Diseño y construcción de un sistema para el tratamiento de aguas servidas para uso agrícola mediante carbón activado y nanopartículas de cobre

Abstract

The following technical project presents the development of a wastewater treatment system complementary to those existing in rural communities in Ecuador, taking the community of “San Vicente de Lacas” as a starting point. This system must be efficient and easy to implement, which is why alternatives were sought to achieve this objective, the most suitable being the use of copper nanoparticles. The prototype sizing was based on controlled flow rates and standardized calculations. For this reason, it consists of two main parts: a reservoir tank that was used as a cistern with a capacity of 250 liters connected to a pump and an elevated tank. Then, the system comprises three filters connected in series, which have two components: the cartridge holder and the cartridge. The cartridges were printed in resin, and inside is the arrangement of the activated carbon that was made based on the mesh sizes from largest to smallest. Because they were different concentrations, two additional cartridges were made because although the system is indeed prepared for only three filters, the efficiency of the project lies in finding the optimal and functional concentration of copper nanoparticles, being able to exchange the medium filter with three different cartridges, one for each solution. Samples were taken to corroborate the efficiencies of each solution. One for the first filter and three per filter from the second, having a total of seven tests; these were subjected to studies of water quality and the presence of fecal coliforms, finding optimal results for the three concentrations but highlighting the 100% effectiveness for the lowest concentration. It was concluded that the concentrations of copper nanoparticles do not necessarily have to be high to obtain good results.