Improvement of water quality in over-polluted Niğde Creek in Turkey

Abstract

Kızılca creek, which is one of the main sources of irrigation water in Niğde (Turkey), was extensively polluted due to high amount of organic matters in the point and non-point pollutant sources. This study aims to remove organic matters and improve water quality of the creek by using a pilot-scale hybrid natural wastewater treatment (NWT) system. The system consists of a combination of settling basin, free water surface constructed wetland, and overland flow (OF) system. The system was installed near the edge of the creek in 2014.

Wastewater samples from the inlet and outlet of all stages of the system were collected and analyzed for temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), and the suspended solid (SS) parameters.  The obtained results indicated that the high organic matter loads caused the deterioration of the water quality in the creek.  The system could remove up to 80%. The results showed water quality of the creek and the treatment performance of the system were affected by temperature, the DO, and seasonal changes. Consequently, the NWT system can be usefully used useful to decrease solid matters in highly polluted streams and thus improve water quality.

Keywords

• Constructed wetland system,land treatment

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