Lecture 11

Domestic Waste and Waste Treatment

Text Chapter 21
History
Middle of 19
th
century saw increase in
waterborne diseases in densely-populated
areas (London, England)
Cholera
Modern sewage treatment practices began in
early 20
th
century
Treatment of organic matter in domestic waste
Recently, focus has been on reduction of
pathogenic microbes and removal of toxic
substances
History
Today, more than 15,000 treatment plants
treat approximately 150 billion liters of
wastewater/day in the U.S.
Today 25% of the U.S. population, mainly in
rural areas, use septic tanks to treat
domestic sewage
Composition of domestic sewage
Human feces and urine
100-500 g of feces and 1-1.3 liters of
urine/person/day
graywater
Water from sinks, bathtubs, yard sprinklers
Assessment of amount of organic matter in
sewage
Total organic carbon (TOC)
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Objective of wastewater treatment
To reduce BOD
BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen consumed
by microorganisms during the biochemical oxidation
of organic and inorganic matter to carbon dioxide
5-day BOD test
Purpose of BOD test
Determine amount of oxygen required to oxidize the
organic matter in the wastewater
Determine size of treatment system needed
Assess the efficiency of the treatment process
Determine compliance with wastewater discharge
permits
BOD bottles
BOD as a
function of
time
5-day BOD test
BOD (mg/l) =
__________

D
0
D
5

P
P is decimal volumetric fraction
of wastewater used in test

D is dissolved oxygen
concentration at Time=0
and Time = 5 days
Sample calculation
Determine the 5-day BOD for a 15 ml sample that is diluted
with dilution water to a total volume of 300 ml when the initial
DO concentration is 8 mg/l and after 5 days, has been reduced
to 2 mg/l.
D
0
= 8
D
5
= 2
P = 15 ml/300ml = 0.05

BOD (mg/l) =
_______
= 120

0.05
8 - 2
Table 21.2
Modern Wastewater Treatment
Primary treatment
Separation of large debris following sedimentation
Gravel, sand, twigs. leaves
Bar Screen
Grit Chamber
Anaerobic sludge
digestor
sludge
To land
application
Primary
Settling
Tank
Primary clarifiers
Primary Clarifiers
Separate liquids from solids
Skimmer removes grease at the surface
and sends it to anaerobic digestor
Secondary Treatment
Remaining suspended solids are decomposed
and number of pathogens are reduced
sludge
To anaerobic
sludge digester
Sludge
digester
Final
settling tank
or clarifier
Aeration tank
or
Trickling filter
Primary
settling
tank
Land application Gravity thickener plant
1% 6% solids content
Activated Sludge Process
(aerobic microbial metabolism)
Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS)
Air is pumped through the wastewater
Sludge is removed from the bottom and sent to the
anaerobic sludge digestor
Some of the sludge is used to inoculate the fresh,
incoming wastewater entering the aeration tank

Food/Microbes
Ratio
=
_____________

MLSS x V

Q x BOD
Q = flow rate of sewage in millions of
gallons per day (MGD)

MLSS is in mg/l

V is volume of aeration tank (gallons)
The higher the waste rate, the higher the ratio.

0.2-0.5 lb/BOD
5
/day/lb MLSS is normal

A low ratio means that the microbes are starving.

Computers keep track of properties of sewage
and operating parameters of wastewater
treatment process

Food/Microbe Ratio
Important Operating Parameters
Organic loading rate
Oxygen supply
Control and operation of the final settling tank
Final settling tank
Functions:
Clarification
Thickening

Sludge settleability is determined
by sludge volume index (SVI)
sludge
SVI (ml/g) =
___________

MLSS
V x 1000
where V is volume of
settled sludge after 30 min
Filamentous Bulking
Defined as slow settling and poor compaction of
solids in the clarifier
Caused by excessive growth of long-chain
filamentous bacteria (Nocardia spp., actinomycetes)
A high SVI (>150 ml/g) indicates bulking
Causes
Low F/M (food/microbe)
Low dissolved oxygen
Low nutrient
High sulfide concentrations
Treatment
Treat return sludge with chlorine or hydrogen peroxide to
kill filaments
Using biological indicators of health
and efficiency of plant operation
An abundance
of protozoans
such as rotifers
indicates
healthy situation
Anaerobic Sludge Digestor
Maintain temp
at 37C
30-day
retention time
Kills
pathogens
Produces
methane
used to run
facility
CH
4

Energy to run plant
sludge
Gravity thickener plant
1% 6% solids content
from settling
tanks
Trickling Filter-alternative to activated sludge
tank
Trickling Filter
Porous media
Microbial biofilm
Organic matter CO
2
+ H
2
O
Disinfection
Addition of chlorine
24-h contact time needed for chlorine to kill bacteria
in water before release into the environment
Only in summer in Bozeman
Assume low water temps in receiving water kills pathogens
Sulfur dioxide is added to water to remove chlorine
after sufficient contact time to kill pathogens before
discharge of water into environment
In future, uv-treatment to kill microbes will replace
chlorine
Ultraviolet radiation of water allows less chlorine to be
used, and reduces contact time.
Tertiary treatment
Involves a series of steps to further reduce
organic concentration, turbidity, N, P, metals,
and pathogens
Settling tank
Sand or mixed
media filter
Disinfection
tank
Discharge
to
environment
Sludge
digestor
filters out
protozoans
& pathogenic
bacteria
Tertiary Treatment
Process used when water is to be used for
irrigation, recreation, drinking water
Involves
Filtration
Very effective in removing Crytosporidium and
Giardia
90% removal of enteric bacteria and viruses
Coagulation (iron and aluminum salts, pH>11
99% removal of enteric viruses
Activated carbon adsorption
Additional disinfection
stopped
Nitrogen Removal During Activated Sludge
Process
Encourage nitrification followed by
denitrification
Growth rate of nitrifying bacteria must be
greater than the heterotrophic bacteria in
system
Nitrification requires a long (>4 days) sludge
retention time
Denitrification
Bardenpho
process
Denitrification
Phosphorus Removal
Uptake of phosphate by microbes during
aerobic stage followed by release of
phosphate during anaerobic stage
Aerobic/oxidation process for
phosphate removal
To sludge digestor
Final
settling tank
Aeration
tank
sludge
Primary
settling
tank
Sludge
digestor
Anaerobic
stage
Luxury Phosphorus Uptake
air
Aeration tank Settling tank
Poly-P
Poly-P
P
i

anaerobic
P
i
Poly-P PHAs
P
i
influent
BOD removal
PHAs
Lime
treatment
energy
P
i
precipitation

Detrital organic-P
P
org
= 1/3 to 1/2 P
total

7-14 mg/L
anaerobic
aerobic
Reverse Osmosis Membrane Filtration
>99.9% removal of enteric viruses
Used for water that will be reinjected into
aquifer for protection and storage
Pathogen removal
Concentration in
raw sewage
Enteric
viruses
Salmonella
Giardia Cryptosporidium
10
5
-10
6
5K-80K 9K-200K 1-4,000
Numbers per liter
Primary treatment 1.7K-500K 160-3300 72K-146K
Secondary
treatment
80-470K 3-1000 6.5K-110K
Advanced
secondary
treatment
0.007-170 4x10
-6
-7 0.099-3000
Pathogen analysis
Sample effluent 3 times/week
Total coliforms
Fecal coliforms
protozoans
viruses (not yet, too expensive, not yet
regulated)
Sludge Processing
Sludge from primary settling tank contains 3-
8% solids
Sludge from secondary settling tank contains
0.5-2% solids
Purpose of sludge processing
Reduce water content
Stabilize organic matter
Anaerobic Sludge Digestor
Sludge Processing
Thickening
Settling or centrifugation
Digestion
Microbial process
Stabilization of solids, removal of pathogens, production of
methane
Takes 2-3 weeks in large covered tanks
Conditioning
Addition of alum, ferric chloride, lime to aggregate solids
Dewatering to remove water
Air drying, spreading basins, centrifugation, vacuum
filtration
All of above results in reduction of pathogens in
solids
Sludge
Processing
Steps
Residence time for
water in treatment
plant is 16-20 hrs
stopped
Land disposal of biosolids
Application of biosolids on agricultural land
Quality of biosolids
EPA has established 2 classes of biosolids
Class A
Solids sold in bags to be applied to lawns, gardens
Class B
Solids applied to agricultural land
No food crops should be grown on land for 18
months
Alternatives to conventional tertiary
treatment
Infiltration basins containing coarse sands
with clean water infiltration
Alternating 1 day of flooding and 1 day of drying
Aquifer residence time of 20-45 days
Still required disinfection before release into river
100 ft
100 ft
Secondary
treated water
Land surface
To river
Constructed
Wetlands
Typically less than 1 meter in
depth
support growth of aquatic
vegetation
being used more to treat
secondary wastewater
effluents
vegetation provides surfaces
for microbial attachment and
aids in filtration and removal
of wastewater contaminants
rhizosphere
Types of constructed wetlands
Free water surface Subsurface flow systems
Water hyacinths
Benefits:
surface can be used
for other purposes

no odors
Cryptosporidium reduce 53%
Giardia reduced 58%
enteric viruses reduced 98%
fecal coliforms reduce 98%

Substituting duck weed for hyacinths
Crypto and Giardia removal 98%
fecal coliform removal 57%

Summary
Municipal wastewater treatment plant is
engineered to reduce area/volume
normally required in nature to remove
nutrients and pathogens from wastewater
Primary treatment
Physical removal of large debris
Secondary treatment
Microbiological conversion of organic-C to CO
2

and H
2
O
Tertiary treatment
Inactivate pathogens, remove, N, P, toxins from
water before release to environment