Sustainable wastewater management technology for tourism in Thailand: case and experimental studies

Thailand has adopted the concept of eco-tourism as a protocol to protect environmental resources. One of the key factors in enabling the achievement of this goal is the improvement of the quality of effluent from those homestays and resorts which still lack efficient on-site wastewater treatment. This research utilized case studies of subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SFCWs), planted mainly with the Indian shot (Canna indica L.), which were designed to treat wastewaters at three resorts located in Amphawa District, Samut Songkram Province in central Thailand. The results showed that the treated effluent was of sufficient quality to meet the building effluent standards Type C, which require the concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and suspended solids (SS) to be less than 40, 40 and 50 mg/L, respectively. In addition, the first-order kinetic constants for the design and operation of SFCWs were determined. For treating wastewater containing organic substances, with no prior pre-treatment, the first-order kinetic constant of 0.24 1/d can be applied to predict effluent quality. For treating other types of domestic wastewater, a first-order kinetic constant in the range 0.40-0.45 1/d can be used when sizing and operating SFCWs. This research highlights the great potential of SFCWs as a sustainable wastewater management technology.