Lecture 11

Domestic Waste and Waste Treatment

Text Chapter 21

History
Middle of 19th century saw increase in waterborne diseases in densely-populated areas (London, England)
Cholera

Modern sewage treatment practices began in early 20th century

Treatment of organic matter in domestic waste

Recently, focus has been on reduction of pathogenic microbes and removal of toxic substances

History
Today, more than 15,000 treatment plants treat approximately 150 billion liters of wastewater/day in the U.S. Today 25% of the U.S. population, mainly in rural areas, use septic tanks to treat domestic sewage

Composition of domestic sewage

Human feces and urine
100-500 g of feces and 1-1.3 liters of urine/person/day

graywater
Water from sinks, bathtubs, yard sprinklers

Assessment of amount of organic matter in sewage

Total organic carbon (TOC) Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

Objective of wastewater treatment

To reduce BOD
BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by microorganisms during the biochemical oxidation of organic and inorganic matter to carbon dioxide
5-day BOD test

Purpose of BOD test

Determine amount of oxygen required to oxidize the organic matter in the wastewater Determine size of treatment system needed Assess the efficiency of the treatment process Determine compliance with wastewater discharge permits

BOD bottles

BOD as a function of time

5-day BOD test

P is decimal volumetric fraction of wastewater used in test D is dissolved oxygen concentration at Time=0 and Time = 5 days

BOD (mg/l) =

__________

D0 D5 P

Sample calculation
Determine the 5-day BOD for a 15 ml sample that is diluted with dilution water to a total volume of 300 ml when the initial DO concentration is 8 mg/l and after 5 days, has been reduced to 2 mg/l.

D0 = 8 D5 = 2 P = 15 ml/300ml = 0.05 BOD (mg/l) =

_______ =

8-2

120

0.05

Table 21.2

Modern Wastewater Treatment

Primary treatment
Separation of large debris following sedimentation
Gravel, sand, twigs. leaves
Bar Screen Grit Chamber Primary clarifiers

Primary Settling Tank

To land application

Anaerobic sludge digestor

sludge

Primary Clarifiers
Separate liquids from solids Skimmer removes grease at the surface and sends it to anaerobic digestor

Secondary Treatment
Remaining suspended solids are decomposed and number of pathogens are reduced
Primary settling tank Aeration tank or Trickling filter Final settling tank or clarifier

sludge

To anaerobic sludge digester

Sludge digester

Gravity thickener plant 1% 6% solids content

Land application

Activated Sludge Process (aerobic microbial metabolism)

Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) Air is pumped through the wastewater Sludge is removed from the bottom and sent to the anaerobic sludge digestor Some of the sludge is used to inoculate the fresh, incoming wastewater entering the aeration tank
Q = flow rate of sewage in millions of gallons per day (MGD)

Food/Microbes Ratio

Q x BOD _____________
MLSS x V

MLSS is in mg/l V is volume of aeration tank (gallons)

Food/Microbe Ratio
The higher the waste rate, the higher the ratio. 0.2-0.5 lb/BOD5/day/lb MLSS is normal

A low ratio means that the microbes are starving.

Computers keep track of properties of sewage and operating parameters of wastewater treatment process

Important Operating Parameters

Organic loading rate Oxygen supply Control and operation of the final settling tank
Final settling tank

Functions: Clarification Thickening

sludge

Sludge settleability is determined by sludge volume index (SVI)

SVI (ml/g) = V x 1000 ___________

MLSS

where V is volume of settled sludge after 30 min

Filamentous Bulking
Defined as slow settling and poor compaction of solids in the clarifier Caused by excessive growth of long-chain filamentous bacteria (Nocardia spp., actinomycetes) A high SVI (>150 ml/g) indicates bulking Causes
Low F/M (food/microbe) Low dissolved oxygen Low nutrient High sulfide concentrations

Treatment
Treat return sludge with chlorine or hydrogen peroxide to kill filaments

Using biological indicators of health and efficiency of plant operation

An abundance of protozoans such as rotifers indicates healthy situation

Anaerobic Sludge Digestor

Maintain temp at 37C 30-day retention time Kills pathogens Produces methane used to run facility
Energy to run plant CH4 from settling tanks

sludge
Gravity thickener plant 1% 6% solids content

Trickling Filter-alternative to activated sludge tank

Trickling Filter

Porous media

Microbial biofilm
Organic matter CO2 + H2O

Disinfection
Addition of chlorine 24-h contact time needed for chlorine to kill bacteria in water before release into the environment
Only in summer in Bozeman Assume low water temps in receiving water kills pathogens

Sulfur dioxide is added to water to remove chlorine after sufficient contact time to kill pathogens before discharge of water into environment In future, uv-treatment to kill microbes will replace chlorine
Ultraviolet radiation of water allows less chlorine to be used, and reduces contact time.

Tertiary treatment
Involves a series of steps to further reduce organic concentration, turbidity, N, P, metals, and pathogens
Disinfection tank Sand or mixed media filter Settling tank

Discharge to environment

filters out protozoans & pathogenic bacteria

Sludge digestor

Tertiary Treatment
Process used when water is to be used for irrigation, recreation, drinking water Involves
Filtration
Very effective in removing Crytosporidium and Giardia 90% removal of enteric bacteria and viruses

Coagulation (iron and aluminum salts, pH>11

99% removal of enteric viruses

Activated carbon adsorption Additional disinfection

stopped

Nitrogen Removal During Activated Sludge Process

Encourage nitrification followed by denitrification Growth rate of nitrifying bacteria must be greater than the heterotrophic bacteria in system
Nitrification requires a long (>4 days) sludge retention time

Denitrification

Denitrification

Bardenpho process

Phosphorus Removal
Uptake of phosphate by microbes during aerobic stage followed by release of phosphate during anaerobic stage

Aerobic/oxidation process for phosphate removal

Primary settling tank
Anaerobic stage

Final settling tank

sludge

Aeration tank

Sludge digestor

To sludge digestor

Luxury Phosphorus Uptake

Aeration tank
aerobic influent Pi Poly-P PHAs Poly-P Pi

Settling tank
anaerobic anaerobic Poly-P PHAs Pi energy

7-14 mg/L

BOD removal

Detrital organic-P
air

Porg = 1/3 to 1/2 Ptotal

Lime treatment

Pi precipitation

Reverse Osmosis Membrane Filtration

>99.9% removal of enteric viruses Used for water that will be reinjected into aquifer for protection and storage

Pathogen removal
Numbers per liter Enteric viruses Concentration in raw sewage Primary treatment Secondary treatment Advanced secondary treatment 105-106 1.7K-500K Salmonella 5K-80K 160-3300 Giardia 9K-200K 72K-146K Cryptosporidium 1-4,000

80-470K

3-1000

6.5K-110K

0.007-170

4x10-6-7

0.099-3000

Pathogen analysis
Sample effluent 3 times/week
Total coliforms Fecal coliforms protozoans viruses (not yet, too expensive, not yet regulated)

Sludge Processing
Sludge from primary settling tank contains 38% solids Sludge from secondary settling tank contains 0.5-2% solids Purpose of sludge processing
Reduce water content Stabilize organic matter

Anaerobic Sludge Digestor

Sludge Processing
Thickening
Settling or centrifugation

Digestion
Microbial process
Stabilization of solids, removal of pathogens, production of methane Takes 2-3 weeks in large covered tanks

Conditioning
Addition of alum, ferric chloride, lime to aggregate solids

Dewatering to remove water

Air drying, spreading basins, centrifugation, vacuum filtration

All of above results in reduction of pathogens in solids

Sludge Processing Steps

Residence time for water in treatment plant is 16-20 hrs

stopped

Land disposal of biosolids

Application of biosolids on agricultural land

Quality of biosolids
EPA has established 2 classes of biosolids
Class A
Solids sold in bags to be applied to lawns, gardens

Class B
Solids applied to agricultural land No food crops should be grown on land for 18 months

Alternatives to conventional tertiary treatment

Infiltration basins containing coarse sands with clean water infiltration
Alternating 1 day of flooding and 1 day of drying Aquifer residence time of 20-45 days Still required disinfection before release into river
Secondary treated water Land surface 100 ft 100 ft To river

Constructed Wetlands
Typically less than 1 meter in depth support growth of aquatic vegetation being used more to treat secondary wastewater effluents vegetation provides surfaces for microbial attachment and aids in filtration and removal of wastewater contaminants

rhizosphere

Types of constructed wetlands

Free water surface Subsurface flow systems

Water hyacinths Cryptosporidium reduce 53% Giardia reduced 58% enteric viruses reduced 98% fecal coliforms reduce 98% Substituting duck weed for hyacinths Crypto and Giardia removal 98% fecal coliform removal 57% Benefits: surface can be used for other purposes no odors

Summary
Municipal wastewater treatment plant is engineered to reduce area/volume normally required in nature to remove nutrients and pathogens from wastewater
Primary treatment
Physical removal of large debris

Secondary treatment
Microbiological conversion of organic-C to CO2 and H2O

Tertiary treatment
Inactivate pathogens, remove, N, P, toxins from water before release to environment