Implementación y evaluación de un vermifiltro piloto empleado como tratamiento único de aguas residuales domésticas en una vivienda de la parroquia Baños, analizando su aplicación como una estrategia de economía circular

Abstract

Conventional sanitation is not an ecologically or economically sound option to manage domestic wastewater, especially in rural areas where lack of access to the service has environmental and public health repercussions. Alternative treatment systems have been raised as sustainable sanitation options, where vermifiltration has been classified as one of the best technologies. The objective of this work was the implementation and evaluation of a pilot vermifilter used as the only treatment of domestic wastewater; The quality of the effluent for its use in irrigation and the implementation of this technology as a circular economy strategy were analyzed. A vermifilter was implemented and 14 physicochemical and microbiological parameters were monitored every 5 days for 60 days. Removal efficiencies between 85.7% and 91.6% were obtained for BOD5; 81.1% and 87.1% for COD, 62.80% nitrites, 76.8% nitrates and 76% ammonia and efficiencies greater than 90% turbidity. The Water Quality Index proposed by Dinius indicated that the effluent from vermifiltration is suitable for irrigation in most crops, while the Global Index of Wastewater for irrigation classified the effluent as unsuitable for agricultural use due to the concentration of pathogens. In this way, vermifiltration is emerging as a good alternative treatment option, in accordance with the guidelines of the circular economy thanks to its conception, efficiency and nongeneration of toxic waste.