UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA

CENTRO TECNOLGICO
PROGRAMA DE PS-GRADUAO EM ENGENHARIA
AMBIENTAL

REUSE OF DOMESTIC EFFLUENT THROUGH

PELETIZED DUCKWEEDS WITH RED TILAPIA
FARMING

Flvia Tavares, Dra. OEI

consultant at MPA
Rodrigo Roubach, PhD
Project Manager/MPA
Digenes Lemainski
OEI consultant at MPA
Flvio Rubens Lapolli, Dr.
UFSC

The reuse of the effluent from duckweed based ponds

in fish farming

It can reduce the environmental impact caused by the

domestic wastewater treatment

Produce high protein biomass

Objectives
The present study aimed to evaluate the
sustainability of duckweed-based-ponds as a tertiary
treatment

Considering pollutants removal

And its use as a feed source in tilapia production

Methodology
Wastewater Treatment Plant Florianpolis

Facultative pond I

Facultative pond II
Facultative pond III

Anaerobic pond

Reuse system

The effluent used in the Reuse System was pumped from the
last Facultative Pond (Facultative pond III).

Duckweed-fish reuse pilot system

The Reuse System was composed

by the duckweeds treatment and
fish production tanks during a 83
days trial

Duckweeds treatment

Fish production tanks

Effluent sampling and physical-chemical analysis from

duckweeds and fish tanks were conducted weekly.

Variables analyzed were: TAN (NH3 + NH4+), nitrite (NO2-),

nitrate (NO3-), total nitrogen (TN), Chemical oxygen
demand (COD), Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD),
Suspended, total and fixed solids, Orthophosphate,
Turbidity, and Total and Fecal coliforms

Also, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, temperature, dissolved

oxygen, and transparency were recorded weekly. All
analyses followed APHA (1998) recommendations

.Fingerlings in each experimental unit were weighted every two

weeks during experimental period for weight gain (final weight

initial weight), feed conversion (total dry feed fed /total wet
weight gain), and specific growth rate (100 x Ln final average
weight Ln initial average weight/days) estimation.

Duckweed average production registered in the present study

could reach up to 31.1 t/ha/year (dry matter), with a crude protein
content of 39.9%.

Results

The results obtained shown that duckweeds presented a

satisfactory pollutants removal, mainly for Turbidity
(54.5%), Suspended Solids (44.4%) and COD (39.4%),
reaching adequate criteria for aquaculture (Nitrite, Nitrate
and COD concentrations under acceptable levels).

However, an increase in retention time could

improve plant performance.

Results
Considering tilapia growth performance, it was observed no statistical
difference between tilapia fed on pelletized duckweed and commercial
feed, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Final Weight, Feed Conversion Rate and Specific Growth Rate
comparison between fish fed peletized duckweed and commercial ration.
Diet

P value

Variable
Dried duckweed

Commercial ration

Final Weight (g)

25.9 a

32.06 a

0.0805

Feed
Conversion Rate

1.61 a

1.59 a

0.2515

Specific Growth
Rate

5.28 a

5.56 a

0.1459

Conclusion

According to our results, we

can conclude that fish
produced in the reuse system
fed on pelletized duckweed
reached an average
productivity of 22.5 t/ha/cycle,
allowing the production of two
tilapia production cycles per
year, similar to traditional
systems.

Thank you!...

Esplanada dos Ministrios, Bloco D

CEP: 70.043-900 - Braslia/DF
Telefones: (61) 3218-2872 / 2876
Fax: (61) 3224-5049
www.presidencia.gov.br/seap

Rodrigo Roubach, PhD

Project manager - MPA
0 xx 61 3218.4895
roubach@seap.gov.br

Fellowship and
Travel sponsor