Water standards:

Drinkable

Recreation: swimming, fishing.

Irrigation

Water impurities may or may not be harmful; it depends on:

The amounts and nature of these impurities,
The next use to which the water will be put, and
The tolerance of these impurities for the next use.
Types and characteristics of wastewaters:

Contaminants Reason for importance

They can lead to the development of sludge
Physical suspended solids deposits.

Chemical biodegradable When discharged untreated to the

environment, they lead to the depletion of
organics natural oxygen resources.

If discharged, they can lead to water

Nutrients pollution.
Because of their characteristics
Hazardous (e.g.,toxicity, flammability) are dangerous
for human health and the environment.
They can negatively impact upon biological
Heavy metals waste treatment processes.
They are result of water use, and may have
to be removed if the wastewater is to be
Dissolved inorganic solids
reused.
Communicable diseases can be transmitted
Biological pathogens by the pathogenic organism in wastewater.

Tier 1
 Water standards

Industrial effluent standards

Parameter Mexico a USA b Canada c

Total suspended
150 27 15
solids, (mg/l)

BOD5, (mg/l) 20 56 15

pH 5-10 6-9 6-10.5

Tier 1
 What is BOD?

By definition, BOD is the quantity of oxygen required for the stabilization

of the oxidizable organic matter present over 5 days

of incubation at 20 oC; that can be explained as a measure of the

oxygen required by microbes to degrade a sample of effluent.

The organic content of the water can be estimated by the BOD.

Tier 1
Why should we minimize the use of
water?

Water is such an important part of many manufacturing processes

that we must consider Effluent Treatment as a part of the main
process because of the great amount always involved.
Water is abstracted from aquifers and rivers, treated and supply to
industries and homes for different uses; used water is supposed
to be treated and discharged again into the rivers. Most of the
times, this water returns to its natural environment but
unfortunately, with a greater heat content or with some
substances added.

Tier 1
Why should we minimize the use of
water?

It is also important to minimize use of water because of several

reasons:

Fresh water is often scarce. High costs involved operating

effluent treatment plants.

Difficult to separate all the elements that pollute water.

Tier 1
Industrial pollution problems

Tier 1
Industrial pollution problems:

The main pollution problems are related to :

Increasing use of water for agriculture.

The increase of aqueous effluent to receiving water.
Population growth.
Industrial products and services.
The mental, technical, financial, regulatory and institutional
barriers to implement preventive modern technologies.

RESULTS:
Ecosystems decline.
Industrialization social costs.
The increase of human diseases.

Tier 1
The petroleum industry

Tier 1
 The Petroleum Industry:

Crude oil refining operations involve extracting useful petroleum products

from crude oil. Crude oil contains fractions of napthas, gasoline, gas
oils, diesel fuel, asphalt, jet fuel and lubrication fuels.

Large quantities of production wastes are produced during exploration

and production:
Wastewater

Solid waste

Toxic pollutants

Tier 1
 The Petroleum Industry:

Production wastes in the petroleum industry can be grouped broadly into

2 classes:
Wastes related to drilling including chemical additives: treatment and
disposal of oil drilling wastes takes place either on or off the drilling
site.
Wastes related to oil production, primarily produced water:

The volume of produced water exceeds the volume of drilled wastes.

If environmental quality standards are not exceeded the remainder may
be discharged to surface waters. The majority of produced water is
disposed of underground through injection wells and it is permitted
under U.S. EPA control programs.

Tier 1
 What is refinery effluent?

Petroleum refineries use large volumes of water in their processes.

The wastewater contains hazardous chemicals:

Tier 1
 Refinery wastes:

Emissions from refineries include:

Sulfur oxides

Nitrogen oxides

Benzene, toluene and xylene

VOC

Wastewater containing BOD levels

Heavy metals

Tier 1
 Wastes generated:

Pollution Approximate Quantities

Cooling systems 3.5-5 m3 of wastewater generated per ton of crude.

BOD 150-250 mg/l

COD 300-600 mg/l
phenol 20-200 mg/l
Polluted wastewater oil 100-300 mg/l (desalted water)
oil 5000 mg/l in tank bottom
benzene 1-100 mg/l
heavy metals 0.1-100 mg/l

3 to 5 kg per ton of crude (80 % should be considered as hazardous

Solid waste and sludge
waste because of the heavy metals and toxic organic presence).
VOC emissions 0.5 to 6 kg/ton of crude.

BTX (Benzene, Toluene and Xylene) 0.75 to 6 g/ton of crude

Others emissions Sulfur oxides 0.2-0.6 kg/ton of crude
Nitrogen oxides 0.006-0.5 kg/ton of crude

(Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook World Bank Group)

Tier 1
The pulp and paper industry

Tier 1
 How paper is made:

Most of the raw material needed for paper manufacture is supplied by

trees.
The main steps in the pulp and paper manufacture are raw material
preparation, such as wood debarking, and chip making; pulp
manufacturing; pulp bleaching; paper manufacturing and fiber
recycling. Pulp mills and paper mills may exist separately or as
integrated operations.
The characteristics of the paper (smoothness, glazed finish) are given by
a process called calendering.
The paper undergo coating, whereby a thin layer of coating pigment or
filler is spread onto the paper surface.

Tier 1
Pulp and paper industry:

The pulp and paper industry has made significant steps toward
conserving water and energy.
Significant water reductions are achieved through better reuse
methods and by separating cooling water from process water.

The waste streams generated in this industry are best classified by

their origins as show in the next slide.

Tier 1
 Types of waste products in the pulp and
paper industry:

Material originated in raw materials (dirt and bark with wood).

Nonfiber components in wood.
Contaminants in waste paper and make-up chemicals.
Reaction products (dissolved wood substance from mechanical or
chemical action).
Fiber fragments.
By-products of chemical recovery and combustion.
Fiber and nonfiber process looses and discharges of water, air
and heat.

Tier 1
 The pulp and paper industry

Water use and effluent discharges:

Liquids discharges from the process contain solids, mainly fiber, fillers,
and colloidal and dissolved material. The fiber and fillers are minimized
and reused. Colloidal and dissolved materials are by-products of the
refining of the fibers or carried over from the pulp mill.
Discharges of dissolved material are minimized by washing the stock and
displaced carryover from pulp mills and by practicing good water reuse
strategies that reduce the volume and concentrations of waste in
wastewater.

Tier 1
Programs for reducing pollution

Tier 1
Government programs for reducing
pollution:

For sustainable development, governmental pollution prevention

programs can best counteract the pressure to invest in end of
pipe pollution solutions by demonstrating the economic and
environmental benefits of a source reduction approach, making
technical information available and providing technical
assistance.

EPA has been working with industry and government representing

environmental, community and work force issues to prevent
pollution at the source prior to end of pipe treatment.

Tier 1
 Government programs for reducing
pollution:

Laws such as NEPA, TCSA, CAAA and PPA remain outside the scope of
most pollution control work. The following options were suggested
for USEPA for moving forward interaction in the US:
1. Add multi-media provisions to the existing regulations.
2. Correct laws in other policy sectors with environmental measures.
3. Make NEPA a stronger statute.
4. Make TSCA a law which can use EPA programs to control and reduce
toxic substances.
5. Establish pollution prevention approaches.

Tier 1
Programs for reducing pollution:
Manufacturers could implement a variety of
improved management procedures
that would aid pollution reduction:

Environmental audits. Identify (inventory) and correct problems

(strategies to achieve reductions) that generate wastes.
Regular preventive maintenance. Inspection, maintenance and
replacement of equipment.
Material handling and storage. Emissions of hazardous material must be
avoided. There should be labels of all containers and first aid
recommendations.
Employee training. Well informed employees are better able to make
valuable waste reduction suggestion.
Operating manual and record keeping. Good facility documentation:
process procedures, control parameters, hazards and operator
responsibilities.
Tier 1
Environmental programs:
Some industries may see no difference between end of pipe pollution control and
a front end pollution prevention control.
The importance is that those industries may not go beyond the first stage of
waste reduction.
As the environmental concern deepens, industries have to move further up the
production chain:

End of pipe solution to wastes and pollutants; and later

Internal process modifications to reduce emissions and wastes, and

eventually

Redesign products to achieve a maximum level of recycling of raw

materials and minimization of wastes after the products are used.

Tier 1
 Some measurements to save water:

Keep water effluent streams separated.

Reuse water as close to source as possible.
Recycling whenever it is possible.
Better control of usage with automated systems.
Checking and control of leaks.
When buying new equipment, evaluate water-efficiency models
including accessories.

Reducing the quantities of chemicals so that the amount of

dilution water will be reduced.

Tier 1
 Reusing water:

It is not only possible but necessary to reuse wastewater of a process

stream before it leaves the plant accomplished by piping, diluting or
treating some of the effluents before using them again.
Some plants are now using closed systems, so that there are no water
discharges.
Zero discharges has been practiced in locations where water is scarce,
and may involve technologies for removing suspended and dissolved
solids.
Complete demineralization is relatively expensive, however, in some
cases wastewater discharges can be reduced significantly with other
less expensive technologies.

Tier 1
Treatment processes

Tier 1
 Expectations of a water treatment program:

The expectations from a water treatment program should be integrated to

include all aspects of the program, from the proposal through to the

implementation stages.

Tier 1
 Treatment Program

As we will see in the next diagram, the expectations that a good

treatment program should give us are listed below:

Overview of a new or existent problem.

Lab study of all system and water composition.
Submit a proposal.
Program implementation.
Monitoring to optimize.
Use of modern treatment techniques.

Program under control

Tier 1
Treatment Program

New or System
Plant Implement
Problem Proposal under
Study Program
System control

Lab
Study Follow-up

New Product
Technology

Tier 1
Wastewater treatment processes:

Wastes are generated by every industrial enterprise, and this

wastes can either be liquids or solids.

Wastewater treatment can be divided into three stages:

1. Primary treatment that uses physical operations to remove
free oil and/or suspended solids.

2. Secondary treatment to remove dissolved contaminants

through chemical or biological action, and

3. Tertiary treatment for the removal of residual contaminants.

Tier 1
 Separation order

This list shows how separation is carried out:

Primary treatment
Sedimentation
Aeration

Secondary treatment
Tertiary treatment

Tier 1
 Treatments

Primary treatment prepares the wastewater for biological treatment.

Large solids are removed by screening, and grit. Equalization in a
mixing basin, levels out the flows variation and concentrations.
Neutralization, where required, follows equalization. Oils, greases and
suspended solids are removed by flotation, sedimentation of filtration.

Secondary treatment is a biological degradation of soluble organic

compounds from input levels of 50- 1000 mg/l BOD or greater to
effluent levels under 15 mg/l. Aerobic treatment in an open vessel is
done. After biotreatment, the microorganisms and solids suspended
are allowed to settle.

Tier 1
 Treatments

The tertiary treatment remove specific residuals. By filtration,

suspended colloidal solids can be removed; adsorption removes
organics by granular activated carbon (GAC); and chemical oxidation
also removes organic compounds.
Tertiary systems have to treat great amounts of wastewater, so they
are expensive.

When streams rich in heavy metals, pesticides or other substances that

may pass through primary treatment and inhibit biological treatment
are present, in-plant treatments are necessary.
Precipitation, activated carbon adsorption, chemical oxidation, air or
steam stripping, wet air oxidation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis are
some of the methods useful when in-plant treatments are to be used.

Tier 1
 The tertiary treatment

Tertiary treatment is a polishing step. Its importance is that rather than

have to find solutions at the end of pipe, where primary and secondary
treatments are used to, it is possible to minimize some toxics or
hazardous components in the process before they are combined with
other less hazardous.

Biological treatment usually produces a 30/20 effluent with no more than

30 mg/l suspended solids and 20 mg/l BOD.

Tier 1
 Tertiary treatment

However, river flows have decreased owing to drought conditions. In

these circumstances, new limits are imposed on the quality of the final
effluent. The treatment processes beyond the secondary treatment to
achieve the required limits in the process are well known as tertiary
treatments.

Tier 1
In plant treatment

Before end of pipe wastewater treatment, a program of waste

minimization should be initiated.
1. Recirculation. In the paper board industry, white water from a
paper machine can be put through a save all to remove the
pulp and fiber and recycled to various points in the process.
2. Segregation. Clean streams are separated for direct discharge.
3. Disposal. In many cases, the total discharge BOD and
suspended solids can be reduced by removal of residue in
semidry state for disposal.
4. Reduction. The use of automatic cutoffs can reduce the
wastewater volume.
5. Substitution. The substitution of chemical additives of a lower
pollutional effect in processing operations.
Tier 1
 Wastewater treatment processes:

Process selection

Tier 1
 Figure 1. Conceptual treatment program for
organic and toxic industrial wastewater
For wastewaters containing nontoxic organics, process design criteria can be obtained from lab
studies.
To define the wastewater treatment problems, a preliminary analysis should be carried out:

Organic Streams containing Mineral

streams heavy metals streams

volatile Toxic and/or

Biodegradable nonbiodegradable

Source control
Figure 3.

Equalization
Neutralization
Oil/grease removal
Suspended solids

Biological treatment

Final disposal
(Eckenfelder, 2000) Tier 1
 Source treatment:

Source reduction is any activity that reduces or eliminates the

generation of hazardous wastes at the source

The fundamental goal is to enact changes in consumption, use and

waste generation patterns associated with products

Tier 1
Source treatment:

Source treatments involves different definitions of source reduction,

but the general consensus appears to be that include any in-

plant actions to reduce the quantity or the toxicity of the waste

at the source.

Examples include equipment modification, design and operations

changes of the process and products and substitution of raw

materials.

Tier 1
 Figure 2. Laboratory studies for heavy
metals/volatile organics
start
VOC/NH3 Air or steam
Equalized
stripping
sample Chemical
Priority
pollutants oxidation Precipitation
Heavy metals
scan and reduction
bioassay

Fed Nondegradable/ toxic

When toxic and nontoxic organics and
batch Source inorganics are present, it is necessary
reactor treatment
to evaluate the existence of heavy
Degradable
metals or volatile organics.

Long-term
biodegradation
Granular
activated
carbon
Reverse
Priority osmosis
Powder
pollutants
activated
scan and Priority pollutants/toxic
carbon
bioassay Ion
exchange
TDS/inorganics

(Eckenfelder, 2000)
Tier 1
 Figure 3. Treatment of toxic wastewater:
In-plant treatment
To discharge
Reverse
recycle or
If the wastewater is osmosis
treatment

nonbiodegradable or
Ion Polymeric
toxic, it should be exchange resins

considered source
Granular
Filtration carbon
treatment or in-plant
adsorption
modification.
Anaerobic
Precipitation
treatment

Oxidation Wet air Air or steam

reduction oxidation stripping

Chemical
oxidation Volatile
Process Heavy Organic organics
wastewater metals chemicals ammonia

(Eckenfelder, 2000)
Tier 1
 Methods for suspended solids removal

Sedimentation is the more common technique in wastewater

treatment because it involves little mechanical equipment and it is very
stable to operate. However, there are some situations where flotation
is a better choice.

Flotation is a good technique for solids removal when the density

difference between water and the solids is marginal, or the solids have
a high fat or oil content.

Tier 1
 Methods for suspended solids removal

Coagulation is employed for removal of waste materials in

suspended or colloidal form. Colloids are particles within the size range
of 1 nm to 0.1 nm, do not settle out on standing and can not be
removed by conventional physical treatment processes.

Precipitation. In the water treatment, the precipitation process is

used for softening (removal of the hardness caused by calcium and
magnesium) and removal of iron and manganese.

Tier 1
 Sedimentation:

Reduce solids by at least 50%, with proportional reduce of BOD.

Addition of chemicals to assist settlement by coagulating particles or
chemical precipitation can be essential.
Can have acceptable discharge standards with regular desludging
without a secondary treatment.
Primary tanks are desludged at intervals of between 8 and 24 hours.
Secondary settlement follows any form of biological aeration or
filtration to produce an effluent low in solids.
Particularly demanding discharge consents may dictate a tertiary
treatment to remove solids and BOD by a further 50%.

Tier 1
 Flotation:

Dissolved air flotation, which is a common technique. This technique

basically consists on injecting an aqueous stream containing
dissolved air into the wastewater . The dissolved air forms bubbles
when it comes out of solution and carries suspended particles, which
tend to concentrate at the bubble wastewater interface, to the
surface, where they form an emulsion.

Tier 1
Flotation:

General diagram for flotation methods:

Tier 1
 Coagulation:

Paperboards wastes can be effectively coagulated with low dosages of

alum. Silica or polyelectrolyte will aid in the formation of a rapid
settling floc.
Wastes that contain emulsified oil can also be clarified by coagulation.
For effective coagulation, alkalinity should first be added, . After addition
of alkali and coagulant, a rapid mixing is recommended.

Tier 1
Precipitation:

Chemical precipitation in wastewater treatment involves the

addition of chemicals to alter the physical and chemical state of
dissolved and suspended material and to facilitate their removal.
It is usually combined with coagulation, flocculation, separation.

Principle: Dissolved compounds, for instance heavy metal ions, are

C
h
e

brought into their insoluble hydroxides by pH increase through

m
i
c
a
dosing of lime or NaOH. Using coagulation, flocculation l
p
r
techniques these small hydroxide nuclei become larger flocs for e
c
i
separation. With proper precipitants these flocs also serve as p
i
t
entrapment for other dissolved (organic) compounds; a form of a
t
i

co-precipitation. o
n

C
h
e
m
i
c
a
Tier 1 l
p
Heavy Metals Removal:
HEAVY METALS REMOVAL TECHNOLOGIES
Conventional precipitation
Hydroxide
Sulfide
carbonate
coprecipitation
Enhanced precipitation
Dimethyl thio carbamate
Diethyl thio carbamate
Trimercapto-s-triazine, trisodium salt
Other methods
Ion exchange
Adsorption
Recovery opportunities
Ion exchange
Membranes
Electrolytic techniques
Tier 1
 The Biological Treatment

Influent
When biological
wastewater
treatment is

needed, there Physical and No Yes High

High Yes Anaerobic
Biodegradable
chemical treatment strength
strength treatment
are several

options:
Yes Polished
effluent
Yes Inhibitory No
Discharge PACT Nondegradable
fraction
No
Discharge

Complete mix Nitrogen

No Readily No removal No Dispersed
system degradable growth system Fixed
required
Growth system
Yes Yes

Plug Selector Intermittent Nitrification/ Yes Polished

flow system system process Denitrification effluent
system
No

Discharge Discharge

(Eckenfelder, 2000)
Tier 1
 The biological treatment: typical operating
parameters and dimensions
Treatment Degree of
Mode of operation Land requirements Equipment Remarks
method treatment
Intermittent or continuous
Earth dug; 10-60 days Odor control
Lagoon discharge; facultative or Intermediate
retention frequently required
anaerobic

Pier-mounted or Solids separation in

Earth basin, 8-16 ft
Activated Completely mixed or facultative High in summer; floating surface lagoon; periodic
deep, 8-16
lagoons continuous basins less in winter aerators or dewatering and sludge
acres/(million gal/d)
subsurface diffusers removal

Earth or concrete Diffused or

basin; 12p20 ft deep; mechanical aerators; Excess sludge
Activated Completely mixed or plug flow; > 90% removal of
75000- clarifier for sludge dewatered and
sludge recycle organics
sludge 350000ft3/(million separation and disposed of
gal/d) recycle

Intermediate or Pretreatment before

Continuous application; may 225-1400 ft /(million Plastic packing 20-
Trickling filter high, depending on POTW or activated
employ effluent recycle gal/d) 40 ft deep
loading sludge plant

Solids separation
RBC Multistage continuous Intermediate or high Plastic disks
required

Complete mix with recycle; Gas collection

required;
upflow or downflow filter,
Anaerobic Intermediate pretreatment before
fluidized bed; upflow sludge POTW or activated
blanket sludge plant

Complete; water Aluminum irrigation Solids separation

Spray Intermittent application of percolation into pipe and spray
40-300 gal/(min.acre) required; salt content
irrigation waste groundwater and nozzles; movable for
relocation in waste limited
runoff to stream

(Eckenfelder, 2000)
Tier 1
 Advanced wastewater treatments

Advanced wastewater treatment is defined as the processes that remove more

pollutants from wastewater than the conventional treatments. This term may be
applied usually as tertiary treatment, but most of their goals are to remove
nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended solids.
Advanced treatments include:
Chemical coagulation of wastewater
Granular media filters
Ultrafiltration
Nanofiltration
Wedge-wire screens
Microscreening
Diatomaceous earth filters

Tier 1
Volume and disposal reduction

Tier 1
 Volume reduction

Volume reduction can be used to reduce treatment cost and to reduce

handling and disposal costs for residues remaining after treatment.
Volume reduction can be accomplished by using a variety of methods:

Reuse of treated wastewater and wastes

Treatment modifications to reduce solid residues

Segregated treatments to reduce hazardous waste mixtures

Incineration to reduce waste volume and to render a hazardous waste

nonhazardous.

Tier 1
 Reduction of waste production and disposal
volumes

Simple dewatering: the sludge is discharged into a series of tanks and

allowed to settle. Top water can then be decanted. This method reduce
the volume of sludge for disposal.

Composting: the material is mechanically turned at intervals, force

aerated and often contained in a building where heat losses, odor and
water content can be controlled.

Tier 1
 Reduction of waste production and disposal
volumes

Digestion: is the slow degeneration of the organic content of sludge by

obligate anaerobic bacteria to simpler compounds- carbon dioxide,
water and anions (nitrate, sulphate, phosphate).
Digestion is one of the few sludge treatment processes in which a
significant reduction of pathogens is possible.
The digestor gas produced is 65-70% methane, 30-34% carbon dioxide,
and traces of sulphur compounds. The collected gas is burnt in a boiler
to keep the digestor warm and the excess put to further heating or
power generation purposes.

Tier 1
 Reduction of waste production and disposal
volumes

Incineration: its main advantages lie in the complete destruction of

organic compounds, the ash being inert and usually less than 25% of
the original sludge volume.
Most incinerators are of the fluidized bed variety.

Tier 1
A waste management diagram

Upgrade Waste
operation recycle

Redesign Waste
process treatment

Increasing Effectiveness
of waste management
Substitute Waste
raw material disposal

Tier 1
Multiple choice questions

Tier 1
 Tier 1: Quiz

1. What is pollution?

a) Pollution refers to harmful environmental contaminants and to the act or

process of polluting the environment.

b) Any undesirable change in the characteristics of the air, water, soil or food
that can affect the health called pollution.

c) Unwanted chemicals or other materials found in the environment. Pollutants

can harm human health, the environment, and property.

d) All of the above.

Tier 1
 Tier 1: Quiz

2. What is BOD?

a) The quantity of oxygen required for the stabilization of the oxidizable organic
matter present over 7 days of incubation at 20 oF.

b) An empirical test used for measuring waste, evaluating the measure

of the oxygen required by microbes to degrade a sample of effluent.

c) A test used to evaluate the quantity of oxygen present in the stream.

d) The quantity of oxygen required to develop a biochemical test.

Tier 1
 Tier 1: Quiz

3. Why is it important to reduce hazardous contaminants?

a) Because if discharged, they can lead to water pollution.

b) Because of its radioactive characteristics, its effects on human health and

development of cancer.

c) Communicable diseases can be transmitted when in contact to them.

d) Because of their dangerous characteristics for human health and the

environment.

Tier 1
Tier 1: Quiz

Tier 1