The approach to solving the problem of water protection is changing in the world, and the opinion that wastewater is a resource instead of waste is now prevalent with research being directed in the direction of simpler, energetically more rational and more economically acceptable technological solutions for wastewater treatment, primarily in the field of biotechnology, especially there where favorable climate conditions and the use of large land areas are available. The mechanism of wastewater treatment by macrobiological methods is simple and is reduced to extraction of certain substances from wastewater directly with plants or through the food chain with animals and their concentration into macrobiological living stations. Macrobiological living stations are extracted from the water in the form of biomass by simple mechanical methods, and in that way the final removal of nutrients and other substances from the water is completed. The produced biomass can be used as food or feed, with mandatory sanitary inspection, or as an emergent in biomass production. This paper presents the principles of application of macro biologic methods in wastewater treatment and the experience gained through the research at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of Niš and at the waste water treatment facilities in Sokobanja.
Part of the book: Biological Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery