Abstract

Waste water stabilization pond is a simple way of treating waste water but one of its limitations is that it requires large area of land to be efficient. This study employed the use of solar reflectors to improve the efficiency of waste water stabilization pond by investigating the effect of variation of solar reflectors on the physical, chemical and biological properties of the pond. To achieve this, three model ponds were constructed, arranged in parallel and were supplied waste water by an overhead tank. Different sizes of reflectors varying along its height and width were installed at the effluent side of the pond. Effluent samples were collected and tested for BOD, total coliform, temperature, pH, algal count, total suspended solids and dissolved oxygen. The findings showed that when the width of the reflector is longer than the height of the reflector, it was observed to favor increase in pH, decrease in total coliform and total suspended solids while reflectors with longer height than width were observed to favor increase in algal count, temperature, dissolved oxygen and decrease in BOD.

Key words:  Waste water stabilization pond, waste water, solar radiation, solar reflectors.