11/3/2016 IntroductiontoWastewaterTreatmentProcesses|WorldBankWater

Search

IntroductiontoWastewaterTreatment
Processes
Wastewatertreatmentiscloselyrelatedtothestandards(/water/node/83330)and/or
expectationssetfortheeffluentquality.Wastewatertreatmentprocessesaredesignedto
achieveimprovementsinthequalityofthewastewater.Thevarioustreatmentprocessesmay
reduce:

1.Suspendedsolids(physicalparticlesthat
canclogriversorchannelsastheysettle
undergravity)
2.Biodegradableorganics(e.g.BOD)
whichcanserveasfoodfor
microorganismsinthereceivingbody.
Microorganismscombinethismatterwith
oxygenfromthewatertoyieldtheenergy
theyneedtothriveandmultiply
unfortunately,thisoxygenisalsoneededbyfishandotherorganismsintheriver.Heavy
organicpollutioncanleadtodeadzoneswherenofishcanbefoundsuddenreleasesof
heavyorganicloadscanleadtodramaticfishkills.
3.PathogenicbacteriaandotherdiseasecausingorganismsThesearemostrelevant
wherethereceivingwaterisusedfordrinking,orwherepeoplewouldotherwisebein
closecontactwithitand
4.Nutrients,includingnitratesandphosphates.Thesenutrientscanleadtohigh
concentrationsofunwantedalgae,whichcanthemselvesbecomeheavyloadsof
biodegradableorganicloadTreatmentprocessesmayalsoneutralizeorremoving
industrialwastesandtoxicchemicals.Thistypeoftreatmentshouldideallytakeplaceat
theindustrialplantitself,beforedischargeoftheireffluentinmunicipalsewersorwater
courses.

Widelyusedterminologyreferstothreelevelsofwastewatertreatment:primary,secondary,
andtertiary(oradvanced).

Primary(mechanical)treatmentisdesignedtoremovegross,suspendedandfloating
solidsfromrawsewage.Itincludesscreeningtotrapsolidobjectsandsedimentationby
gravitytoremovesuspendedsolids.Thislevelissometimesreferredtoasmechanical
treatment,althoughchemicalsareoftenusedtoacceleratethesedimentationprocess.
PrimarytreatmentcanreducetheBODoftheincomingwastewaterby2030%andthetotal
suspendedsolidsbysome5060%.Primarytreatmentisusuallythefirststageofwastewater
treatment.Manyadvancedwastewatertreatmentplantsinindustrializedcountrieshave
startedwithprimarytreatment,andhavethenaddedothertreatmentstagesaswastewater
loadhasgrown,astheneedfortreatmenthasincreased,andasresourceshavebecome
available.

Secondary(biological)treatmentremovesthedissolvedorganicmatterthatescapes
primarytreatment.Thisisachievedbymicrobesconsumingtheorganicmatterasfood,and
convertingittocarbondioxide,water,andenergyfortheirowngrowthandreproduction.The
biologicalprocessisthenfollowedbyadditionalsettlingtanks(secondarysedimentation",see
photo)toremovemoreofthesuspendedsolids.About85%ofthesuspendedsolidsandBOD
canberemovedbyawellrunningplantwithsecondarytreatment.Secondarytreatment
technologiesincludethebasicactivatedsludgeprocess,thevariantsofpondandconstructed
wetlandsystems,tricklingfiltersandotherformsoftreatmentwhichusebiologicalactivityto
breakdownorganicmatter.

Tertiarytreatmentissimplyadditionaltreatmentbeyondsecondary!Tertiarytreatment
canremovemorethan99percentofalltheimpuritiesfromsewage,producinganeffluentof
almostdrinkingwaterquality.Therelatedtechnologycanbeveryexpensive,requiringahigh
leveloftechnicalknowhowandwelltrainedtreatmentplantoperators,asteadyenergy
supply,andchemicalsandspecificequipmentwhichmaynotbereadilyavailable.Anexample
ofatypicaltertiarytreatmentprocessisthemodificationofaconventionalsecondary
treatmentplanttoremoveadditionalphosphorusandnitrogen.

Disinfection,typicallywithchlorine,canbethefinalstepbeforedischargeoftheeffluent.
However,someenvironmentalauthoritiesareconcernedthatchlorineresidualsintheeffluent
canbeaproblemintheirownright,andhavemovedawayfromthisprocess.Disinfectionis
frequentlybuiltintotreatmentplantdesign,butnoteffectivelypracticed,becauseofthehigh
costofchlorine,orthereducedeffectivenessofultravioletradiationwherethewaterisnot
sufficientlyclearorfreeofparticles.

http://water.worldbank.org/shwresourceguide/infrastructure/menutechnicaloptions/wastewatertreatment 1/2
11/3/2016 IntroductiontoWastewaterTreatmentProcesses|WorldBankWater

http://water.worldbank.org/shwresourceguide/infrastructure/menutechnicaloptions/wastewatertreatment 2/2