Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
The activities of man give rise to a wide range of waste products, many
of which become waterborne and must be carefully treated before being
released to the environment. Such waste-waters may contain excreta,
household wastes, industrial discharges, agricultural run-offs, and urban
storm drainage. All these wastes, individually or collectively, can pollute
and contaminate the environment.
the most economical solution for handling domestic and most industrial
waste-waters. Waste stabilization pondsthe form of biological
treatment with which this project is concernedare most suitable for
locations where land is inexpensive, organic loadings fluctuate, currency
restrictions are in force, and there is a shortage of trained operating personnel.
The design of a waste stabilization pond depends on the treatment objectives.
A pond system is usually designed to receive untreated domestic or
industrial wastes, but may also be designed to treat primary or secondary
treatment plant effluents, excess activated sludge, or diluted night-soil.
The ponds may be used to pretreat wastes, to remove most of the biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), and to reduce the concentration of disease-causing
agents.
In waste stabilization ponds, the decomposable organic wastes are
stabilized by micro-organisms and the numbers of disease-causing agents
are reduced significantly, primarily due to the long detention period required
for stabilization. In some types of pond, aerobic conditions can be maintained
by the natural photosynthetic processes of algae. These green plants
provide most of the oxygen required for aerobic stabilization. The remainder
of the oxygen is transferred from the air to the water by natural
surface mixing processes.
An inspection of costs will show that it is considerably cheaper to treat
waste-water in stabilization ponds than by other methods, provided land
costs are not prohibitive. The cost of reducing the putrescible content of
waste-water in waste stabilization ponds is usually less than half that of
other methods of treatment. Furthermore, the costs per caput of the population
for small pond systems do not increase rapidly with decreasing size, as they do
with other methods of treatment.
1.3 Objectives
The objectives of this waste stabilization pond report are as
follows:
Provide theoretical background on the biological, chemical
and physical processes of WSPs, the current state of the
technology and technical knowledge on how to design, operate
and maintain the systems; and
Provide theoretical knowledge on how the models can be
used in the best manner to describe the system.
CHAPTER 2
WASTE
WATER
CHARACTERISTICS
AND
BIOLOGICAL STABILISATION
Water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence is
termed as waste water. In other words, waste water may be defined as water in
which impurities are present in such quantity and of such nature as to impair its
use for a stated purpose or designated use. It usually comprises liquid waste
discharge by domestic residences, industries, and/or agriculture and can
encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations.
Non-pathogenic bacteria;
Organic particles such as faeces, hairs, food, vomit, paper fibers, plant
material, humus, etc.;
Soluble inorganic material such as ammonia, road-salt, seasalt, cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, thiocyanates, thiosulfates, etc.;
Animals such as protozoa, insects, arthropods, small fish, etc.;
Macro-solids such as sanitary
napkins, nappies/diapers, condoms, needles, children's toys, dead animals or
plants, etc.;
Biodegradable organics
Pathogens
Nutrients
7
Both nitrogen and phosphorus, along with carbon, are
essential nutrients for growth. When discharged to the
aquatic environment, these nutrients can lead to the
growth of undesirable aquatic life. When discharged in
excessive amounts on land, they can also lead to
groundwater pollution
Priority pollutants
Refractory organics
Heavy metals
Dissolved inorganics
Physical Characteristics
Inorganic Chemical Characteristics
Organic Chemical Characteristics
Biological Characteristics
under this head are coliform organisms (MPN), bacteria, protozoa, helminthes,
viruses, and toxicity (Toxic Unit Acute and Toxic Unit Chronic).
10
treatment plant.
Aerobic micro-organisms have the ability to synthesize new cell material
from wastes containing complex organic compounds. Thus some of the
organic material is used to make protoplasm and some of the waste is
degraded into low-energy compounds. Oxygen must be supplied continuously
during the aerobic process, for it acts as the final hydrogen acceptor
during the oxidation of organic matter and the reaction ceases if it is not
available. Liberation of energy occurs during this hydrogen transfer.
2.3.2Anaerobic process
Putrefactive breakdown of organic material takes place during anaerobic
fermentation. This is a two-step process. First, a special group of acid producing
bacteria known as facultative heterotrophs degrade organic matter into fatty
acids, aldehydes, alcohols, etc. Then a group of methane bacteria convert the
intermediate products to methane (CH4), ammonia (NH,), carbon dioxide
(CO2), and hydrogen (H2). Like the aerobic process, the anaerobic process
converts carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients to cell protoplasm.
However, the mechanisms of anaerobic decomposition are exceedingly complex
and are not thoroughly understood. Oxygen is also required for the anaerobic
process, but its source is chemical compounds, not free dissolved oxygen. In
anaerobic decomposition the end products are quite complicated; the reactions
are slower and the products may be odoriferous. There is always some
anaerobic activity in the bottom mud and sediments, even in ponds designed to
operate aerobically. In deep ponds, too, there is likely to be a layer of liquid near
the bottom that will support anaerobic organisms.
The biochemical reactions that occur in the anaerobic decomposition
of wastes might be expressed as follows:
(CH2O)X xCH3COOH
CH3COOH CH4 + CO2
Organic nitrogen ammonia
11
WASTE STABILISATION
PONDS: CLASSIFICATION,
LAYOUT AND COMPONENTS
Stabilization ponds are open, flow-through earthen basins specifically designed
and constructed to treat sewage and biodegradable industrial wastes,
stabilization ponds provide comparatively long detention periods extending
from a few to several days. During this period putrescible organic matter in the
waste is stabilized in the pond through a symbiotic relationship between
bacteria and algae, Pond systems, in which oxygen is provided through
mechanical aeration rather than algal photosynthesis, are called aerated lagoons.
12
Lightly loaded ponds used as tertiary step in waste treatment for polishing of
secondary effluents and removal of bacteria are called maturation ponds.
On the basis of mode of decomposition of organic waste, or the biological
activity, waste stabilization ponds can be broadly classified as:
WASTE
STABILISATI
ON PONDS
AEROBIC
PONDS
ANAEROBIC
PONDS
FACULTATIV
E PONDS
13
Aerobic ponds are designed to maintain completely aerobic conditions. They are
used for soluble wastes (primary effluent) which allow penetration of light
throughout the liquid depth. The ponds are kept shallow with depth less than 0.5
m and BOD loadings of 40-120 kg/ha.d for a detention period of 3 to 5 days. In
some cases the detention period reaches to 10 days depending on the nature of
waste. The pond contents may be periodically mixed. Such ponds develop
intense algal growth and have been used on experimental basis only.
14
15
16
17
18
19