The Use of Recycled Building Materials for Wastewater Treatment

The constantly tightening wastewater treatment legislation require high-quality runoff from small-scale producers of pollution who are typically represented by small municipalities up to 500 inhabitants or decentralized parts of larger municipalities. Small municipalities are faced with high investment-intensity associated with the acquisition of new wastewater treatment plant. After several years of development, today natural technologies of wastewater treatment are in competition with mechanical-biological treatment plants. Natural technologies can even achieve better results than popular biological treatment plants. However, natural technology does not eliminate the main investment limit connected with the acquisition of wastewater treatment plant. If there was cheaper solution connected with using alternative filter materials (in our case recycled construction and demolition waste), small municipalities could take constructed wetland without large subsides. At the same time, the use of recycled construction and demolition wastes will lead to benefits in the field of sustainable urban development and replacement of non-renewable materials. Despite these benefits, recycled aggregates have never been considered as alternative filter materials for natural wastewater treatment plants. For that reason, the aim of diploma thesis is to assess the possibility of applying recycled aggregates for wastewater treatment which will include evaluation of real trial operation