Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier?

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Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier? Search

1/14/2015 13 Comments

Author
 

Secondary clarifiers can be running

smoothly one day and then suddenly
Erik Rumbaugh has been
solids begin to float and carry over
involved in biological waste
the weir into the effluent.  What are
treatment for over 20 years.
the conditions that cause floating
He has worked with
sludge? And more importantly, what
industrial and municipal
can be done to control it.
wastewater  facilities to
ensure optimal performance
of their treatment systems.
He is a founder of Aster Bio
(www.asterbio.com)
First floating sludge is most often
specializing in biological
caused by:
waste treatment.
Denitrification – small nitrogen gas bubbles float the sludge in the clarifier creating floating sludge
chunks with small bubbles entrapped

 Fats, Oils & Grease – simply put, FOG floats on water. When entrapped in floc, excessive grease RSS Feed
or oil can cause floating biomass. This appears as a scum blanket that can cover the entire clarifier.
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Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier? - Biological Waste Treatment Expert

Viscous bulking or billowing sludge – viscous bulking can sometimes create floating sludge (more Categories
often it is just billowing over the weir versus floating). This is often caused by nutrient deficiencies
All

(normally low phosphate) in industrial waters.

Additives

Aquaculture

Solutions to floating sludge: Archaea

Denitrification problems can be often controlled by increasing the recycle pump to reduce sludge Bacteria

blanket depth/sludge retention time in the clarifier. The problem is often related to an increase in Bioaugmentation

influent ammonia/nitrogen that is converted by beneficial nitrifiers into NO2 or NO3 via the Bioremediation

autotrophic nitrification process. Without an anaerobic/anoxic step that removes NO2 or NO3 in the Blood Worm

treatment system, this process occurs in the clarifier. Long run solutions include evaluating influent Fungi

TKN/ammonia, anoxic denitrification zone residence time, availability of “food” or easily available Indicator Organisms

BOD in the anoxic zone for denitficiation, and an overall system survey on sludge age, residence Microbiology

times, and influent makeup. Microscopic Exam

Microscopic Exam

Fats, Oils & Grease – FOG created floating sludge involves a messy control process. First the Midge Fly

scum/floating sludge needs to be removed or allowed to carry over the weir to polishing/tertiary Pretreatment

treatment. Upstream, operators need to evaluate where the FOG increase originated. This can be a Red Worm

one-time slug or increased loadings of grease over time. It is best to prevent oils and grease from SV30

entering the biological treatment system. In cases where we have high levels of FOG in a system we SVI

encourage operators to increase wasting rates (remove entrapped FOG this way) and add cultures Wastewater

associated with FOG degradation/biosurfactant production. By using wasting and seeding steps
together, the potential for significant biomass reduction is prevented while removing entrapped FOG Archives
that causes high effluent solids.
August 2017

July 2017

Viscous Bulking – solution here is to evaluate changes in influent makeup and changes in the
June 2017

environmental conditions in the biological treatment unit. While researching the exact cause of the
May 2017

bulking, operators need to begin wasting the bulking, viscous sludge. If nutrient residuals are low
April 2017

(<1.0 mg/L ammonia nitrogen or <0.5 mg/L ortho-phosphate) then begin adding nutrients to
March 2017

achieve residuals above the targets above. If heavy wasting is involved, we recommend adding
February 2017

cultures to promote the shift to a desirable biomass.

January 2017

December 2016

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13 Comments August 2016

July 2016

Sathyapriyan 8/26/2015 01:30:58 am

June 2016

May 2016

April 2016

What are the other causes in STP sludge carry over on clarifier
March 2016

Reply February 2016

January 2016

December 2015

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Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier? - Biological Waste Treatment Expert
Erik Rumbaugh 9/1/2015 05:02:02 am November 2015

October 2015

September 2015

Usually solids on the secondary clarifier are from denitrification, oil/grease, filamentous organisms
August 2015

especially Nocardia, or viscous bulking caused by influential makeup or nutrient deficiency.

July 2015

Reply
June 2015

May 2015

April 2015

yasser 4/19/2016 08:49:14 am March 2015

February 2015

January 2015

I would like to inquire about the layer from sludge on the clarifier surface in pre-treatment system.
December 2014

November 2014

Reply
October 2014

September 2014

Erik Rumbaugh 4/19/2016 11:50:43 am August 2014

July 2014

June 2014

Usually in pretreatment systems we find grease and fatty acids as a big culprit in creating
May 2014

foam on clarifiers. It is usually related to the influent makeup - what is your influent
April 2014

characteristics? How much pre-treatment is done? Also you could send a picture of the foam
March 2014

to my email (erumbaugh@asterbio.com)
February 2014

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 8/10/2016 12:13:23 am

How to resolve the problem for floating sludge.

Reply

Erik Rumbaugh 8/11/2016 10:32:33 am

First steps to solving floating sludge is to look for what is causing the problem. In the interim
period, I would immediately check clarifier bed depth and increase recycle if bed depth is too
high. You may also want to put water spray on the clarifier to "knock" down the floating
sludge. These two steps can help while you locate the true cause of the problem.

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 8/12/2016 11:14:30 pm

http://www.biologicalwasteexpert.com/blog/why-are-solids-are-floating-on-my-secondary-clarifier[16/10/2017 16:17:46]
Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier? - Biological Waste Treatment Expert
Suppose If problem was not resolve mean what should I do?

Erik Rumbaugh 8/13/2016 05:56:56 am

Are the floating solids a new problem?

I would look for the following things:

1. Oil & Grease entering the biological unit
2. Look under the microscope for filamentous and non-filamentous bulking. If the solids are a foam, it
could very well be nocardia filaments.
3. If you are not feeded secondary clarifier polymer, you may want to jar test polymers as a settling
aid. Also, too much polymer can also cause floating solids.

The key is to find out what is causing the floating sludge. In many cases if the floating sludge is
encapsulated with grease or has EPS bulking (non-filamentous) - the solution is to waste heavily and
ensure conditions (nutrients and adding bacteria) to the biological unit promote floc forming
microorganisms.

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 8/13/2016 09:01:54 pm

Thanks for your co-operation

Then please explain what is the role of BOD, COD, MLSS & MLVSS in the WWTP?

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 9/21/2016 12:49:43 am

What is DO, BOD and COD can you tell me please role?

Reply

Erik Rumbaugh 9/22/2016 05:32:58 am

D.O. is important with respect to solids as proper DO is required to form floc and remove pollutants.
Signs of low DO include filamentous bulking with respect to floating solids. A quick look under a
microscope can reveal if filaments in the floating solids are the cause. Filaments can be caused by
more than just low DO, but it is among the most common causes.

http://www.biologicalwasteexpert.com/blog/why-are-solids-are-floating-on-my-secondary-clarifier[16/10/2017 16:17:46]
Why are solids are floating on my secondary clarifier? - Biological Waste Treatment Expert
Now for COD/BOD - they both measure oxygen demand in the sample. One dose it with chemicals
(COD) in 2 hours and the other relies on a microbial seed and is run over a 5 day period (BOD). Either
can give you the influent oxygen demand, but they do not tell you information on what the influent
contains. Floating solids are often a sign of high influent fats, oils & grease (FOG) - but FOG is just
regular COD/BOD in tests. To find your FOG number a separate and critical test needs to be run.

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 12/24/2016 11:03:03 pm

Thanks....

Reply

Riyaz Ahmed 1/4/2017 09:49:28 pm

How to control the floating sludge in the secondary clarifier?

What is the main reason to floating sludge in secondary clarifier?

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