Early warning-system for operation-failures in biological stages of WWTPs by on-line image analysis

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 117-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Heine ◽  
I. Sekoulov ◽  
H. Burkhardt ◽  
L. Bergen ◽  
J. Behrendt
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Biological Parameter ◽  
Chemical Parameters ◽  
Floc Size ◽  
Sludge Flocs ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Microscopic Picture

By the observation and evaluation of the microscopic picture of activated sludge samples it is possible to introduce another biological parameter additional to conventional physico-chemical parameters for the control of biological stages of waste water treatment plants. Considering the fact that parameters like floc size and floc size distribution, structure of the flocs (compact/open), shape of the flocs (round/irregular) allow perceptions of the adjusted operation conditions of the biological stages, evidence for changing operation conditions or threatening operation disturbances can be recognised. This recognition takes place at a very early phase, because the morphology of activated sludge flocs reacts very fast to changing conditions. An automatic image analysis of activated sludge floc pictures would enable the introduction of a new sum parameter to enhance operation control of aeration tanks. By a statistical evaluation of the processed sludge images several parameters can be used to describe the alteration of activated sludge flocs characteristics. With these biological parameters it is possible to detect altered operation conditions or threatening or existing operation problems at an early phase. Thus it is possible to plan suitable countermeasures. Furthermore, the microscopic picture is the only parameter, that gives important information about the structure of the activated sludge flocs and the biozenosis. In comparison with the mainly used physico-chemical parameters, that just give information about the inlet and outlet of the wastewater treatment plants, the microscopic picture is the only parameter that gives information about the biology of the wastewater treatment process. By means of this biological parameter an improved control and regulation of the biological stages of wastewater treatment plants can be obtained.

scholarly journals Deep learning-based morphology classification of activated sludge flocs in wastewater treatment plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisashi Satoh ◽  
Yukari Kashimoto ◽  
Naoki Takahashi ◽  
Takashi Tsujimura
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Morphological Change ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Filamentous Bacteria ◽  
Sludge Flocs

A deep learning-based two-label classifier 1 recognized a 20% morphological change in the activated flocs. Classifier-2 quantitatively recognized an abundance of filamentous bacteria in activated flocs.

Microscopic and enzymatic investigations on biofilms of wastewater treatment systems

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Gschlößl ◽  
Ingrid Michel ◽  
Marion Heiter ◽  
Christian Nerger ◽  
Verena Rehbein
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Organic Substances ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Sludge Flocs ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Stability

In biological wastewater treatment inorganic and organic substances are fixed and metabolized by mixed populations of microorganisms forming either activated sludge flocs or biofilms. Not only the type of wastewater but also the operational conditions promote the development of an adapted biocenosis of microorganisms with specialized enzymatic functions. Understanding the biological properties of the microorganisms, it is possible to assess the prevailing conditions in their natural environment. Regular microscopic and enzymatic investigations of activated sludge and biofilms thus improve the assessment of the stability of the processes and support troubleshooting in wastewater treatment plants. While the role of bacteria is often discussed, the importance of ciliated protozoes and metazoes for the maintenance of the stability of biofilm systems is rarely mentioned. In this paper we intend to show some new results of direct microscopic observations in different sorts of biofilm systems focussing upon ciliated protozoes and metazoes. Practical results will demonstrate the relation between enzymatic analysis, microscopic investigations and performance of biofilm systems.

scholarly journals The ecology of the Chloroflexi in full-scale activated sludge wastewater treatment plants

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Nierychlo ◽  
Aleksandra Miłobędzka ◽  
Francesca Petriglieri ◽  
Bianca McIlroy ◽  
Per Halkjær Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Sludge Flocs ◽  
Hybridization Probes ◽  
Operational Problem

AbstractFilamentous bacteria belonging to the phylum Chloroflexi have received considerable attention in wastewater treatment systems for their suggested role in operational problem of impaired sludge settleability known as bulking. Their consistently high abundance in full-scale systems, even in the absence of bulking, indicates that they make a substantial contribution to the nutrient transformations during wastewater treatment. In this study, extensive 16S rRNA amplicon surveys of full-scale Danish WWTPs were screened to identify the most numerically important Chloroflexi genera. Fluorescencein situhybridization probes were designed for theirin situcharacterization. All abundant phylotypes of the phylum were identified as facultative anaerobic chemoorganotrophs involved in fermentation of sugars. These groups were all filamentous but differed in their morphology and spatial arrangement.‘CandidatusVilligracilis’ was predominantly located within the activated sludge flocs, where they possibly have structural importance, and their abundance was relatively stable. Conversely, the abundance of‘CandidatusAmarolinea’ was highly dynamic, relative to other genera, sometimes reaching abundances in excess of 30% of the biovolume, suggesting their likely role in bulking episodes. This study gives an important insight into the role of Chloroflexi in WWTPs, thus contributing to the broader goal of understanding the ecology of these biotechnologically important systems.

scholarly journals Influence of road salt thawing peaks on the inflow composition and activated sludge properties in municipal wastewater treatment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tauber ◽  
B. Flesch ◽  
V. Parravicini ◽  
K. Svardal ◽  
J. Krampe
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Road Salt ◽  
Volume Index ◽  
Municipal Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Floc Size ◽  
Floc Structure ◽  
Autotrophic Biomass

Abstract Operational data over 2 years from three large Austrian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with design capacities of 4 million, 950,000 and 110,000 population equivalent (PE) were examined. Salt peaks, due to thawing road salt were detected and quantified by electrical conductivity, temperature and chloride measurement in the inflow of the WWTPs. Daily NaCl inflow loads up to 1,147 t/d and PE-specific loads of 0.26–0.5 kg NaCl/(PE · y) were found. To mimic the plants' behaviour in a controlled environment, NaCl was dosed into the inflow of a laboratory-scale activated sludge plant. The influence of salt peaks on important activated sludge parameters such as sludge volume index, settling velocity and floc size were investigated. Influent and effluent were sampled extensively to calculate removal rates. Respiration measurements were performed to quantify activated sludge activity. Particle size distributions of the activated sludge floc sizes were measured using laser diffraction particle sizing and showed a decrease of the floc size by approximately two-thirds. The floc structure was examined and documented using light microscopy. At salt concentrations below 1 g/L, increased respiration was found for autotrophic biomass, and between 1 and 3 g NaCl/L respiration was inhibited by up to 30%.

Variations of morphology of activated sludge flocs studied at full-scale wastewater treatment plants

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1123-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Liwarska-Bizukojc ◽  
Anna Klepacz-Smółka ◽  
Olga Andrzejczak
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Sludge Flocs

scholarly journals Assessment of the Marine Ecotoxic State in the Moroccan Coastal Area Anza-Taghazout following the Installation of Two Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Multibiomarker Study using Mytilus Galloprovincialis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
YOUSSEF EL MOURABIT ◽  
Mustapha Agnaou ◽  
Aicha Ait Alla ◽  
Abdellatif Moukrim
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Chemical Parameters ◽  
Glutathione S Transferase ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
Xenobiotic Exposure ◽  
Biomarker Response ◽  
Marine Bivalves ◽  
Different Sources

Abstract The aim of the present study is the first to evaluate the ecotoxic state of the marine environment in Anza-Taghazout coasts (Morocco) after installation of two Wastewater Treatment Plants using a natural population of marine bivalves M. galloprovincialis. These coasts are exposed to many discharges generating, thus, different sources of pollutants. These pollutants can modulate the physiological responses of marine bivalves to environmental stress. In this context, a multi-biomarker approach consisting of a battery of biomarkers evaluation was used to assess the response of these species to stress. In the whole soft tissues of M. galloprovincialis, four biomarkers were evaluated: Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), Glutathione S-transferase (GST), Catalase (Cat) and malondialdehyde activity (MDA). In parallel, physico-chemical parameters were measured in the marine water of Anza-Taghazout within three selected sites: S1 considered as ‘hotspot’ located at Anza city; S2 located near of Aourir city and the third site, S3 ‘reference’ located in Imouran beach. Our results showed that activities of both Gluthation-S-Transferase and Catalase were higher in M. galloprovincialis collected from site S1, but high values of Malondialdehyde and Acetylcholinesterase activities were observed successively at S3 and S2. Application of Integrated Biomarker Response index (IBR) was suitable for classifying the stress response in the M. galloprovincialis but did not allow to evaluate the level of the xenobiotic exposure in the studied sites. The statistical results did not show any significant differences between the three studied sites and therefore S1 has recently become clean due to the installation of two wastewater treatment plants.

scholarly journals Seasonality and Community Separation of Fungi in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoqing Zhang ◽  
Fuqiang Fan ◽  
Fangang Meng
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Rare Taxa ◽  
Sludge Flocs

ABSTRACT Fungi are known to play important roles in pollutant transformation in activated sludge-based wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, the seasonality and distributions of fungal populations in different-sized flocs have still remained largely unknown. In this study, seasonal population dynamics and community separation of fungi in a municipal WWTP across a 1-year period were investigated. We classified all taxa into six categories based on abundances to assess their roles and contributions to the whole community. The results showed that the rare taxa (<0.01%) contributed greatly to species richness (95.27%). Conversely, although low in species diversity, abundant taxa (≥1%) accounted for the majority (89.45%) of the total relative abundance, which suggested that a few core abundant fungi existed in the activated sludge ecosystem. The abundant, conditionally rare, and rare taxa contributed 30.14%, 31.11%, and 38.75%, respectively, to temporal shifts in community structure, and their abundances responded differently to environmental variables, suggesting that these three subcommunities exhibited a large difference in environmental sensitivity. Importantly, the results revealed seasonal dynamics of the whole fungal community and the subcommunities of all the microbial taxon categories, resulting in significant differences in community structures between warm and cold seasons. Furthermore, fungal diversity and the compositions of the whole community and subcommunities differed significantly among flocs of different sizes, which underlined the size-based fungal community separation in activated sludge of WWTPs. The findings of this work improved our understanding of fungal population dynamics and community separation in WWTPs. IMPORTANCE Fungi are important contributors to the various functions of activated sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Unlike previous studies, this work demonstrated the seasonality of the fungal community over a longer time span while it also systematically assessed the contributions of abundant, conditionally rare, and rare taxa to the whole community. Importantly, in the present study, we considered sludge flocs of a certain size range rather than the whole sludge flocs as a community. Our results revealed significant differences in fungal community structure among different-sized flocs, which supported the idea that size-based fungal community segregation is occurring in activated sludge ecosystems. The findings provide new insights into the dynamic changes or distribution of fungi in the bioaggregates of sludge flocs in WWTPs.

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