Activated Sludge Process &

AERATED LAGOON

Activated Sludge Process

A biological treatment process in which a
mixture of sewage and activated sludge is
agitated and aerated. The activated
sludge is subsequently separated from the
treated sewage by settlement and may be
re-used. A common method of disposing of
pollutants in wastewaters.

Flow sheet of ASP

Why we use ASP?

Secondary treatment usually biological,
tries to remove the remaining dissolved or
colloidal organic matter. Generally, the
biodegradation of the pollutants is allowed
to take place in a location where plenty of
air can be supplied to the microorganisms.
This promotes formation of the less
offensive, oxidized products.

Types of biological treatment

process
There are two major types of biological
treatment processes:
Attached growth
Microorganisms grow on a surface, such
as rock or plastic i.e. trickling filters.
Suspended growth
Microorganisms are suspended i.e.
activated sludge process

Classification of Secondary
Treatment Process
Classification of secondary treatment
processes is often based on the nature of
microbial growth. Organisms can be
suspended in wastewater, or they can be
attached
to
an
inert
surface.

Suspended Growth
Processes

Lagoons

Attached Growth
Processes

Activated Sludge (most

common)

Trickling filter

Mechanically aerated

Conventional (tapered
aeration),

Rotating disks

Waste stabilization ponds

Step aeration

Biological towers

Contact stabilization

Extended aeration

High purity oxygen

Oxidation ditch.
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Steps of ASP
Mixing the activated sludge with the waste
water to be treated (mixed liquor),
Aeration and agitation of this mixed liquor for
the required length of time
Separation of the activated sludge from the
mixed liquor, in the final clarification process
Return the proper amount of activated sludge
for mixing with the wastewater, and Disposal
of the excess activated sludge.
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Components of ASP
Components of ASP can be listed as follows
Equalization basin
Primary settling tank
O2 supply (aeration tank)
Secondary settling tank
Sludge recycle line

Equalization basin
Raw waste water is homogenized in an
equalization basin to reduce variations in
the feed, which may cause process upsets
of the microorganisms and diminish water
treatment efficiency.

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Primary settling tank

Primary settling tanks are usually
equipped
with
mechanically
driven
scrapers that continually drive the
collected sludge towards a hopper in the
base of the tank where it is pumped to
sludge treatment facilities. Grease and oil
from the floating material can sometimes
be recovered for saponification.

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Screening
The influent sewage water passes through
a bar screen to remove all large objects
like cans, rags, sticks, plastic packets etc.
carried in the sewage stream. This is most
commonly done with an automated
mechanically raked bar screen in modern
plants serving large populations, whilst in
smaller or less modern plants, a manually
cleaned screen may be used.
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Grit removal
Pre-treatment may include a sand or grit
channel or chamber, where the velocity of
the incoming wastewater is adjusted to
allow the settlement of sand, grit, stones,
and broken glass. These particles are
removed because they may damage
pumps and other equipment.

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Aeration tank
In the aeration tank aerobic bacterial
population is maintained in suspension in
the mixed liquor and oxygen, as well as
nutrients are provided. Oxygen is supplied
either by mechanical or diffused aeration,
which also aids in keeping the microbial
population in suspension. The mixed liquor
is continuously discharged from the
aeration tank into a secondary clarifier in
waste water treatments.
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Secondary settling
The final step in the secondary treatment
stage is to settle out the biological floc or
filter material through a secondary clarifier
and to produce sewage water containing
low levels of organic material and
suspended matter.

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Advantages
Allows good nitrification since COD is
uniformly low
Able to handle peak loads and dilute toxic
substances
Used in smaller systems, like package
plants

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Disadvantages
Larger volume, high aeration costs
Not much operational flexibility
Associated with biomass instabilities like
sludge bulking

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Aerated lagoon
An aerated lagoon or aerated basin is a
holding and/or treatment pond provided
with artificial aeration to promote the
biological oxidation of waste waters.
The aeration segment in these systems is
the most critical component and is the
core of their biological treatment process.
A lagoon systems ability to aerate the
incoming sewage has a direct impact on
the level of wastewater treatment it
achieves.
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Types of lagoons
Aerated lagoons are of two types
depending on how the microbial mass of
solids in the system is handled. The main
difference in most cases is the depth.

Suspended Growth Aerated lagoons

Facultative Aerated Lagoon

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Suspended Growth Aerated lagoons

Suspended growth aerated lagoons are

relatively shallow earthen basins of depth
varying from 2 to 5 m provided with
mechanical aerators on floats or fixed
platforms.
Mechanical aerators are used to provide
oxygen for biological treatment of
wastewater as well as keep the biological
solids in suspension. They are fully aerobic
from top to bottom as the aeration power
input is sufficiently high to keep20 the solids
in suspension with complete mixing.

Facultative lagoons
They are only about 4-7 feet deep.
some solids leave along with the effluent
stream and some settle down in the
lagoon since aeration power is sufficient
for oxygenation and not for keeping solids
in suspension. As the lower part of such
lagoons may be anaerobic while the upper
layers are aerobic, the term facultative is
attached
to
the
aerated
lagoon.
Suspended solids settle to the bottom of
the pond where there is less21 dissolved
oxygen.

Facultative lagoons
Facultative aerated lagoons can
provide 70 80% BOD removal from
readily degradable wastes such as
domestic sewage

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Principle of Aerated Lagoon

An aerated lagoon is a suspended-growth
process treatment unit.
It is provided with inlet at one end and
outlet at the other end to enable the
wastewater to flow through and to retain
for the specified detention time.
Initially, the population of microorganisms
in an aerated lagoon is much lower than
that in an ASP because there is no sludge
recycle.
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Therefore, a significantly longer

residence time is required to achieve
the same effluent quality. However,
this longer residence time may be an
advantage when complex organic
chemicals are to be degraded.

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Principle of Aerated
Lagoon

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Advantages of aerated
lagoons
Lagoon systems construct in areas where
land is inexpensive.

They use less energy than most

wastewater treatment methods.

They are simple to operate and maintain

and generally require only part-time staff.

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