Municipal Wastewater Treatment Systems 1) Primary Treatment, includes pretreatment 2) Secondary Treatment 3) Advanced treatment Pretreatment Bar rack,

grit chamber, and equalization basin Purpose of pretreatment is to provide protection to the treatment plant equipment. Major goal of primary treatment is to remove suspended solids that will either settle or float. Removes about 60 percent of suspended solids in raw sewage and 35 percent of BOD5. Soluble pollutants are not removed. Goal of secondary treatment is to remove soluble BOD5 that remains and added removal of suspended solids. Typically achieved by using biological process. occurring in receiving water. Similar to biological processes

Designed so that breakdown of organic pollutant can be achieved in short time. Remove more than 85 percent of BOD5 and suspended solids. Does not remove significant amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus or heavy metals nor pathogenic bacteria. Advanced processes include chemical treatment and filtration or applying land treatment Most of impurities removed from wastewater are broken down into CO2 and water and most are removed as a solid or sludge. Sludge handling and disposal must be carefully carried out Bar Racks Primary purpose is to remove large objects that will damage or foul pumps and valves and other mechanical equipments. Can be trash racks or mechanically cleaned racks. Rack openings range from large followed by smaller openings. Grit Chambers Inert dense material such as broken glass, sand and pebbles is called grit.

If not removed can cause damage to pumps and mechanical devices Also tends to settle in corners and bends therefore reducing flow capacity and clogging pipes and channels Three type of grit chambers: velocity controlled, aerated , and constant level short term sedimentation basin. Velocity controlled Also known as horizontal flow grit chamber . Stokes law can be used for analysis and design Velocity controlled by placing weir at end of channel. Detention time 1 minute for average flow Aerated grit chamber Use air diffuser and can act to strip inert grit of organic material that adheres to surface Function of roll velocity and detention time. Roll velocity is controlled by controlling air feed rate Liquid detention time about 3 minutes at maximum flow Length to width ratio 3:1 to 5:1. Comminutors Used to macerate wastewater solids using revolving cutting bars Placed downstream of grit chambers to protect cutting bars Equalization Flow equalization is a technique used to improve effectiveness of a secondary and advanced treatment processes Wastewater does not flow at constant rate. Constantly changing amount and strength of waste make operation difficult and unefficient. Variation lead to oversized system for average conditions Equalization pond can reduce the size and cost of treatment units Consist of large basins that collect and store wastewater flow and from which wastewater is pumped to treatment plant at constant rate.

Normally located near head end of treatment works but downstream from grit chambers or communitors. Adequate mixing and aeration needed to prevent odour and solids deposition

PRIMARY TREATMENT After the pretreatment, wastewater still contains light organic suspended solids. Primary sedimentation pond can be round or rectangular. Mass of settled solids called raw sludge. Sludge removed from sedimentation tank by mechanical scrapers and pumps. Floating materials such as grease and oil rise to surface and collected by surface skimming system Settling in primary settling basins follow the type II flocculation settling. Stokes equation cannot be used because particles change in size and shape and specific gravity Lab test are used with settling column to design data Range from 15 to 100 m length and 3 to 24 m width Ratio length to width 3:1 to 5:1. Depth is usually about 4 m. Overflow rate is the controlling parameter for design of primary settling tanks. Typical overflow rates range from 25 to 60 m3/m2per day. Under peak flow. Overflow rates may be in range of 80 to 120 m/d. + Hydraulic retention time in the sedimentation basin ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours with average of 2 hours About 50 to 60 % of raw sewage suspended solids and 30 to 35 % BOD5 may be removed in the primary sedimentation basins.

UNIT PROCESSES OF SECONDARY TREATMENT Major function of secondary treatment is to remove soluble BOD that escapes primary treatment and to provide further removal of suspended particles. Secondary treatment is a biological treatment system therefore availability of microorganisms, good contact between organisms and organic matter, availability of oxygen and maintenance of favorable environment such as temp and time for organisms to work Types Secondary Treatment System Activated sludge Trickling Filters Oxidation Lagoons Rotating Biological Contactors

Wastewater Microbiology Stabilization of organic matter is accomplished biologically using a variety of microorganism. The microorganism converts the colloidal and dissolved carbonaceous organic matter into gases and new protoplasm. Because cell mass have specific gravity which is higher than water it can be removed by gravity settling. The protoplasm produced from the organic matter should be removed from solution because it is organic and contribute to BOD. If not removed only those portion converted to CO2 and water is removed and therefore the treatment is incomplete. Classification of Microorganisms Based on groups or kingdoms: 5 Kingdoms i.e. Animals, Plants, Protista, Fungi and Bacteria

Classification Based on Energy and Carbon Source Carbon is basic building block for cell synthesis. Source of energy must be obtained from outside of the cell for synthesis to take place Goal in wastewater treatment is to convert carbon and energy in the wastewater into new cells which can be removed by settling Encourage growth of microorganism that use organic materials for carbon and energy source. Microorganism that use organic material as a supply of carbon is called heterotrophic, while organism that use CO2 as carbon source is called autotrophic. Organisms that use the sun as energy are called phototrophs while chemotrophs extract energy from organic and inorganic oxidation/reduction reactions. Organotrophs use organic material while lithotrophs oxidize inorganic compounds Classification Based On Relationship to Oxygen Ability or inability to utilize oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor in oxidation/reduction reactions. Obligate aerobes are microorganism that must have oxygen as terminal electron acceptor Obligate anaerobes are microorganism that cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. They cannot use oxygen as term electron acceptor. Wastewater that does not contain oxygen is called anaerobic.

Facultative anaerobes can use oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor and under certain condition will also grow in the absence of oxygen Classification Based on Preferred Temperature Each species reproduces best within a limited range of temp. Temperature ranges are used to classify bacteria Below 20 C : Psychrophiles Between 25 and 40 C: Mesophiles Between 45 and 60 C: Thermophiles Above 60 C: Stenothermophiles Microbes of Use in Wastewater Treatment Bacteria Bacteria is the highest population of microorganisms in waste treatment plant. Single celled organism and use soluble food. Conditions are adjusted so that chemoheterotrophs predominate in wastewater treatment ponds Fungi Multicellular, nonphotosynthetic, heterotrophic organism. They are obligate aerobes and reproduce by fission budding and spore formation Cells require only half of nitrogen as bacteria so in a nitrogen deficient wastewater they predominate.

Algae Photoautotrophs Unicellular or multicellular Contain chlorophyll and carry out photosynthesis in the presence of sunlight Protozoa Single celled organism that reproduce by binary fission Most are aerobic chemoheterotrophs and they consume bacteria Act as polishers by consuming bacteria in wastewater treatment plant

Rotifers and Crustaceans Animals, aerobic and multicellular chemoheterotrophs Rotifers consume bacteria and small parts of organic matter Crustacean include shrimp, lobsters. Have shell structure. Source of food for fish and not normally found in wastewater treatment ponds Metabolism General term that describes all of the chemical activities performed by cell Divided into 2 parts: Catabolism. The biochemical process by which a substrate is degraded to end products with the release of energy. Substrate is oxidized in treatment plant. Anabolism Includes all the biochemical processes by which the bacteria synthesizes new compound needed by cells to live and reproduce Decomposition of Waste Aerobic, anoxic or anaerobic. Aerobic Decomposition Molecular O2 act as the terminal electron acceptor for decomposition to process by aerobic decomposition Oxygen is measured as DO. Chemical end products of decomposition are CO2, water and new cell material. Results in stable end products. Capable of high growth rates because of high energy released in aerobic decomposition. Therefore leads to production of large amount of new cells. More biological sludge is generated in aerobic oxidation than in the other oxidation systems Aerobic decomposition is the method of choice for large quantities of dilute wastewater , less than 500 mg/L. For high strength wastewater , more than 1,000 mg/L, aerobic decomposition is not suitable because of difficulty in supplying oxygen. And also a large amount of

biological sludge will be produced. Anoxic Decomposition Bacteria use nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor in the absence of oxygen. Oxidation by this route is called denitrification. End products are nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide and water and new cell material. This method is important in wastewater where nitrogen must be removed to protect receiving water body. Formation of nitrogen gas cause large globs of sludge to float to the surface

Anaerobic Decomposition Molecular oxygen and nitrate must not be present as electron acceptor. Sulfate, carbon dioxide and organic compounds can be serve as the terminal electron acceptor. Reduction of sulfate results in production of hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans. These are odiferous cpds. Anaerobic decomposition is a 3 step process: 1) Hydrolysis. 2) Complex organic compounds are fermented to low molecular weight fatty acids. 3) Organic acids are converted to methane. carbon dioxide serve as the electron acceptor Anaerobic decomposition yields carbon dioxide, methane, and water. Others include ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans. Only small amount of energy are released during anaerobic oxidation therefore new cell production is low therefore sludge production is slow The optimum temperature range for anaerobic decomposition is the upper end of mesophilic range. Therefore the temperature must be elevated to get good biodegradation. Not suitable for dilute waste but good for waste with BOD greater than 1,000 mg/L. Requirements for Growth 1. 2. 3. 4. A terminal electron acceptor Macronutrients: Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus Micronutrients (trace metals, vitamins) Appropriate Environment Moisture, Temperature, pH

Population Dynamics of Pure Culture Plot of Growth versus Time Lag Phase

Bacteria adjust to their new environment. Accelerated Growth Phase End of lag phase bacteria begins to divide and there is a gradual increase in population. Log Growth Phase End of accelerated growth phase population is large and cells divide at a regular rate through binary fission, and the population increase follows geometric progression. 1 2 4 8 16 32. P = Po (2) n Po is the initial population at the end of the accelerated growth phase. Log growth phase tapers off as substrate exhausted and toxic byproducts build up. Stationary Phase Population becomes constant when reproduction rate and death rates balance out. Death Phase Rate of death faster than reproduction rate. In wastewater treatment system pure cultures of microorganism do not exist. Mixture of species compete and survive according to the environment in the wastewater. Activated Sludge Treatment System Biological wastewater treatment technique in which a mixture of wastewater and biological sludge (microorganisms) is agitated and aerated. The process is known as suspended growth process because the bacteria are suspended in liquid wastewater. The biological solids are then separated from the treated wastewater and a portion is returned to the aeration process. Microorganism are mixed thoroughly with the organic compounds under conditions that stimulate their growth through the use of organic compounds as food. As microorganism grow and are mixed by the agitation of the air the individual organisms clump together to form active mass of microbes (biological floc) called activated sludge.

Wastewater flows continuously into the aeration tank where air injected to mix the activated sludge with the wastewater and to supply needed oxygen. Mixture of activated sludge and wastewater in the aeration tank is called mixed liquor. Mixed liquor flow from the aeration tank to a secondary clarifier where the activated sludge is settled out. Some of the settled sludge is returned to the aeration tank called return sludge to maintain high population of microorganisms Mixture is usually aerated for 6 to 8 hrs. About 8 m3 air is provided for every m3 of wastewater treated. Sufficient air is needed to keep sludge in suspension Air injected at the bottom of the aeration tank by using diffusors. Volume of sludge returned is usually 20 to 30 % of the wastewater flow. Mean Cell Residence Time Also called solids retention time (SRT) or sludge age defined as the time that microorganisms are kept in the system. Food to Microorganism Ratio (F/M). One commonly used parameter in activated sludge process. F/M = QS/VX Units: mg BOD5/d mg -------------- = -------mg MLVSS mg.d F/M ratio is controlled by wasting part of the microbial mass thereby reducing MLVSS. A high rate of wasting causes high F/M ratio. High F/M yields organisms that are saturated with food. Causes poor efficiency Low rate of wasting causes a low F/M ratio which yields organisms that are starved thus more efficient waste degradation. Long c (low F/M) is not always used because it requires larger aeration tank and also requires more oxygen therefore higher costs. Another problem with too long c is poor settleability of the sludge F/M ratio and cell detention time ( c) are controlled by wasting of organisms and the two terms are interrelated. High F/M leads to a short c and low F/M leads to long

c F/M ranges from 0.1 to 1.0 mg/mg.d .

Sludge Volume Index (SVI) One method to control the rate of sludge return to the reactor basin is based on a measurement called the SVI . Procedure: A 1 litre sample of mixed liquor is obtained from the aeration tank at the discharge end. The settleability is measured by filling a standard one liter graduated cylinder to the 1.0 liter mark. Allow settling for 30 minutes and then read the volume occupied by the settled sludge. MLSS is determined by filtering, drying and weighing a second portion of the mixed liquor. SV SVI = -------- X 1000 mg/g MLSS SVI = sludge volume index , mL/g SV = volume of settle solids in one L graduated minutes settling , mL/L MLSS = mixed liquor suspended solids, mg/L cyclinder after 30

SVI can be used as an indicator of the settling characteristics of the sludge. Typical values of SVI for MLSS conc of 2000 to 3500 mg/L range from 80 to 150 mL/g. Bulking Sludge Poor settling characteristics and poor compactibility. 2 types: - due to growth of filamentious bacteria - caused by air trapped in the biological floc, thus reducing its density and therefore poor settling. Rising Sludge Sludge that floats to the surface - results from denitrification i.e. reduction of nitrates and nitrites to N2 gas in the sludge blanket. N2 gas trapped in the sludge and causes sludge to rise to the surface and float over their and into the receiving stream.