Advanced Waste Water Treatment

Primary and secondary treatment remove the majority of BOD and Suspended Solids found in wastewaters. However,
in an increasing number of cases this level of treatment has proved to be insufficient to protect the receiving waters
or to provide reusable water for industrial and/or domestic recycle. Thus, additional treatment steps have been
added to wastewater treatment plants to provide for further organic and solids removals or to provide for removal of
nutrients and/or toxic materials.

any process designed to produce an effluent of higher quality than normally achieved by secondary treatment
processes or containing unit operations not normally found in Secondary Treatment.

Advanced waste water treatment includes

Suspended Soil Removal

Nitrogen Removal

Phosphorus Removal

Refractory Organics Reduction

Dissolved Solids Reduction

Suspended Soils Removal

The suspended soils in treated water are in part colloidal and in part discrete, ranging 10-3 to 100 microns
(micrometer). None of this material settles readily, and needs to be removed by further clarification.

These are the techniques suggested in reduction of suspended soil concentration in the waste water:

Chemical Coagulation

Microscreens

Diatomaceous earth filters

Ultrafiltration

Granular Filters

Chemical Coagulation

-using positively charged chemical coagulants to attract negatively charged particles

-the particles then after being neutralized will accumulate

-the accumulated particles, called flocs, will be settled out or filtrated

-the chemical coagulants also are used in phosphorus removal

-the coagulants include lime, alum, iron, and polymers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHIk57r40ik
Micro screens

-based on physical blocking of particles in well defined apertures.

-consist of a motor-driven drums which rotate about a horizontal axis in rectangular basin

-fine screen ranges from 23 to 60 micrometers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaYy_ZvYPAc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJqILmwS5l4

Diatomaceous Earth Filters

Diatomaceous Earth (DE or Diatomite) filtration has been a widely used method of fluid purification for over 100
years. There are thousands of installations in the chemical, pharmaceutical, metals and food & beverage industries
where critical separations are required.

In potable water production, DE filtration is a mechanical separation of solids and microorganisms from raw water.
This also applies to wastewater treatment.

Acceptable operation is reported to be possible only with influent suspended soils less than 13 mg/L. And effluent is
comparable in turbidity to potable water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhVCNl5CNJI

Ultrafiltration

Ultrafiltration (UF) is a type of membrane filtration in which hydrostatic pressure forces a liquid against a
semipermeable membrane. A semipermeable membrane is a thin layer of material capable of separating substances
when a driving force is applied across the membrane.

A simple procedure called "low pressure" ultrafiltration permits the clarification and disinfection of water in a single
step. A membrane barrier acts like a filter for all particles over 10-20 nm in size: pollen, algae, bacteria, viruses,
germs and organic molecules.

Ultrafiltration will remove all of the suspended solids and virtually 100 percent of BOD, COD, and TOC.

Membranes have a useful life of about six months

Granular Filters

In water treatment, granular filtration is a process where water flows through granular material (often sand) while
suspended solids (sand, clay, iron and aluminum flocs) are retained, substances are biochemically decomposed and
pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) are removed.
Nitrogen Removal

In surface waters, nitrogen can contribute to excessive growth of algae called algal “blooms” that can sicken or kill
wildlife and harm aquatic habitats. These algal blooms, typically referred to as eutrophication, consume the
dissolved oxygen in the water, causing hypoxia, leaving little or no oxygen for fish and other aquatic organisms.
Algal blooms can harm aquatic plants by blocking the sunlight they need to grow. Some algal blooms produce toxins
and encourage bacterial growths that can sicken people who swim in or drink the water, or who eat tainted fish or
shellfish.

Nitrogen in drinking water can pose health risks to people, particularly infants and pregnant women. Elevated
concentrations of a nitrogen compound called nitrate can cause methemoglobinemia, also known as “blue baby
syndrome”, a potentially fatal illness in which the nitrates reduce the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Nitrates
in drinking water are a particular concern in agricultural areas where groundwater wells are the primary source of
drinking water.

Nitrogen exists in many forms, but ammonia, nitrate (NO3) and nitrite (NO2) are of primary concern in the
environment. These compounds occur naturally when ammonia (NH4) from decomposing organic materials in the
soil is oxidized to form nitrate and nitrite. Other sources of nitrate and nitrite in the environment include fertilizers,
atmospheric deposition, animal wastes, and sewage and septic systems.

Biological Nitrogen Removal

Nitrification-Denitrification process

Nitrification is the biological process by which ammonia is first converted to nitrite and then to nitrate. Nitrification
can be achieved in any aerobic-biological process at low organic loadings and where suitable environmental
conditions are provided. Denitrification is the biological process by which nitrate is converted to nitrogen and other
gaseous end products.

Chemical Nitrogen Removal

Nitrogen can be removed from wastewater or converted to other forms by a variety of chemical techniques.

Techniques:

1. Breakpoint Chlorination converts 95 to 99% of ammonia in waste water to nitrogen gas with the remaining
ammonia being converted to nitrate and nitrogen trichloride.
 Chlorine to nitrogen ration is 7.6 is to 1.
2. Ion-exchange procces for ammonium removal employ clinoptilotite, which is relatively specific for
ammonium. The exchange bed is typically 1.5 m deep and is loaded at rates of 12 to 30 m/hr or 7.5 to 20
bed volumes per hour. At influent ammonium concentrations of 15 to 17 mg/L, 100 to 120 bed volumes can
be treated before reaching 1 mg/L.
 Clinoptilolite is a natural zeolite comprising a microporous arrangement of silica and alumina tetrahedra.
 Natural clinoptilolite could be applied to remove ammonium ions from water and wastewater. The
ammonium ion uptake behaviour of clinoptilolite is connected to the processes of ion exchange.
3. Air stripping is a process by which a liquid, usually wastewater, is brought into intimate contact with a gas
usually air, so that some undesirable volatile substances present in the liquid phase can be released and
carried away by the gas.

Phosphorus Removal
-phosphorous is one of the main constituent of synthetic detergents.

-Controlling phosphorous discharged from wastewater treatment plants is a key factor in preventing eutrophication of
surface waters.

Physical Removal

- Using filtration and membrane technology

- Membranes can remove dissolved phosphorus along with total suspended solids

Chemical Method

- Phosphate Precipitation
Chemical precipitation is used to remove the inorganic forms of phosphate by the addition of a
coagulant and a mixing of waste water and coagulant, metal ions most commonly used are
calcium, aluminium, and iron
Calcium- added in the form of lime, helps phosphate to precipitate in hydroxyapatite
Aluminum- alum or hydrated aluminium sulphate are used to precipitate phosphates and
aluminium phosphates
Iron- ferric chloride or shulphate and ferrous sulphate also known as copperas, are all used for
phosphorus removal

Biological Method

- Phosphorus in the influent water is merged into cell biomass, which is later removed from the
process as end result of sludge wasting
- The advantage of biological phosphorus removal is reduced chemical costs

Refractory Organics
Disinfection

The use of chlorine for disinfection of treated sewage has caused some concerns due to the discovery or
chlorinated organics in public water supplies. Chlorination modifies the physical properties of
hydrocarbons in several ways. It has demonstrated that halogenated hydrocarbons are produced by
chlorination of sewage.

Toxicity from hydrocarbon ingestion can affect many different organs, but the lungs are the most
commonly affected. The chemical properties of the individual hydrocarbon determine the specific
toxicity, while the dose and route of ingestion affect which organs are exposed to the toxicity. Unlike the
aromatic or aliphatic hydrocarbons, the halogenated hydrocarbons tend to cause a wider range of
toxicity.

Combined ultrasonation and ozonation have proven effective in disinfection of wastewater.