Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DOI 10.1007/s10661-017-5857-y
Received: 18 September 2016 / Accepted: 15 February 2017 / Published online: 15 March 2017
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
Ayaz (2008)
Reference
the works reported by Calheiros et al. (2007) indicate there
is no significant direct correlation. The work of others
(Trang et al. 2010, for instance) indicates that with increase
in organic loading, there is a greater efficiency in BOD5
by 2 times.
whereas others report adopting rectangular constructed
Observation
increased
wetland (Zhang et al. 2010; Christopher et al. 2012;
Solano et al. 2004), and yet others discussed only the
area of constructed wetland without being specific about
the shape (Villar et al. 2012; Mina et al. 2011). Studies
each)
removal of BOD5 in CWs have been carried out
3 days
3 days
1 day
HRT
20 m 2 m
5
2
S. Types of constructed wetland Dimension of CW Plant Operation of Frequency of BOD value BOD removal (%) References
Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189: 164
1 Aerated planted CW 3 m 0.3 m 1.2 m Not mentioned 1 year Monthly 2 samples 285.2 40.2 Up to 94.4 in Zhang et al. (2010)
Planted CW aerated
Aerated unplanted CW planted filter
Non aerated unplanted
2 HSSF 462 m2 Phragmites austraulis 1 year Monthly sampling 90 33 61 Mina et al. (2013)
3 Four stage novel CW Diameter-9.5 cm Phragmites austraulis 91 days 30 no of readings 392.1 90.6 7.5 Babatunde et al.
Depth = 0.6 m (2010)
4 Subsurface flow CW 0.59 0.33 0.37 m Cyperus haspan 4 weeks 10 no of sample 686 29.853.8 Christopher et al.
(2012)
5 Subsurface flow CW 4 beds each Cattail 18 months Monthly sample 327 93 in summer Solano et al. (2004)
20 m 2m Reed season
6 Subsurface horizontal flow 6 wetland units each Canna indica 17 months Not mentioned 1000 88 4158 Calheiros et al. (2007)
CW Area = 1.2 m2 Phragmites australis
Depth = 0.6 m Stenophrum
secundatum
Iris pseudacorus
Unvegetated control
7 VFCW Area = 20 m2 Scirpus alternifolios 12 week Weekly study 30 84.9 Villar et al. (2012)
Depth = 0.8 m
Page 3 of 10 164
164 Page 4 of 10 Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189: 164
attempt is made to study the influence of change in RH to possess greater oxygen transport ability than horizon-
on BOD5 removal. In order to exclusively study the tal subsurface flow beds (Pan et al. 2012, Villar et al.
effect of RH change, the experimental period is so 2012). Consequently, for this study, a VFCW of size
chosen that the temperature variation during the period 2 m 1 m 1 m is constructed (Fig. 1). The treatment
is negligible. system consist of (from bottom to top): 30-cm-thick
It is also desired to mathematically model the relation- gravel bed (with about 1020 cm size coarse gravel),
ship between RH and outlet BOD5. Many works have about 50-cm-thick sand layer (particle size between
been reported in the past on modeling of CW process 75 and 4.75 mm) and about 10-cm-thick local soil.
using regression techniques including Artificial Non woven geo-textile layer is placed between gravel
Intelligence (Brix 1994; Knight et al. 1993; Reed and layer and sand layer. The purpose of geo-textile layer is
Brown 1995; Vymazal 1988; Akratos et al. 2008; Yalcuk to prevent clogging of gravel layer with sand. Unifor-
2013, and Tomenkoa et al. 2007). In the last one decade, mity coefficient (Cu) for native soil and sand is found to
the success of evolutionary algorithm-based regression be 2.8 and 3.94, respectively.
models in modeling complex natural processes has been Phragmites austraulis and Typha latifolia are partic-
demonstrated (Sivapragasam et al. 2015; Park et al. 2008; ularly found to be effective in treating human and ani-
Sivapragasam et al. 2012). In this study, genetic program- mal derived wastewater (Shutes 2001). Phragmites
ming (GP) is chosen as the modeling tool based on its austraulis is taken for this study as it is one of the
ability to evolve physically more meaningful models when invasive plants in the study area and is planted at every
compared to other conventional regressions models. 0.2 m distance in the CW system.
The study area is located at the foothills of the Western Genetic programming (GP) is very similar to genetic
Ghats in Virudhunagar District of the State of Tamil Nadu, algorithm (GA), being an evolutionary algorithm based
India (latitude 9.5733676 N and longitude 77.689401 E). on Darwinian theories of natural selection and survival
Being situated in a semiarid region, the temperature in the of the fittest. However, GP operates on parse trees,
study area remains more or less constant throughout the rather than on bit strings as in a GA, to approximate
year. In order to better simulate the influence of RH alone, the equation (in symbolic form) that best describes how
the study period is chosen from 20.09.2014 to 20.10.2014 the output relates to the input variables. The algorithm
during which temperature varies in the range of 32.835.8 considers an initial population of randomly generated
C while RH varies between 40 and 70%. The study area programs (equations), derived from the random combi-
receives scanty rainfall with an average of 811 mm nation of input variables, random numbers, and func-
annually, the bulk of which is received during the North tions. The functions can include arithmetic operators
East monsoon in the months of October, November, and (plus, minus, multiply, divide), mathematical functions
December. (sin, cos, exp., log), logical/comparison functions (OR/
Since the time constants of certain microbial and AND), etc., which have to be appropriately chosen
physiochemical reactions range between seconds and based on some understanding of the process. This pop-
hours Rousseau et al. (2002), a total of 11 samples are ulation of potential solutions is then subjected to an
collected during the study period in order to better evolutionary process and the Bfitness^ (a measure of
capture the effect of variations in RH. how well they solve the problem) of the evolved pro-
grams are evaluated. Individual programs that best fit
the data are then selected from the initial population.
Experimental setup: pilot scale constructed wetland The programs that best fit are selected to exchange
part of the information between them to produce better
Generally, poor removals are attributed to microbial programs through Bcrossover^ and Bmutation^, as used
breakdown of carbonaceous compounds being limited in GAs (to mimic the natural reproduction process).
by low oxygen availability (Solano et al. 2004). In Here, exchanging the parts of best programs with each
treating many types of wastewater, a VFCW is reported other is called crossover, copied exactly into the next
Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189: 164 Page 5 of 10 164
Primary
Treated
Sewage
Local Soil
Sand
Geotextile Membrane
Gravel Outlet
generation is called reproduction and randomly chang- (c) BOD5 analysis: BOD5in and BOD5out have been
ing programs to create new programs is called mutation measured in VFCW during experimental period.
(Koza 1992). The user must decide a number of GP (d) Collection of meteorological parameters: Meteoro-
parameters before applying the algorithm to model the logical parameters such as RH and air temperature
data, such as population size, number of generations, (T) are collected from the nearby meteorological
crossover, and mutation probability. The programs that station for the study period. In order to get a clear
fitted the data less well are discarded. This evolution picture about the influence of RH, experiments are
process is repeated over successive generations and is conducted with other operational parameters such
driven towards finding symbolic expressions describing as [hydraulic loading rate (HLR), HRT, wastewater
the data, which can be scientifically interpreted to derive temperature] kept almost constant.
knowledge about the process being modeled
(Sivapragasam et al. 2010). Discipulus tool is used to (e) Modeling studies: GP is applied for two different
implement GP. case studies (Figs. 2, and 3). The first case study
uses BOD5in and RH as the inputs to the model
while the second case study uses apparent temper-
ature (Ta) and BOD5 in as the inputs. Ta is the
Methodology perceived temperature equivalence caused by the
combined effects of RH and T and can be estimated
(a) Pumping of sewage: The domestic sewage after using standard charts and tables. Table 3 shows the
primary treatment is pumped from sewage treat- training data used for modeling of BOD5out.The
ment plant to the VFCW. percentage of training, testing, and validation data
in GP modeling is kept as about 50, 25, and 25%,
(b) Sampling and analysis: The plants are allowed to respectively.
grow from the month of August to the mid of (f) Training of GP: Mathematical functions such as
September. Sampling and analysis are started after addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, com-
40 days of plant growth (when a height of 62 cm is parison, and trigonometric operators are used for
reached) and the study is completed when the plant evolving suitable mathematical model. Exponential
height reached about 100 cm. function is not included in the modeling as the BOD
VFCW
164 Page 6 of 10 Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189: 164
VFCW
Performance measure
As seen from the Table 4, on an average, RH varies in
RMSE value is taken as the performance measure to the range 45 to 55% during the first phase of the study
check the performance of GP as shown in Eq. (1). period whereas it increases to 55 to 65% during the next
phase. This increase in RH with almost constant tem-
perature is mainly because of precipitation during that
s period. A closer insight reveals that there are two dis-
1 n 2
RMSE X m i X s i 1 tinct spell of almost constant humidity viz., during
n i1
22.09.14 to 25.09.14 with an average RH of 50% and
during 10.10.14 to 14.10.14 with an average RH of 60%
with a maximum of 65%. Clearly, there is a reduction in
where X is any variable that is being modeled; the the BOD5 removal with this increase in RH. The spells
subscripts m and s represent the observed and simulated of intermediate rise and fall in the RH value may not be
values. given absolute significance due to the fact that the plant
BOD5in (mg/l) RH (%) BOD5out (mg/l) BOD5in (mg/l) Apparent temperature (TaC) BOD5out (mg/l)
S. Date BOD5in BOD5out BOD5 removal Plant height Increase of plant Relative Temperature
no. (mg/L) (mg/L) (%) (cm) height (%) humidity (%) (C)
metabolism takes some time to adjust to the variations in average RH on the particular day of study. As mentioned
weather conditions. in earlier, since the time constants of certain microbial
It may be argued that during these two spells of and physiochemical reactions range between seconds
investigation, the inlet BOD5 also increased by 6 mg/L and hours, it is assumed that the microbial and physio-
in the second spell when compared to the first spell (on chemical reactions are complete within 24 h and the RH
an average), and hence, this variation may affect the used in the study corresponds directly to the day in
result. However, it can be explained that the variation which BOD5in was measured. Hence, experimental ob-
in inlet BOD5 is very small. Further, the reported works servations due to time lag in the biological response to
of the previous researchers (Mina et al. 2011; Trang changes in RH will not introduce any significant error.
et al. 2010) indicate that BOD5 removal is likely to As observed from Table 4, it can also be concluded that
increase with increase of inlet BOD5 concentration. This there is no correlation between the plant growth stage (in
apparent contradiction can be attributed to change in RH terms of plant height) and the BOD5 removal after the
influencing the BOD5 removal. The previously reported plant height has reached about half its total height.
studies do not give any detail about the prevailing (b) Modeling of BOD5out with GP: case I
weather conditions.
It has to be noted that the sampling was done after Akratos et al. (2008) have critically examined the
every few days. The RH values used in the study are the limitations of first-order model and proposed an ANN
Table 5 Modeling equation for different types constructed treatment wetlands according to different authors
Brix (1994) HSSF Operational parameter (influent BOD) Effluent Cout = (0.11 Cin) + 1.87
BOD
Knight et al. (1993) HSSF Operational parameter (influent BOD) Effluent Cout = (0.33 Cin) + 1.4
BOD
Griffin et al. (1999) HSSF Operational parameter (waste water temperature Effluent Cout = 502.20 exp.(0.111 T)
T) BOD
Vymazal (1988) HSSF Operational parameter (influent BOD) Effluent Cout = (0.099 Cin) + 3.24
BOD
Akratos et al. (2008) HSSF Operational parameter (HRT, T) Effluent RBOD HRT
22:8
T HRT
BOD
response curve-based model mapping BOD5out to HRT exponential model, the exponential term does not appear
and wastewater temperature. Table 5 summarizes the in the equation. However, the presence of cosine func-
attempts made by previous researchers in developing tion can be interpreted to represent the complex process
BOD5out model as an alternative to first-order model. As of BOD5 removal in the presence of weather conditions.
seen from the Table 5, only a limited number of studies
take weather factors into account in the modeling. In this (c) Modeling of BOD5out with GP: case II
study, GP is chosen in lieu of ANN due to its superiority,
particularly in its ability to evolve mathematical models Sometimes, the combined effect of temperature and
without pre-defined functional form unlike the conven- RH is reflected by the term Bapparent temperature (Ta)^,
tional regression equations. which gives a better physical, feel of the climatic
BOD5out is modeled with inlet BOD5 and RH as conditions.
inputs and is functionally represented as BOD5out is modeled with inlet BOD5in and Ta as
inputs and is functionally represented as
BOD5out f BOD5in ; RH 2
BOD5out f BOD5in ; Ta 4
The GP is run with a population size of 500. The
optimal cross over rate and mutation rate are arrived at An attempt is further made to model BOD5out with
as 95% and 0.02 respectively after trial and error. The this apparent temperature using GP. The best evolved
final form of the evolved model is shown in Eq. (3). GP model is as below:
2cos 0:38 BOD25 in 7:9coscos1:75 T a BOD5 in BOD5 in
BOD5out 0:61 *BOD5in 3 BOD5 out 5
RH 1:67
where BOD5in = inlet BOD5 (mg/L), BOD5out = outlet Figure 5 shows the Ta for the verification data
BOD5 (mg/L), and RH = relative humidity (%). set along with the predicted BOD5out. The RMSE for
A comparison of measured BOD5out and that obtain- this model is found to be 1.8 mg/l which is less than that
ed from GP is given in Fig. 4 for the validation data. The obtained from Eq. (3). The combined influence of RH
RMSE is found to be 2.85 mg/l. and temperature gives the plant a feel of increased
As seen from Eq. (3), BOD5out is found to depend on temperature which might be affecting the plant metabo-
the ratio BOD5in and RH. Apart from arithmetic opera- lism and the BOD5 removal process. Hence, it is rec-
tors, other functions such as exponential and trigono- ommended to include apparent temperature in modeling
metric functions were also included in the GP modeling of BOD5out.
in order to allow full flexibility in the development of It can be noted that the approach and technique
the model. Since the BOD5 removal process is not an adopted in this study can easily be replicated in any
70
60
50
Predicted BOD5out (mg/L)
40
Observed BOD5out (mg/L)
30
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Environ Monit Assess (2017) 189: 164 Page 9 of 10 164
70
60
50
40
Predicted BOD5out
30 (mg/L)
20 Observed BOD5out
(mg/L)
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
other study setting as described in the BMethodology^ (d) GP seems to evolve meaningful models with small
section. However, since the weather conditions change data sets for training. This can be explored more
significantly with the change in geographical locations through further experimental studies.
and since BOD5 in will also vary significantly based on (e) The GP evolved models are all site specific and
the quality of the raw sewage considered, GP will different models will be evolved for any change in
evolve different form of mathematical models than what input conditions such as geographical locations,
has been given in this study (Eqs. (3) and (5)). In weather conditions, and quality of the input
summary, it can be said that while the evolved mathe- sewage.
matical models are site specific, the procedure to evolve
the models is generic which can be adopted for any
other study.
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