Sustainability Study of In-situ Hydroponic Vetiver System for Urban Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: A Theoretical Review

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Ghosh, Kaushik^{; *} | Sarkar, Arup^a

Affiliations: Urban Management Centre, Administrative Training Institute, West Bengal, India | [a] Department of Architecture Town and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, West Bengal, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. kaushik.gh@gmail.com

Abstract: Urban wastewater management is a crucial challenge in the small and medium towns situated in the developing countries worldwide. These towns are also facing an increasing gap between infrastructure and population growth. A conventional approach to curb these problems is the application of cost-intensive electro-mechanical sewerage technologies, as adopted in developed countries. The first part of this paper derives a set of indicators to framework a sustainable urban wastewater treatment system by reviewing the current state of wastewater management in developing countries, for example, the sample case study being India. The second part evaluates the potential performance of the proposed alternative in-situ hydroponic vetiver system (HVS) against those set of sustainability indicators by reviewing the worldwide performance of the HVS. The objective of this paper is to assess the potential viability of the HVS as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative for developing countries. The current analysis can aid in mainstreaming the use of HVS in policy making and urban planning.

Keywords: Phytoremediation, hydroponic, vetiver, decentralised, low-cost wastewater treatment, India

DOI: 10.3233/AJW200056

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 97-103, 2020