Abstract
The aim of the present study is to assess the wastewater treatment efficiency of a low-cost pilot-scale trickling filter (TF) system under a prevailing temperature range of 12 °C–38 °C. Operational data (both influent and effluent) for 330 days were collected from the pilot-scale TF for various physicochemical and biological parameters. Average percentage reductions were observed in the ranges of 52–72, 51–73, 61–81, and 74–89% for BOD5, COD, TDS, and TSS, respectively, for the whole year except the winter season, where a 74–88% reduction was observed only for TSS, whilst BOD5, COD, and TDS demonstrated reductions in the ranges of 13–50, 13–49, and 23–61%, respectively. Furthermore, reductions of about 43–55% and 57–86% in fecal coliform count were observed after the 1st and 6th day of treatment, respectively, throughout study period. Moreover, the pilot-scale TF model was based on zero-order kinetics calibrated at 20 °C using experimental BOD5 data obtained in the month of October to calculate the k20 value, which was further validated to determine the kt value for each BOD5 experimental setup. The model resulted in more accurate measurements of the pilot-scale TF and could help to improve its ability to handle different types of wastewater in the future.