Archive · 5 Oct 2026
IIT Guwahati Develops Taro-Based System to Treat Piggery Wastewater
Researchers at IIT Guwahati have designed a way to clean wastewater from pig farms.
It uses taro plants and gravel as part of a natural treatment bed.
Small built-in walls make the water follow a zig-zag path instead of moving straight through.
This gives the water more time to interact with plant roots and helpful microorganisms.
The system is intended to use little energy and fit farms without central treatment facilities.
The researchers now want to test a larger version in the field.
Researchers at IIT Guwahati developed a nature-based system to treat highly polluted swine wastewater.
The system uses taro plants, gravel media and internal baffles that direct wastewater along a zig-zag path.
The longer route increases contact time with plant roots and microorganisms and allows aerobic-anoxic transitions.
Researchers describe the compact, low-energy design as suitable for decentralised livestock farms, including rural areas.
The team aims to scale up the laboratory system for long-term field validation across India.
- Who
- Researchers at IIT Guwahati, including Professor Ajay S Kalamdhad and PhD scholar Monish Goswami.
- What
- They developed a nature-based system using taro plants and a zig-zag wastewater flow design.
- When
- The articles do not specify when the research was conducted or published.
- Where
- IIT Guwahati; wastewater for the experiments came from ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig in Assam.
- Why
- To manage nutrient-rich, pathogen-laden piggery wastewater and offer a treatment option for decentralised farms.
- Technology
- Nature-based wastewater treatment system with taro plants and internal baffles
- Wastewater
- Swine wastewater sourced from ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Assam
- Flow design
- Baffles force water along a longer zig-zag route
- Treatment processes
- The design supports aerobic-anoxic transitions and increases contact with roots, microorganisms and gravel
- Intended setting
- Decentralised livestock farms, particularly small and medium-sized pig farms
- Next step
- Scale up the laboratory innovation for long-term field validation
- Publication
- The findings appeared in the Journal of Environmental Management