Root Zone

- HARSHADA HIKARE
• The process of design, construction and operation of sewage treatment plant (STP) requires multi
disciplinary approach.
• Water quality on earth is depleted due to over increasing human development activities that over
exploits and affect the quality and quantity of the water resources.
• This has resulted in pollution of fresh water bodies due to increase generation of domestic waste,
sewage, industrial waste etc, due to prevailing situations the demand for water is increasing day
by day in our life.
• Numerous conventional methods are available for design of sewage treatment plants.
• But, The ever growing need of energy makes the design, operation and maintenance of STP a
challenging task.
• However, root zone technology developed by National Environmental Engineering Research

Institute treats the sewage. It is found from the study carried out on nine STPs at various
locations, it uses only 20% of the energy as compared to conventional sewage treatment plants.
• Keywords :- Treatment plant, Root zone technology, Energy-efficient and Cost-effective, Azolla.
• Across the world, there continues to be huge volumes of wastewater
pumped directly into rivers, streams and the ocean itself.
• The impact of this is severe – aside from the damage to the marine
environment and to fisheries it can cause, it does little to preserve water at a
time when many are predicting that a global shortage is just around the
corner.
• Root zone technology is a wastewater treatment with low cost and energy
saving. Root Zone technology is the nature’s answer to the modern
industrialized world’s water pollution problems.
• The Waste water can also be Treated by Recycling, and with the help of
Azolla.
Azolla
• Azolla covering water surface reduce light penetration of soil surface,
resulting in the depreciation in the germination of weeds (70% of the weed).
Thus growth of azolla reduces aquatic weeds in flooded rice fields.
• The integrated use of azolla with rice and fish farming has been developed.
The integrated approach can enhance a farmer's income while reduce the
use of pesticide and fertilizers and consequently environmental pollution.
• It can fix atomospheric nitrogen, carry out photosynthesis and uptake
nutrients from its surrounding environment through its root system.
Root zone
• The term root zone encompasses the life interactions of various species of bacteria, the root
of the wetland plants, soil, air, sun and water. Root zone treatment is one of the natural and
attractive methods of treating domestic, industrial and agricultural wastes. It is engineered
method of purifying wastewater as it passes through artificially constructed wetland area. It
is considered as an effective and reliable secondary and tertiary treatment method.
• The root zone treatment is a natural maintenance free system where the sewage wastewater
is purified by the roots of wetland plants. The root zone process functions according to the
law of nature, to effectively purify domestic and industrial effluents. The process incorporates
the self-regulating dynamics of an eco system.
• Application of root zone technology appears to offer

more economical and ecologically acceptable
solution to water pollution management problems.
• We know the 3R principles- Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle. After long investigations 135 liters per head
per day is essential for a human .In this 135 liters we
can reuse and recycle nearly 80 liters from one
persons usage of water by proper way. It is nearly
60% of per capita requirement of water.
Objective (ROOT ZONE TREATMENT PLANT)
• To examine the sewage waste water contaminants

• To collect plants like Azolla,Reeds.
• To analyses the parameters like pH, TSS mg/l, COD mg/l, BOD mg/l, Ammonia,Nitrogen mg/l before
and after Root zone treatment
• To Monitor the plant growth rate.
How ROOT ZONE TREATMENT is done:
1. Waste Water Parameters
• Wastewater contains a variety of inorganic and organic substances from domestic sources.
2. SETTLING TANK
• The wastewater, first pases throught the Settling Tank, flowing through the root zone bed contains
silt/sediments, floating suspended materials (polythene pouches, leaves wood pieces etc.) To remove
the floating material and other debris..
• This chamber provides settling of settleable solids presents in the wastewater. The overflow
wastewater is then passed through filter medium
consisting of brick pieces and boulder stones.
• This pretreatment help in removing the floating
materials and sediments to large extent from the
wastewater before entering the root zone system.
3. FLOW EQUALIZATION TANK
• The FLOW EQUALIZATION TANK evenly distributes water

to the NEXT step in the process, balancing out the surges
from periodic overuse of the facilities.
4. WETLAND CELL
• Now water is pumed into the wetland cell, where plants and microorganisms feed on it. Reducing
POLLUTANTS and removing ODOROUS GASES.
• Here only a partial volume of water is lost through evaportaion and transpiration.
• Azolla is an aquatic floating fern, found in temperate climate suitable for paddy cultivation, is also
used here.
5. LEVEL ADJUST BASIN
From the WETLAND CELL,
water flows to the LEVEL AJUST BASIN
which control the amount of water
contained in the WETLAND CELL
6. TRICKLING FILTER (BIO-FILTER)

In the TRICKLING FILTER, microbal organisms
feed on the wasterwater stream, removing
ammonia, phosphorous, nitrogen and other
substance from the water.
7. RE-CIRCULATION
8. DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

After RE-CICULATION, clean water from the LEVEL ADJUST BASIN FLOWS into the drip
IRRIGATION TANK and will be sent to a DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM that waters landscape
around the building.
Conclusion
• Root Zone Treatment Plant, is a great technique as , It achieves standards for tertiary
treatment
• with low cost, such as no electricity, no chemicals for pH adjustment.
• Also it enhances the landscape and gives the site a green appeal,besides it also
provides natural habitat for birds and after few years gives an appearance of bird
sanctuary and also provides recreational and educational areas.
• Though it is a sewage treatment plant it doesn t have odour problems.
• It also have some disadvantages like current imprecise design and operating criteria.
• Also it has biological and hydrological complexity and lack of important process
dynamics along with possible problems with pests.
• Steep topography, shallow soils and high water tables, susceptibility to severe flooding
may limit the use of constructed wetlands.
• Above all it provides eco friendly solution to waste water treatment Naturally .

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- HARSHADA HIKARE

• However, root zone technology developed by National Environmental Engineering Research

• Application of root zone technology appears to offer

• To examine the sewage waste water contaminants

How ROOT ZONE TREATMENT is done:

1. Waste Water Parameters

• The FLOW EQUALIZATION TANK evenly distributes water

6. TRICKLING FILTER (BIO-FILTER)

8. DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM.

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