TITLE:
The Phytodepuration of Wastewater for Tourism Facilities in Rural Areas: The Atlas Kasbah Ecolodge—A Pilot Site in the Argan Biosphere Reserve
AUTHORS:
Hassan Aboutayeb, Belkacem Kabbachi, Abdelkrim Ezaidi
KEYWORDS:
Sanitation, Biofilter Treatment, Environmental Management, Rural Tourism Facility, Morocco
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.10,
July
24,
2014
ABSTRACT:
In recent years, rural
tourism has developed a lot and especially in the Souss Massa Draa region, in
the South West of Morocco. The need to implement an eco-friendly sewage
treatment has grown accordingly to resolve the wastewater issue. In this
context, a pilot project of planted filters has been achieved in the Atlas
Kasbah Ecolodge. During 3 years, the water purification performance and its
compliance with the requirements of environmental management were assessed. The
objective was to find an eco-friendly and affordable alternative to
noncompliant ditches and sumps found in the rural areas of Morocco. The
monitoring of physicochemical parameters of treated wastewater has revealed a
perfect adaptation of the system to the needs of rural tourism facilities both
in terms of efficiency and in terms of integration into the natural
environment. Thus, such a technique could be spread in remote areas.