Wastewater Treatment Methods

Physical Unit Operations

Chemical Unit Operations
Biological Unit Operations

Before
discussing
the
wastewater treatment methods
let us first have a brief look on
some characteristics of waste
water,
Waste-water quality may be
defined by its physical, chemical,
and biological characteristics.

Removal

Treatment

Disposal

Physical parameters include color, odor,

temperature, and turbidity. Insoluble contents
such as solids, oil and grease, also fall into this
category. Solids may be further subdivided
into suspended and dissolved solids as well as
organic (volatile) and inorganic (fixed)
fractions.

Chemical parameters associated with the organic

content of waste-water include biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand
(COD), total organic carbon (TOC), and total
oxygen demand (TOD).
Inorganic chemical parameters include salinity,
hardness, pH, acidity and alkalinity, as well as
concentrations of ionized metals such as iron and
manganese, and anionic entities such as
chlorides, sulfates, sulfides, nitrates and
phosphates.

Bacteriological parameters include coliforms,

fecal coliforms, specific pathogens, and
viruses. Both constituents and concentrations
vary with time and local conditions. Wastewater is classified as strong, medium or weak,
depending on its contaminant concentration.

Physical, chemical and biological methods are

used to remove contaminants from wastewater. In order to achieve different levels of
contaminant removal, individual waste-water
treatment procedures are combined into a
variety of systems, classified as primary,
secondary,
and tertiary
waste-water
treatment.

Among the first treatment methods used

were physical unit operations, in which
physical forces are applied to remove
contaminants. Today, they still form the basis
of most process flow systems for wastewater
treatment. This section briefly discusses the
most commonly used physical unit
operations.

The screening of wastewater, one of the oldest

treatment
methods,
removes pollutants from
the waste stream to protect
downstream
equipment
from
damage,
avoid
interference with plant
operations and prevent
objectionable
floating
material from entering the
primary settling tanks.

Screening devices may consist of parallel bars,

rods or wires, grating, wire mesh, or
perforated plates, to intercept large floating
or suspended material. The openings may be
of any shape, but are generally circular or
rectangular. The material retained from the
manual or mechanical cleaning of bar racks
and screens is referred to as screenings, and
is either disposed of by burial or incineration.

Comminutors are used to pulverize large floating

material in the waste flow. They are installed
where the handling of screenings would be
impractical.
Their use reduces odors, flies and unsightliness.
A comminutor may have either rotating or
oscillating cutters. Rotating-cutter comminutors
either engage a separate stationary screen
alongside the cutters, or a combined screen and
cutter rotating together.

Sedimentation, a fundamental and widely

used unit operation in waste-water
treatment, involves the gravitational settling
of heavy particles suspended in a mixture.
This process is used for the removal of grit,
particulate matter in the primary settling
basin.

Sedimentation takes place in a settling tank,

also referred to as a clarifier. There are three
main designs, namely, horizontal flow, solids
contact and inclined surface.

Flotation is a unit operation used to remove solid or liquid

particles from a liquid phase by introducing a fine gas,
usually air bubbles. The gas bubbles either adhere to the
liquid or are trapped in the particle structure of the
suspended solids, raising the buoyant force of the
combined particle and gas bubbles.
Particles that have a higher density than the liquid can thus
be made to rise. In waste-water treatment, flotation is
used mainly to remove suspended matter and to
concentrate biological sludge. The chief advantage of
flotation over sedimentation is that very small or light
particles can be removed more completely and in a shorter
time. Once the particles have been floated to the surface,
they can be skimmed out.

Dissolved-air flotation
Air flotation
Vacuum flotation
Chemical additives

The filtration of effluents from waste-water treatment

processes is a relatively recent practice, but has come to be
widely used for the supplemental removal of suspended
solids from waste-water effluents of biological and
chemical treatment processes, in addition to the removal
of chemically precipitated phosphorus. The complete
filtration operation comprises two phases: filtration and
cleaning or backwashing.
The waste-water to be filtered is passed through a filter
bed consisting of granular material (sand, anthracite
and/or garnet), with or without added chemicals. Within
the filter bed, suspended solids contained in the wastewater are removed.

The phenomena that occur during the filtration

phase are basically the same for all types of
filters used for waste-water filtration. The
cleaning/backwashing phase differs, depending
on whether the filter operation is continuous or
semi continuous. In semi-continuous filtration,
the filtering and cleaning operations occur
sequentially, whereas in continuous filtration the
filtering and cleaning operations occur
simultaneously.

There are two types of sand filtration

processes:
rapid gravity sand filtration, and
slow sand filtration.

Chemical processes used in waste-water

treatment are designed to bring about some
form of change by means of chemical
reactions. They are always used in
conjunction with physical unit operations and
biological processes.
This section discusses the main chemical unit
processes, including chemical precipitation,
adsorption, disinfection, dechlorination and
other applications.

Process of removing fine size suspended

particles by addition of necessary amount of
suspended chemicals called co-agulants, to
water before sedimentation.

Common co-agulants in use are:

Alum K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O
Ferrous

Sulphate FeSO47H2O

Flocculation
Al2(SO4)3 + 3Ca(HCO3)2
co-agulant

calcium bicarbonate

FeSO4 + Mg(HCO3)2

4Fe(OH)2 +2H2O + O2
Dissolved oxygen

2Al(OH)3 +3CaSO4 + 6CO2

gelatinuous floc

Fe(OH)2 +MgCO3 + CO2 + H2O

4Fe(OH)3
Floc

o Coagulants are generally added in solution & for their

proper mixing mixers are employed

Adsorption is the process of collecting soluble

substances within a solution on a suitable interface.
Activated carbon is produced by heating char to a high
temperature and then activating it by exposure to an
oxidizing gas at high temperature. The gas develops a
porous structure in the char and thus creates a large
internal surface area. A fixed-bed column is often used
to bring the waste-water into contact with AC. The
water is applied to the top of the column and
withdrawn from the bottom, while the carbon is held
in place.

Disinfectants act through one or more of a

number of mechanisms, including damaging the
cell wall, altering the colloidal nature of the
protoplasm and inhibiting enzyme activity.
In applying disinfecting agents, several factors
need to be considered: contact time,
concentration and type of chemical agent,
intensity and nature of physical agent,
temperature, number of organisms, and nature
of suspending liquid.

The process of destroying disease causing

bacteria, microorganisms etc. from water is
known as disinfection of water.

Sterilization by Bleaching powder

Sterilization by Chlorine

Sterilization by chloramine

Sterilization by ozone

Sterilization by ultravilet light

Limitation:
Only limited quantity must be used

Drawbacks:
Introduces calcium in water
Always analyzed before use

Chlorine

Raw water

baffles

Sterilized
water

 microbial inactivation

Commonly used means of disinfection include

the following:
Physical agents such as heat and light.
Mechanical means such as screening,
sedimentation, filtration, and so on.
Radiation
Chemical agents including chlorine and its
compounds, bromine, iodine, ozone, phenol and
phenolic compounds, alcohols, heavy metals,
dyes, soaps and synthetic detergents,

Dechlorination is the removal of free and total

combined chlorine residue from chlorinated
wastewater effluent before its reuse or
discharge to receiving waters. Chlorine
compounds react with many organic
compounds in the effluent to produce
undesired toxic compounds that cause longterm adverse impacts on the water
environment and potentially toxic effects on
aquatic micro-organisms.

In
these
processes,
micro-organisms,
particularly bacteria, convert the colloidal and
dissolved carbonaceous organic matter into
various gases and into cell tissue which is then
removed in sedimentation tanks.

Activated-sludge process
Aerated lagoons
Trickling filters
Rotating Biological contactors

Sanitary sewers
Bar screens
Primary settling basins
Aeration basins
Final settling basins
Primary sludge
Digesters
Subsurface injection

They carry wastewater from

homes and businesses to
the
raw
wastewater
pumping station at the
treatment plant.
The
wastewater flows by gravity,
rather than pressurized pipe
flow, in the sanitary sewer
pipes. Routine cleaning and
closed circuit television
inspection of sanitary sewer
lines helps keep the sewer
collection system in good
shape.

They let water pass, but not

trash (such as rags, diapers,
etc.). There are two bar
screens located inside the
Raw Wastewater Pump
Building.
The trash is
collected and properly
disposed off. The screened
wastewater is pumped to
the Primary Settling Basins.

They allow smaller particles

to settle from wastewater by
gravity.
This
primary
wastewater flows out to the
next
stage
of
treatment. Scrapers collect
the solid matter that remains
(called "primary sludge"). A
surface skimmer collects
scum or grease floating on
top of the basins.

They supply large amounts of air to the mixture of primary

wastewater and helpful bacteria and the other microorganisms
that consume the harmful organic matter. The growth of the
helpful microorganisms is speeded up by vigorous mixing of air
(aeration) with the concentrated microorganisms (activated sludge)
and the wastewater. Adequate oxygen is supplied to support the
biological process at a very active level. The ratio of food (organic
matter) to organisms to oxygen is continually monitored and
adjusted to meet daily variations in the wastewater.

They allow the clumps of

biological
mass
(the
microorganisms) to settle
from
the
water
by
gravity. 90-95 % of this
mixture, called "activated
sludge," is returned to the
aeration basins to help
maintain the needed amount
of microorganisms.
The
remaining 5-10 % is pumped
to the anaerobic digester.

The "primary sludge"

from
the
Primary
Settling
Basins
is
pumped
to
the
Hydrocyclone
Grit
Separator where it is
spun, thereby separating
the inorganic solids (grit)
from the lighter weight
organic solids. The grit
is disposed of in the city
landfill.

The primary sludge continues on to the gravity Sludge

Thickener where the solids are concentrated and
pumped to the anaerobic digesters. The liquid
overflow is returned to the pump station. Waste
Activated Sludge from the Final Settling Basins is
pumped to a Centrifuge for further solids processing,
then pumped to the anaerobic digestor.

Primary and activated

sludges are anaerobically
digested (decomposed by
bacteria
without
the
presence of air) in the
two-stage
digesters.
Stabilized
sludge has little odor and
conforms to the EPA
requirements to further
reduce
harmful
microorganisms

Methane gas is produced by this anaerobic

digestion and is used as fuel for an enginegenerator providing 240 kW of electrical
power used in the treatment process. Waste
heat from the engine is recovered for heating
the treatment plant buildings and to provide
heating to improve the sludge digestion
process
and
produce
more
gas.

Aplication of the stabilized sludge (biosolids)

onto both City-owned and private farmland by
subsurface injection (plowing). The biosolids
are utilized in an environmentally acceptable
manner as a beneficial and valuable fertilizer and
soil conditioner. The biosolids applied to all sites
are monitored for nutrients, metals, other
compounds and fecal coliform bacteria. Soil
testing is performed at all sites prior to biosolids
application.