1.

0 INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Aerobic systems treat wastewater using natural processes that require oxygen.
Bacteria that thrive in oxygen-rich environments break down and digest the wastewater inside
the aerobic treatment unit as they are suspended in the liquid. Like most onsite systems,
aerobic systems treat the wastewater in stages. Sometimes the wastewater receives pre-
treatment before it enters the aerobic unit, and the treated wastewater leaving the unit requires
additional treatment or disinfection before being returned to the environment (Ivery, 1996).

The main function of the aerobic unit is to collect and treat household wastewater,
which includes all water from toilets, bathtubs, showers, sinks, and laundry. Aerobic units
themselves come in many sizes and shapes. The process most aerobic units use to treat
wastewater is referred to as suspended growth. These units include a main compartment
called an aeration chamber in which air is mixed with the wastewater. Because most home
aerobic units are buried underground like septic tanks, the air must be forced into the aeration
chamber by an air blower or a compressor. The forced air mixes with wastewater in the
aeration chamber, and the oxygen supports the growth of aerobic bacteria that digest the
solids in the wastewater. This mixture of wastewater and oxygen is called the mixed liquor.
The treatment occurring in the mixed liquor is referred to as suspended growth because the
bacteria grow and die as they are suspended in the liquid unattached to any surface.
Unfortunately, the bacteria cannot digest all the solids in the mixed liquor, and these solids
eventually settle out as sludge. Many aerobic units include a secondary chamber called a
settling chamber or clarifier where excess solids can settle. (See Figure 1.1)

Figure 1.1: example of a possible aerobic unit design

 Figure 1.2: example of possible aerobic unit design

Other designs allow the sludge to accumulate at the bottom of the tank. (See Figure
1.2.) In aerobic units designed with a separate settling compartment, the sludge returns to the
aeration chamber (either by gravity or by a pumping device). The sludge contains bacteria that
also aid in the treatment process. Although, in theory, the aerobic treatment process should
eventually be able to consume the sludge completely, in practice, the sludge does build up
and will need to be pumped out frequently so that solids don’t clog the unit(Gašpariková,
Kapusta, Bodík, Derco, & Kratochvíl, 2005).

Figure 1.3: common styles of Aerobic Treatment Units

 The most common Aerobic Treatment Units (ATU) design uses three chambers or
tanks to treat sewage (See Figure 1.3). The first chamber functions like a septic tank to remove
solids and scum. Air is pumped in the second chamber to supply oxygen and mix the contents.
Aerobic bacteria decompose the organic material producing an effluent much lower in
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). The final chamber slows the flow of the water, so solids
settle before the clarified effluent exits the tank. Some of these units also use a filter to retain
solids in the tank and thus further improve effluent quality. ATUs without three chambers
typically use a filter system to remove solids before effluent exits the unit.

1.2 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this experiment is:

1. To measure the efficiency of aerobic processes by calculating the percentage of

reduction of COD of the wastewater effluent at different time interval.
2.0 METHODOLOGY

2.1 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

100 ml of methanol was prepared and put inside sample tank (brown tank) and it
was diluted with 700 ml of water.

Sodium hypochlorite was prepared by reducing the concentration the

concentration from 10% to 1% using 2L jar of water.

The sodium hypochlorite was put inside tank D4 and it was pumped.

Then, tank R1 was filled with tap water and later 100 ml of activated sludge was
mix inside it together.

From tank R1, it will flow to tank D2 and D3. Therefore, both tank D2 and D3 was
filled with tap water.

Pump G1 was opened and it was set to 20 L/hr.

Valve V3 and V7 was opened and pump G2 was adjusted to 15 L/hr.

After that, the compressor was switch on and it was set to 600 Nm/hr at P1.

The overflow sample was taken at tank D2 and COD, pH and temperature was
taken for initial run.

Later, the sample was taken again the next day at 3.30 pm to check for the COD,
pH and temperature for final product.
2.2 SHUTDOWN PROCEDURE

.
Switch off all the pump

Switch off the main power supply.

Drain the water from sample tank, D2, D3, and D4.
2.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 RESULT

Initial pH: 6.42

Initial temperature: 25℃
Time interval COD concentration (mg/l) % reduction
0 hour 145 0
After 24 hours operation 122 15.86
3.2 DISCUSSION

The purposes of this experiment are to measure the efficiency of aerobic processes by
calculating the percentage of reduction of COD of the waste water effluent at different time
interval. The experiment was started by preparing the mixture of 100ml of methanol and 7L of
water in orange tank. The activated sludge and water will be filled up in tank R1 until 250ml.
While, 2L of 1% of sodium hypochlorite was prepared and filled in the tank D4. Tank D2 will
fill with the water until it is overflow to D3. The pump will be turned on at the desired flowrate
and the selected valve will be opened for the flow of process.

The liquid mixture in the orange tank will acts as synthetic waste water in the process.
The synthetic waste water will be pumped into the R1. Tank R1 will acts as aeration tank or
bio reactor during this experiment. The aerobic process will occurred at the aeration tank. The
aerobic processes is biological treatment in the waste water treatment. This process that used
oxygen to breakdown organic matters and remove other pollutants like nitrogen and
phosphorus. The organic materials will converted into carbon dioxide and biomass. Oxygen is
endlessly required so air will be forced from an air blower or compressor and cause air is
mixed with the waste water during the aerobic treatment. The aerobic bacteria feeds on the
waste in this water and aerobic treatment takes place (veolia, n.d).

At the effluent of the aeration tank, mixed liquor is discharged into the D2 which serves
as clarifier. The purpose of the clarifier is to isolate the activated sludge solid from the mixed
liquor.These solids represent the colloidal and dissolved solids that were originally present in
the wastewater. In the aeration unit they were incorporated into the activated sludge floc,
which are settleable solids. The settled activated sludge is returned to the head of the aeration
tank to re-seed the new waste water entering the tank and to ensure the desired mixture liquor
suspended solid (MLSS) concentration in the aeration tank (Activated Sludge Process, 2012).

The Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD) was tested by using COD vial for the 0 hour and
after 24 hours. COD vial consist of sulfuric acid, silver sulfate and potassium dichromate with
assist by DR900 machine. COD is measured the wastewater and water quality and it is often
used to monitor wastewater plant efficiency. The chemical oxygen demand is defined as
amount of oxygen consumed to chemically oxidize organic water contamination to inorganic
end products(MERCK, 2019). The initial sample was obtained at the orange tank. While the
sample for after 24 hours process was obtained at the top of the D2.
 Based on the result obtained, the initial condition of synthetic wastewater is at ambient
temperature which is 25℃ and the pH at 6.42. The initial COD concentration that obtained is
145 mg/L and the COD concentration that obtained after the unit run for 24 hours is 122 mg/L.
The COD concentration is decreases as the time taken consumes. Then, the percentage
reduction was calculated using the COD concentration obtained. The COD concentration
reduction in this experiment is 15.86%. This percentage indicates the efficiency of aerobic
process of the waste water effluent for 24 hours process.

The function of Sodium hypochlorite in the D4 is disinfectant in the process. It is also play
role in oxidation. When sodium hypochlorite is added into water, it will produced hypochorous
acid. Hypochlorous acid is divided into hydrochloric acid (HCl) and oxygen (O). The amount
of dissolved water will increased and cause the restraint of the microorganisms’ respiration.
The bacteria speedily consume organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide due to the
enrichment of dissolved oxygen ( Mondal et. Al, 2017).

There are some possible error during the experiment that affect the result obtained. Firstly,
the chemical was not prepared carefully that lead from parallax error. Second, may the pump
or valve not at the desired condition that cause the process occurred not efficiency. Thirdly,
the cleanliness of the unit that can affect the result.
4.0 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

In a nutshell, the objectives of this experiment were to measure the efficiency of aerobic
processes by calculating the percentage of reduction of COD of the waste water effluent at
different time interval. Based on the result obtained, the initial condition of synthetic
wastewater is at ambient temperature which is 25℃ and the pH at 6.42. The initial COD
concentration that obtained is 145 mg/L and the COD concentration that obtained after the
unit run for 24 hours is 122 mg/L. The COD concentration is decreases as the time taken
consumes. Then, the percentage reduction was calculated using the COD concentration
obtained. The COD concentration reduction in this experiment is 15.86%. This percentage
indicates the efficiency of aerobic process of the waste water effluent for 24 hours process.
Thus, it can be said that the objectives complied with the result obtained where there is a
reduction COD of 15.86%. The percentage reduction shows that the aerobic process is
efficient enough to reduce the percentage of reduction of COD of the waste water effluent at
different time interval. However, the reduction percentage theoretically can go up to 80% which
might be cause due to some errors when the experiment was conducted. The reduction also
caused by the help of the chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite in the D4 is disinfectant in
the process. It is also play role in oxidation. When sodium hypochlorite is added into water, it
will produced hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is divided into hydrochloric acid (HCl) and
oxygen (O). The amount of dissolved water will increased and cause the restraint of the
microorganisms’ respiration. The bacteria speedily consume organic matter and convert it into
carbon dioxide due to the enrichment of dissolved oxygen (Mondal et. Al, 2017). There were
also some possible error during the experiment that affect the percentage reduction obtained.
Firstly, the chemical was not prepared carefully that leads to parallax error. Second, may the
pump or valve not at the desired condition that cause the process occurred to have lower
efficiency. Thirdly, the cleanliness of the unit can also affect the result. There are a few
recommendations that may improve the outcome in which the parameters of this investigation
should be focus genuinely. Firstly, the Cod fixation can reach up to 80 %. It can reach up to
higher percentage if all the equipment were periodically checked to avoid blockage issue in
the pipelines. Another recommendation is to increase the time which provide the waste water
to be completely discharged from the tanks. This are some steps that can reached the
percentage reduction up to 80%.
5.0 REFERENCES

Aerobic Wastewater Treatment.(n.d).veolia. Retrieved from August 31, 2019, from

https://www.veoliawatertechnologies.co.uk/technologies/aerobic-treatment

Water for COD - Chemical Oxygen Demand (2019). MERCK. Retrieved from August 31,
2019, from https://www.merckmillipore.com/MY/en/water-purification/learning-
centers/applications/environment-water
analysis/cod/CLqb.qB.BIMAAAFAZwsQWTdi,nav?ReferrerURL=https%3A%2F%2F
www.go ogle.com%2F&bd=1

Activated Sludge Process.(2012). The International Water Association Publishing, pp 1-5

Mondal T., Jana A., & Kundu D. (2017). Aerobic wastewater treatment technologies: a mini
review. International Journal Environment Tech Science,4, pp 135-140.

Gašpariková, E., Kapusta, Š., Bodík, I., Derco, J., & Kratochvíl, K. (2005). Evaluation of
Anaerobic-Aerobic Wastewater Treatment Plant Operations, 14(1), 29–34.
Ivery, G. (1996). Aerobic treatment units ( ATUs ): Appropriate technology for on-site
wastewater treatment and re-use, 106, 295–303.
6.0 APPENDIX

Percentage reduction calculation :

122
x100%=84.14%
145
%reduction= 100%-84.14%
%reduction=15.86%