The process of wastewater treatment is one of the most serious environmental issues that require sustainable and effective solutions to decrease the number of pollutants and decrease the amount of sludge. This research will attempt to assess the performance and sustainability of hybrid bioreactor system using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) gel beads and pumice stones as bio-carriers in wastewater treatment. The main task is to determine how the system is efficient in eliminating turbidity, total solids, organic solids, and dissolved oxygen (DO) over three hydraulic detention periods (18, 20, and 22 days). The determination of pollutant removal rates (PRR) and specific removal rates (SRR) was made to measure treatment performance with the use of a controlled experimental setup, and the System Sustainability Index (SSI) was used to measure the long-term stability of operation. Findings indicate a high level of pollutant removal efficiencies with average pollutant removal rates of 7.325 NTU/day for turbidity, 24 mg/L/day for total solids and 14.25 mg/L/day for organic solids. The levels of DO and SSI did not decrease and stayed on the same level, which provided strong sustainability of the processes and minimal sludge formation. The results validate the fact that in dual media, hybrid bioreactors are effective in biodegradation and reliable over extended periods of use. These findings indicate the possible potential of the system as a scalable, environmentally friendly and cost-efficient solution to sustainable wastewater management, and additional studies are suggested to streamline reactor design and up-scale to industrial use.
