CTB3365x – Introduction to Water Treatment

W1e – Natural attenuation

Jules van Lier

Oxygen depletion in surface water is a major impact of

uncontrolled emissions of organically polluted wastewater.
Sewage treatment plants are designed to eliminate oxygen
demanding pollutants.
But what is the natural attenuation capacity to deal with
organic pollutants when no sewage treatments plants are
present?

In this lecture we will discuss oxygen depletion and re-aeration

in natural water bodies as a result of sewage emission.

As discussed in previous lectures, discharge of organic

pollutants in surface water reduces the dissolved oxygen
concentration.
This might possibly lead to oxygen depletion, and die-off of
oxygen-dependent aqueous life forms, like fish.
When is a drop in dissolved oxygen concentration
detrimental?

Is the dissolved oxygen concentration automatically restored?

In the aeration tanks of activated sludge systems, we
mechanically replenish oxygen by air compression and bubble
aeration, similar to the aeration techniques in drinking water
treatment.
In nature, we are dependent on passive or diffusive oxygen
transport.

Under equilibrium conditions, the dissolved oxygen

concentration in surface water is determined by the air oxygen
concentration, the air pressure, the water temperature, and
the oxygen consumption rate in the water body.
The liquid solubility of a gaseous compound, is gas specific and
is determined by Henry’s law.

1
In this graph, the oxygen solubility is plotted by the red dotted
line as a function of the water temperature, assuming an
atmospheric oxygen partial pressure of 21 kPa, and a total air
pressure of 101 kPa.

Other lines represent the liquid oxygen concentration versus

temperature at lower oxygen saturation percentages.

When an organic pollutant, expressed in BOD, enters the

surface water, bacteria start to oxidize the pollutant, using the
liquid dissolved oxygen as electron acceptor.
As a result, the oxygen concentration drops.
Fish will die-off when the concentration drops to below 4-5
mg/l.

The non-biodegradable carbon sediments to the bottom, and

the biochemically oxidizable carbon will be transformed to
carbon dioxide.

This CO2, is subsequently used by macrophytes or algae for

growth, while producing oxygen, which again raises the water
oxygen concentration.
The difference between the maximum oxygen solubility and
the actual concentration, is called the oxygen deficit.

When such deficit occurs, also a net flux of oxygen from the air
to the liquid will start via passive diffusion, following Fick’s law.
This physical re-aeration process is generally much more
important than biological oxygen production.

The degree of oxygen deficiency determines the oxygen

transfer rate.Since oxygen deficiency is determined by the
maximum oxygen solubility, the water temperature has a
distinct impact on the oxygen transfer rate.
In addition to temperature, also the salinity level has some
impact as it determines the maximum solubility as well,
though to a much lesser extent.

2
Next to the maximum solubility, the mass transfer coefficient,
or re-aeration coefficient, ‘K2’ governs the oxygen flux.
The value of K2 depends on temperature, liquid surface to
volume ratio, water turbulence, and the liquid flow velocity.
Therefore, the K2 value drastically differs between stagnant
lakes and fast flowing rivers as indicated by the K2 values in
this table.

The drop in the dissolved oxygen concentration as a result of

BOD emissions, followed by liquid re-aeration, is described by
the so-called Oxygen Sag curve.
On day 1 of this example, the BOD concentration in the water
suddenly increases to 50 mg/l.

Owing to bioconversion the BOD concentration exponentially

drops until all BOD is converted.

Since this bioconversion requires oxygen, the oxygen

concentration rapidly drops at day 1, creating an oxygen
deficiency.

This deficiency invokes the physical re-aeration process.

The oxygen consumption rate and simultaneous re-aeration

process, or oxygen Sag curve, is described by the Streeter
Phelps kinetic equation.
In this combined biological - physical equation, the Kd or
biodegradation rate, and the Kr or re-aeration rate, fully
determine the shape of the curve.

Imagine a sudden BOD increase to 15 mg/l in water with a

maximum dissolved oxygen concentration of 10 mg/l.
Assuming a Kd of 0.6 per day and a Kr of 0.4 per day, the
oxygen concentration drops to a minimum of about 3 mg/l
after 2-2.5 days.

3
What happens with the shape of the curve when we lower the
Kd value, keeping the Kr at the same level?
Indeed, the drop in oxygen is less severe, but the impact of the
pollutant is longer present.

Finally, let’s have a look to what happens when the Kr drops.

For instance, when the river becomes more stagnant by a low
flow.
Let’s put the Kd back to 0.6 per day, and set the Kr to 0.15 per
day.
Now, the BOD dosage has a much more severe effect on the
water oxygen concentration, and it takes also much longer
before the equilibrium is restored.
Also an increase in the BOD dosage will lead to a more severe
drop in the oxygen concentration, possibly leading to complete
anaerobic conditions.

Enhanced bioconversion and enhanced oxygen transfer, are

the prime principles of activated sludge systems for sewage
treatment.
In fact, in these engineered mechanized systems, the natural
processes of organic matter mineralization and oxygen
equilibrium restoration, are optimized.

When limited funds for engineered treatment systems are

available, nature can be mimicked in non-mechanised land-
based treatment systems, called lagoons, or pond systems.
In a pond system, all before-mentioned processes take place.

As such, pond systems are also optimized for enhanced

bioconversion and enhanced oxygen transfer.
The down side of a pond system is, that it occupies large areas
of land.
Since land is extremely expensive in or nearby cities, large and
expensive conveyance systems are required, like in this 200
hectares-example in Amman, Jordan.
In such case, several tenths of millions of euros are spent, only
for sewage transport.

In a treatment pond, a similar symbiosis occurs between

bacteria converting BOD, and algae consuming the CO2 and
mineralized nutrients.

4
In the meantime, the algae or macrophytes produce the
oxygen, required for BOD conversion.

Since solar light is required for the fotosynthesis of algae, pond

systems are characterized by large surface areas filled with
shallow water.
The large surface areas also facilitate the physical mass
transfer, or diffusion, of oxygen from the air to the liquid.
Obviously, in pond systems, biomass concentration and thus
bioconversion rates are much higher than in natural eco-
systems.
Therefore, pond systems are classified as land-based
wastewater treatment systems.

With more concentrated sewage, the degree of engineering

increases. The high suspended solids concentrations, are
largely scavenged by a more deep anaerobic pond.
In this pond, the organic matter is stabilized under anaerobic
conditions.

The anaerobic pond is then followed by a less deep facultative

pond, with only low dissolved oxygen concentrations.

Finally, the shallow maturation pond will remove the final

pollutants and will restore the oxygen concentration to the
required level.
Since the solids accumulate in the anaerobic pond, solids
removal should be part of the standard operation procedure of
the pond system.
However, in by far most cases, solids are not removed,
eventually impacting the liquid flow regime, and thus reducing
the pond capacity.
The exact design criteria of such pond system goes beyond the
purpose of our lecture series.
Temperature, wind, solar radiation, and liquid flow regime, all
impact the biological re-aeration and physical re-aeration
coefficients that are important design criteria for pond
systems.
Generally, exact values of these coefficients are not known.

5
In many cases, pond systems cannot cope with the increasing
load of pollutants.
If the natural oxygenation capacity is insufficient, such pond
systems might be equipped with mechanical surface aerators.
This system almost looks like an activated sludge treatment
plant, right?
One can question if in such conditions we should proceed with
pond systems.
In more compact treatment systems, system control is much
easier.
Space availability, investment and operational costs are
important factors determining the choice of the responsible
agencies in such situations.

In the next lectures, we will further concentrate on the

mechanized compact treatment systems, such as those
operational for sewage treatment in the Netherlands.
So please hang on, and don’t forget to have a look to the
questions and answers of this course.