Ashley Sweigart

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ESS II
Uma
April 26, 2016
Wastewater Treatment
The reason that wastewater treatment facilities exist is to ensure that our water is clean
and ensure our safety. It is crucial that we treat it properly so that it is effective, and we have the
safest product. Its true purpose is to remove the pollutants that can harm to the environment.
Typically, most of the time that harmful things flow into our waterways they include chemicals
such as nitrogen, and phosphorus. If there is a significant amount of these harmful chemicals it
can be dangerous to aquatic life because of the low dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. It was
common for engineers in the past to focus on removing these pollutants that would deplete the
DO levels (Jr et al. 2011).
Continuing off of the importance of proper treatment there is a significant reason why we
do not want there to be contamination to our freshwater systems. A lack of DO can create an
extremely dangerous anoxic environments for the wildlife, and essentially create a breeding
ground for algal blooms (Jr et al. 2011). Algal blooms rely heavily on the nitrogen. Nitrogen is
introduced into freshwater systems through wastewater. Eutrophication is the proper term for this
increased organic matter that can create noxious, and toxic algal blooms (Savage 2005). The
nitrogen serves as a primary electron acceptor that can cause electrode potential to be higher, and
create growth that isnt effective under oxygen (Jr et al. 2011). These growths tend to cover the
surface of the freshwater making it less penetrable by light. With less light there is no food for
the vegetation underneath the surface. These algal blooms destroy aquatic vegetation, oxygen
deficiency, habit, biodiversity, food webs and harvestable fisheries (Savage 2005). With an
aerobic environment or the presence of oxygen there are thriving vegetation and food chains that
word, but with an anoxic environment or lack of oxygen there are very limited chains and
consists predominantly of bacteria (Jr et al. 2011).
Solid waste is essentially any type of waste that comes from commercial, household or
industrial. It was previously estimated that annually we produce over 3.5 billion tons of solid
waste. In 1965 the Solid Waste Disposal Act was enacted, and accelerated a need for a national
program of research and development (Breidenbach and Eldredge 1969). Before this act there
was no type of formal action in place to handle this. To start reducing solid waste the Department
of Health, Education, and Welfare had set three goals. Their goals consisted of protecting the
health and quality of the environment, minimizing the amounts of ultimate waste being
generated, and to minimize the salvage of useful waste material. In order to start sorting out how
each different type of waste should be managed they classified it in four groups. The four basic
groups included municipal, industrial, agricultural, and commercial (Breidenbach and Eldredge
1969). They have created methods or are working on methods that will help to lessen the effects
that solid waste has on the environment. Their first step is source reduction. Source reduction is
essentially informing the public of their waste, and educating them on possible ways to reduce it
(Breidenbach and Eldredge 1969). After finding ways to reduce their waste we need to find ways
that we can store the waste until it can be collected. If we have poor storage methods then it can
end up hurting more than helping (Breidenbach and Eldredge 1969). Hand in hand with the
storage method comes the collection, and transportation that is required in order to dispose of
this waste. If we can reduce the amount of waste that is going to the landfill then we can decrease

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the possibility of it leaking, and then extend the life of our landfills (Breidenbach and Eldredge
1969). Solid waste has a very negative impact which is why it needs to be handled properly.
Municipal waste is essentially anything that is disposed by our society, which can include
paper products, plastics, yard trimmings, food, glass, metal, cans, furniture, and materials from
demolition (Stone 1978). The US has a significant problem with municipal waste. On average
the US contributes more than 400,000 tons of municipal waste per day (Abelson 1987).
Municipal waste has a lot of hazardous materials and toxic wastes, which is why it can be
difficult to take care of (Stone 1978). They are constantly trying to find ways to reduce the waste
as well as find efficient ways to remove it. Finding effective waste disposal is a difficult problem
because of how complex the trash is (Abelson 1987). There are different categories that it would
have to be sorted into. It would need to be separated out by type of trash so each receives proper
treatment. The waste ranges from your simple paper and plastics to glass and metals as well as
ceramics. Each of these different types can contain toxins. Pesticides and herbicides may be
included as well as pathogens and combustibles that would explode and release their poison
(Stone 1978). Separating these out would be helpful, but it is hardly practiced here. The present
alternative is incineration which reduces the volume of the waste by 90%, but also creates a
possible release of hazardous chemicals (Abelson 1987).

Figure 1 Map of the Wastewater Treatment

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The sewage comes into the influent headwork. Inside the headworks there is a machine
called the muffin monster. The job of the muffin monster is to take up the sewage that comes into
the plant. Take it up on belts and crush it up. Its purpose is to separate the solid waste from the
rest of the waste. The solid waste is essentially the stuff that cannot be ground up, and is
separated out later throughout the treatment. If there are any overflows there are grates that allow
the waste to escape down through. In order to make sure that the machine is working properly
twice a week samples are taken and sent to fairway labs to test different chemicals. Things such
as influent, biological chemicals, and nitrates are tested to see how high they are. If they cross a
certain level then it becomes dangerous. After the influent headworks, sewage moves on to a grit
chamber, and fine screening.
The grit chamber and fine screening gets rid of grit, stones, grease and anything dumped
down the sink. The liquid is now clear of all garbage and sludge remains. There is a bridge in the
middle of the screening, and it pushes the grease down over the sides to dump into the hopper.
Moving back and forth across the sludge the bridge moves in cycles to efficiently remove the
grits, and grease from the mixture. The cycle constantly turns it up so that it will settle down
later, and go down into the hopper. The fine screener which is on the inside is the second part of
removing the grits, and grease. There is a fine bar strainer which removes the finer particles that
werent removed previously. After the sludge goes through the fine screener is moves on to the
primary clarifier.
The primary clarifier is where the rest of the waste is essentially dealt with. There is a
slow moving rod in the clarifier which allows the solids to sink and stick to the bottom. Liquid
flows out over top of wears. Cleaner liquid that flows overtop is then moved to the trickling
filter. Sludge that settles out at the bottom stays there until its decided to move to the A TAD
(auto thermal thermophilic aerobic digester. Where the sludge is cooked at 122 degrees. It heats
up, and destroys the bacteria. Cooked sludge is then graded on a scale, and to become fertilizer it
must be a Class A sludge to DEP standards. This plant alone managed to produce 110 tons of
sludge alone in the last year. The sludge that is cleaner without the solids is moved to a trickling
filter.
The trickling filter is similar to the primary clarifier except for the fact that it runs down a
much larger track. Bacteria is held onto media and the rest moves down to an under drain system.
Substance that moves down to the under drain system is then moved to a final clarifier. Solids
that remain get processed out, and transfer back to start where the whole system repeats itself.
Stuff that does pass through the trickling filter and final clarifier are then moved to SNDR
(storage nitrification denitrification reactor).
In the SNDR the heat exchanger absorbs heat from the sludge. The heated up sludge goes
through a cooling process. During the cooling process there is a scrubber that helps to get rid of
the smell. Bio fluid removes the smell which consists of methane gas, and mulch that will absorb
the smell. After the SNDR it moves onto the final clarifier.
The final clarifier works just the same as the primary clarifier. It is shown in Figure 1
where the primary clarifier is and the final clarifier. It has a rod that spins slowly and makes
solids sink, and stick to the bottom. Clean water pours out over the wears. The main difference
this time is the clear substance pouring out over top compare to the slightly brown stuff from the
first clarifier. It is then pumped to the denitrification tank that has a filter of sand and gravel, and
methane is added to the water to help clean it out. The final step is the UV system.
The UV system of the Ultraviolet disinfection system is the last cleaning process for the
water. Other plants use chlorine for their last step despite it being harmful, and not as beneficial

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as the UV disinfection system. It flushes through the system daily. After the UV disinfection
system processes the clean water, and it is dumped back into the water to be used again.
The muffin monster is the primary removal of items from the wastewater, and is very
important. It removes items such as sanitary products, diapers, and any sort of trash that is
flushed down and cannot be removed later. Upon going through the muffin monster the next step
is the screening process which is a finer way to get rid of the solids that cannot be condensed
down, and cleaned out essentially. If these things arent removed they could damage the
equipment so anything that isnt essentially liquid is left here, and then transported on to a
landfill. After the screening comes the clarifiers which are starting to separate out bacterial solids
from the rest of the mixture. The stuff that is removed is nicknamed sludge for its unidentifiable
quality. Bacteria, and solids settle out in the tank to later be burned down and turned into Class A
sludge which can be used as fertilizer. From the clarifiers it moves on to the trickling filter which
allows the water to run down over and settle out again before being put back into the final
clarifier. This clarifier works the same way but this time the water running out over is much
cleaner. The clarifier, and screeners have removed all but a few solids leaving the final process
almost complete. Before being released back into the water it goes through a UV sanitation
process to remove any bacteria left behind, and ensure that it meets the standards required for
release. Instead of using harmful chlorine like other systems they use UV which isnt as harmful
to the environment, and is much more efficient.
In the case that there is sewage that is unable to be treated it creates a number of
problems. First off we dont want this sewage to go through the system at all because our
ultimate goal is for it to not reach the fresh waterways. The main goal is to keep these harmful
containments out of our fresh waterways. There needs to be an alternative to not being able to go
through the treatment process. Essentially the sewage needs to be taken to a place that disposes
of fluids that are potentially harmful. If there is a constant amount of sewage coming in that
cannot be treated then they would need to find the source because they cannot handle this type. If
the case that untreatable sewage comes in too fast it might overflow the treatment center, and
would need to be diverted back to where it came from. Although we do not want it going into our
waterways instead of having an overflow it may be diverted to there.
If sewage isnt disposed of properly then the water quality suffers immensely. As
mentioned in the introduction when chemicals get introduced into the water it can create low
dissolved oxygen levels (Jr et al. 2011). These low dissolved oxygen levels create an anoxic
environment that allows algal blooms to thrive (Savage 2005). These blooms are very harmful to
the life underneath the surface. They block off the surface of the water, and allow little if any
light penetration. This lack of sunlight begins to kill off the vegetation, and thriving life
underneath (Savage 2005). If the problem becomes bad enough it can ruin entire ecosystems.
Having well-executed treatment facilities keeps our waters clean. The reason that we
have these facilities is to clean out the pollution, waste, and chemicals from the water before they
are released back into the system. We are aware of the negative effects that these things have on
our waterways and it is crucial that we keep it from occurring as much as possible. By having
efficient treatment facilities we are keeping our waterways clean and safe. The less chemicals
and pollutions released into the water the safer it is for that water. It is the main goal to protect
the environment and the safety of society as a whole.
Bibliography

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Abelson, Philip H. 1987. Municipal Waste. Science 236 (4807): 14091409.

Breidenbach, Andrew W., and Richard W. Eldredge. 1969. Research and Development for
Better Solid Waste Management. BioScience 19 (11): 98488. doi:10.2307/1294975.
Jr, C. P. Leslie Grady, Glen T. Daigger, Nancy G. Love, and Carlos D. M. Filipe. 2011.
Biological Wastewater Treatment, Third Edition. CRC Press.
Savage, Candida. 2005. Tracing the Influence of Sewage Nitrogen in a Coastal Ecosystem
Using Stable Nitrogen Isotopes. Ambio 34 (2): 14550.
Stone, Ralph. 1978. Municipal Solid Wastes and Their Disposal. Environmental Health
Perspectives 27: 23944. doi:10.2307/3428884.