Treatment of Greywater Washing Machine Through Cold Plasma for Hydroponic Cultivation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padua, P. O. Box: 36100, Vicenza, Italy.

2 Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST)

10.22084/best.2025.30245.1000

Abstract

Greywater, which forms 50-80% of domestic wastewater, is increasingly viewed to reuse in agriculture due to its low content of pathogens and the global need to conserve fresh flows of water resources. This research investigates the efficiency and sustainability related to the use of Atmospheric Cold Plasma (ACP) for greywater treatment meant for hydroponic cultivation of lettuce. ACP-treated greywater had improved quality, attaining a reduced Chemical Oxygen Demand by 75%, with better nutrient content, such as 23.5 and 8 percent increase in total N and K, and a slight adjustment in pH values to those optimal for lettuce cultivation. Due to this, some healthier and more vigorous lettuce plants developed, characterized by an average of 5 more leaves in each sample, darker and greener foliage, and higher chlorophyll content. The results obtained from this study prove that ACP is a much better and more efficient method for greywater treatment as compared to the traditional methods of physical, chemical, and biological treatment. Hence, it opens up new avenues toward establishing certain techniques in providing sustainable agriculture use and water resource management. Further research should be done on applying ACP technology in greywater treatment for expanded farm application