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Planted Drying Beds

26 bytes added, 03:35, 29 October 2014
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[[Image:Icon_planted_drying_beds.png |right|80px]]
'''A planted drying bed is similar to an [[Unplanted Drying Beds|Unplanted Drying Bed ]] (T.14), but has the added benefit of transpiration and enhanced sludge treatment due to the plants. The key improvement of the planted bed over the unplanted bed is that the filters do not need to be desludged after each feeding/drying cycle. Fresh sludge can be directly applied onto the previous layer; the plants and their root systems maintain the porosity of the filter.'''
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===Design Considerations===
Ventilation pipes connected to the drainage system contribute to aerobic conditions in the filter. A general design for layering the bed is: (1) 250 mm of coarse gravel (grain diameter of 20 mm); (2) 250 mm of fine gravel (grain diameter of 5 mm); and (3) 100 to 150 mm of sand. Free space (1 m) should be left above the top of the sand layer to account for about 3 to 5 years of accumulation. Reeds (Phragmites sp.), cattails (Typha sp.) antelope grass (Echinochloa sp.) and papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) are suitable plants, depending on the climate. Local, non-invasive species can be used if they grow in humidenvironments, are resistant to salty water and readily reproduce after cutting.
Sludge should be applied in layers between 75 to 100 mm thick and reapplied every 3 to 7 days, depending on the sludge characteristics, the environment and operating constraints. Sludge application rates of 100 to 250 kg/m2/year have been reported in warm tropical climates. In colder climates, such as northern Europe, rates up to 80 kg/m2/year are typical. Two or more parallel beds can be alternately used to allow for sufficient degradation and pathogen reduction of the top layer of sludge before it is removed. The leachate that is collected in the drainage pipes must be treated properly, depending on where it is discharged.
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