WATER TREATMENT PLANT RESIDUE MANAGEMENT

ALAN ANTONY
I Semester MTech Environmental Engineering VNIT

CONTENTS
Introduction What is residual management plan? Different categories of residuals in water treatment Sources of residues Process Methods of disposals Chemical recovery

RESIDUALS
Unwanted waste materials removed from water Compounds created by the addition of chemicals at different stages of treatment such as floc, lime solids etc Organic and inorganic compounds in gaseous, liquid and solid forms

What is residual management plan?

Characterize form, quantity, and quality of the residuals. Determine appropriate regulatory requirements. Identify feasible disposal options. Select appropriate residuals processing/ treatment technologies. Develop a residuals management strategy that meets both the economic and noneconomic goals established for a water treatment facility.

RESIDUAL CATEGORIES
Sludge waste produced in sedimentation basins in conventional coagulation-filtration plants or lime softening plants Spent filter back wash water that has been used to clean filters in conventional or softening plants Membrane concentrate liquid waste consisting of contaminants rejected by the membrane and any additives applied before membrane treatment Brine residuals liquid waste similar to the concentrate generated by the desalination membrane operations but produced by the ion exchange process Spent carbon - carbon that has exceeded its useful life as adsorbent Off gases waste produced by air stripping facilities that releases vapour to the atmosphere

RESIDUAL SOURCES

TREATMENT PROCESSES AND RESIDUES PRODUCED

PRE SEDIMENTATION
The residues generated consist of clays, silts, sands, and other heavy settleable materials present in the raw water. COAGULATION, FLOCCULATION, AND SEDIMENTATION coagulant metal hydroxides along with source water natural organic matter, suspended solids, microorganisms, radionuclides, and other organic and inorganic constituents.

Contd.
Moisture content : (97 to 99.5%) Color : varies from light brown to black Feathery, bulky, and gelatinous. requires additional processing such as thickening, dewatering, or drying prior to disposal. difficult to dewater.

LIME SOFTENING
calcium carbonate (85 to 95% total solids) hydroxide of magnesium, aluminium, and other metals. clay and silt particles. minor amounts of unreacted lime . inorganic and organic matter.

Contd..
FILTRATION
clay and silt microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, and protozoan cysts) colloidal and precipitated humic substances natural organic particulates from the decay of vegetation.

ION EXCHANGE
Calcium and mg ions, also removes nitrates, barium, radium, arsenate, selenite, excess levels of fluoride, lead, and chromate

Contd..
ACTIVATED CARBON
removes ions or molecules from the source water by adsorbing the chemicals in the source water onto the treatment media remove naturally occurring organic materials, taste, odor, synthetic organic compounds, as well as disinfection byproducts Residuals generated by GAC include backwash water (or surface wash water) and spent media. Backwash water generally contains the removed contaminants such as suspended solids, biological films, organics, and some filter media. The spent media (or carbon) is sent off site for regeneration or disposal.

TECHNOLOGIES AND PRACTICES FOR PREVENTING, TREATING, DISPOSING OF, AND DISCHARGING SOURCE WATER TREATMENT RESIDUALS

BMPs.
Pollution prevention and waste reduction. Residuals treatment. Disposal of wastes. Discharge of wastes.

ZERO DISCHARGE STATUS

Generate residues but do not discharge multiple benefits such as water conservation, environmental improvements, and cost reduction. Achieved by a combination of pollution prevention/waste management and residuals treatment practices, such as recycling, evaporation, composting, landfill disposal, spray irrigation, underground injection, and land application.

POLLUTION PREVENTION AND WASTE REDUCTION

Optimizing source water intake conditions to reduce suspended solids and thereby reduce source water treatment requirements. Optimizing filter media for finished water and residuals. Optimizing pH to reduce coagulant chemicals used. Reducing softening chemicals used by frequent monitoring of source water hardness. Returning backwash water and filter-to-waste to the head of the source water treatment plant for reuse. Reusing precipitative softening chemicals by recycling softening residuals. Recovering treatment chemicals.

RESIDUAL HANDLING PROCESSES

Thickening Conditioning Dewatering Drying Disposal and Reuse Coagulant recovery

THICKENING
increase the solids content of the residuals by removing a portion of the water

1. Gravity thickener 2. Floatation thickener 3. Gravity belt thickener Gravity Thickener carbonate and metallic hydroxide residuals are conveyed to gravity settling tanks at a flow rate that allows the residuals sufficient retention time to settle

CONDITIONING
Chemical conditioning
This conditioning involves the addition of ferric chloride, lime, or polymer

Physical conditioning 1. Freeze-thaw conditioning:

This process may be accomplished through either an open-air process in cold weather climates or through mechanical equipment.

Contd..
2. Thermal conditioning: Thermal conditioning at high temperatures (350F to 400F) under high pressure Effective when there is a high organic content present in the solids.

DEWATERING
Storage Ponds and Lagoons Can be used for storage, thickening, dewatering, or drying. Final residual disposal Sand drying beds dewater residuals by gravity drainage, followed by evaporation. Water drains through the sand and exits through the under-drain.

Mechanical Dewatering Processes

Belt Filter Presses Sludge sandwiched between two porous belts is passed over and under rollers of various diameters

CENTRIFUGE
A process that uses the force developed by fast rotation of a cylindrical bowl to separate solids from liquids. When a mixture of solids and water enters the centrifuge, it is forced against the bowls interior walls, forming a pool of liquid that separates into two distinct layers.

DISPOSAL
The most common methods of WTP residuals disposal used in the water industry are Land application Land filling Direct stream discharge Discharge to the sewers

CHEMICAL RECOVERY
Coagulant Recovery Extracting aluminum or iron coagulants from the waste stream. Extraction is achieved by acidification Extraction pH is typically in the range of 1.8 to 3.0. Acid contact time of 10 to 20 minutes

CONTD
Lime Recovery
Lime recovery is accomplished through the recalcination process Lime residual is dewatered and then burned to produce quicklime

Water Treatment Plant Residuals for Use in Storm-Water Control Measures

Sustainable alternative to landfill disposal of WTRs. The incorporation of residuals into SCMs may provide additional water quality improvements Aluminum-based coagulants are commonly used in water treatment systems aluminum-based water treatment residuals (Al-WTR) are effective at removing phosphate at concentrations found in storm-water runoff. In addition to research has shown that WTRs have the potential to remove a variety of other contaminants from water. These contaminants include cadmium, lead , zinc, arsenic, mercury, perchlorate and fluoride.

CONTD
Hydraulic conductivity of the residuals Are modified by heating it in elevated temperature 1. drying at 105C for at least 24 h 2. Baking at 1,000C.

1,000C was chosen because increases in temperature have been shown to transform amorphous aluminum hydroxide to more thermodynamically stable phases
minimize leaching from WTRs.

REFERENCES
Drinking Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management Technical Report (EPA 2011) ASCE, 1996. Technology Transfer Handbook: Management of Water Treatment Plant Residuals, ASCE and AWWA Ed. NY. Tech Brief : Water Treatment Plant Residuals Management, Feasibility Study of As-Received and Modified (Dried/Baked) Water Treatment Plant Residuals for Use in Storm-Water Control Measures (John Komlos1; Andrea Welker, M.ASCE2; Vito Punzi3; and Robert Traver, M.ASCE4) (ASCE JOURNAL)

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