Natural Wastewater

Treatment & Reuse

ANAEROBIC
PONDS

ANAEROBIC PONDS
high organic (BOD) loading devoid of
dissolved oxygen
depth range 15 m; depends on ground
conditions usually 24 m
no (or very few) algae surface area not
important

ALGAE:
occasional surface
film of sulphidetolerant
Chlamydomonas
OPERATION OF ANAEROBIC PONDS
sedimentation of settleable solids and
intense anaerobic digestion (>15oC) and
copious biogas (CH4 & CO2) production
high BOD & SS removal
functions much like an open septic tank

Biogas: CH4, CO2

scum layer

sludge layer

About 30% of influent BOD leaves as biogas

same groups of anaerobic bacteria
involved as in septic tanks and anaerobic
digesters require same environmental
conditions (eg, pH >6.5)

Anaerobic Biodegradation
Polymers
(proteins, polysaccharides)

h
Monomers
(sugars, amino acids, peptides)

1
propionate
butyrate
2
2

H2 + CO2
4

acetate
3
CH4 + CO2

h Hydrolytic enzymes
3 Homoacetogenic bacteria
1 Fermentative bacteria
4 Methanogens
2 Syntrophic acetogenic bacteria

Methanogenic Reactions
acetoclastic
methanogenesis

CH4 + CO2

CH3COOH

methane

acetate

CO2 + H2
carbon
dioxide

hydrogen

autotrophic
methanogenesis

CH4
methane

carbon
dioxide

Methanogens are
Archaea

Methanogenesis is the rate-limiting

step in anaerobic treatment

DESIGN OF ANAEROBIC PONDS

based on volumetric BOD5 loading, v
V = Li Q/V g/m3d
= Li/a
Li
Q

Li = influent BOD5
mg/l (= g/m3)

Q = flow, m3/d
V = volume, m3

V/Q = (retention time, days)

a 1 d

 Design range for normal domestic

wastewater:

100 V 400
if <100, then not fully anaerobic (?)
if >400, then risk of odour release

ODOUR
caused mainly by hydrogen sulphide gas
(H2S)
sulphates (SO42) reduced in anaerobic
ponds by obligately anaerobic sulphatereducing bacteria (eg, Desulfovibrio spp)
to sulphides (H2S, HS, S2)
proportion of sulphide existing as H2S
depends on pH:

HS-

S=

H2S

Effect of pH on hydrogen sulphide

bisulphidesulphide equilibrium

Odour, continued
odour not usually a problem if sulphate
concentration <500 mg/l as SO42
check the sulphate conc. of the local
drinking water (max = 250 mg/l)
control therefore not normally necessary,
but can be achieved by adding lime or
soda ash to keep pH >7 (or by
recirculating maturation pond effluent, but
expensive and pump needs maintenance)

Recommended Design Procedure for

Anaerobic Ponds
Performance should increase with
temperature, but insufficient reliable field
data available to develop good design
equation
Design temperature: mean air temp. in
coldest month (slightly conservative as
pond temp. some 23oC warmer)
Minimum retention time of 1 day

DESIGN VALUES
Temp (oC)
10

BOD5
loading
(g/m3 day)
100

Percentage
BOD
removal
40

1020

20T 100*

2T + 20*

2025

10T + 100*

2T + 20*

>25

350

70

* Linear interpolation (T = temperature, oC)

PERFORMANCE OF ANAEROBIC PONDS

306 g/m3d

Raw wastewater

A2
A2

A3

A4
129 g/m3d

Northeast Brazil, ~25 C

Retention BOD5 SS
time
(mg/l) (mg/l)
(days)

FC
(per
100 ml)

Raw ww

245

310

4.7 107

A2

0.8

59*

82**

8.1 106

A3

0.4

45

64

5.0 106

A4

1.9

49

57

4.7 106

* 76 percent removal

** 74 percent removal

Not worth having (at least for domestic ww)

Pond
Code
A2/1
A6
A4/1
A1/3
A1/2
A1/1

Performance of Anaerobic Ponds

Northeast Brazil 25oC
Retention Volumetric Percentage
time
BOD load
BOD
(days)
(g/m3 day)
removal
0.8
306
76
1.0
215
76
1.9
129
80
2.0
116
75
4.0
72
68
6.8
35
74

Anaerobic ponds
very good removal of BOD & SS
this has effect of reducing land area
requirement for overall pond system, so
anaerobic ponds should always be used
(except at small works serving only a few
thousand people)

Operation and maintenance

1. fly breeding in scum layer may be a
problem: use a suitable larvicide
2. desludge when full of sludge this
occurs every n years:
(Pond volume, m3)
n=
Sludge accumulation
(Population)
3
rate, m /caput year
~0.04 m3/cap.yr in tropics
~0.08 m3/cap.yr in Europe

For small communities, use septic tanks

rather than anaerobic ponds

Largest mega septic tank is 72,000 litres.

One of these followed by one of 36,000 litres
can serve a population P of:
P = [(72000 + 36000) 2000]/200 = 530 (say, 500)
(Equation from British Standard on Septic Tanks)

Central
slaughterhouse
CYPRUS

Average BOD = 15002000 mg/l

Anaerobic pond, Cyprus

Anaerobic ponds,
Murcia, Spain

Strong odour
of H2S !

.only became a problem when

motorway built next to ponds.

Edge of an. pond

Bad
solution !

O2

O2 into pond 30 cm below surface:

.totally ineffective !

Anaerobic ponds, Murcia

Strong hydrogen sulphide odour
Source of sulphates?
The local drinking water had a sulphate
concentration of 6001200 mg/l
(far in excess of EU Drinking Water
Quality Directive max: 250 mg SO4/l)
So TREAT THE DRINKING WATER !!
and the odour problem will vanish !!
successfully done in the next province!