature condit
ion removal of phosphoric, nitric a-nd ammonium-ions, filtration of suspend
ed substance (SS) together with removal of COD in waste water was investiga
ted. Influence of particle size effect for all treatment mediums except for
waste paper was pursued. Significant improvement of waste water quality wi
th respect to SS, phosphoric ions and decrease in COD is possible by treati
ng with these filtration mediums. With specific reference to some treatment
mediums NO3-N and NH4-N showed reasonable improvement in quality, although
generally removal effect was not very significant. Efficacy of treatment w
as dependent on the particle size of treatment mediums in general, however,
nitrolite for NH4-N, charcoal-A for SS and COD, refuse cement mixed with w
aste paper for PO4 ion removal showed insignificant variability on the part
icle size effect. Results of this fundamental study demonstrate effectivene
ss and feasibility for applied application of these proposed waste and natu
rally available treatment ingredients at lower cost. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie
nce Ltd. All rights reserved.