Application of Trickling Filter and Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland Bed to Treat Sewage from Craft Brewery

In Poland, as well as worldwide, an increase in craft beer production can be observed. In the last several years, more than 150 of such breweries have appeared and according to Polish Brewery Association, their number might ultimately reach 500. Many of them emerge in the areas with no access to a central sewerage system so they have to solve the problem of waste management on their own. The article presents the results of research on the possibility of using a hybrid system for biological treatment of sewage from craft breweries. The sewage came from a craft brewery Waszczukowe located in the Podlaskie province. A laboratory scale model consisted of a trickling filter (TF) (research model Gunt CE701e) and vertical flow constructed wetland (SS-VF). Innovative filling (Certyd produced by LSA company) of TF and SS VF was applied. The conducted study included determining the changes in the sewage parameters during hybrid treatment, as well as TF and SS VF efficiency separately. The aim of the research was to show the possibility of treating sewage to a point when it was possible to discharge it to a receiver, in compliance with the Polish legal regulations. The research results might be used in designing a treatment system or sewage pretreatment in craft breweries. The average efficiency of TF operating with 100% recirculation was 76% for BOD₅, 80% for COD, 26% for TN and 34% for TP, while the total treatment efficiency of a hybrid system (TF and SS-VF) was 98%, 98%, 72% and 77%, respectively. The load of TF during operation with recirculation was on average 0.38 kg BOD₅ m^-2d^-1, 0.57 kg COD m^-2 d^-1. The load of SS-VF was on average 0.09 kg BOD₅ m^-2 d^-1 and 0.12 kg COD m^-2d^-1. The obtained results of hybrid treatment permitted to discharge the sewage to the receiver.