scholarly journals Effect of sewage sampling frequency on determination of design parameters for municipal wastewater treatment plants

Author(s):  
T. Gehring ◽  
E. Deineko ◽  
I. Hobus ◽  
G. Kolisch ◽  
M. Lübken ◽  
...  

Abstract The uncertainty associated with the determination of load parameters, which is a key step in the design of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), was investigated on basis on data sets from 58 WWTPs. A further analysed aspect was the organic load variations associated with variable sewage temperatures. Data from 26 WWTPs with a high inflow sampling frequency was used to simulate scenarios to investigate the effect of lower sampling frequencies through a Monte Carlo approach. The calculation of 85-percentile values for chemical oxygen demand (COD) loadings based on only 26 samples per year is associated with a variability of up to ±18%. Approximately 90 samples per year will be necessary to reduce this uncertainty for estimation of COD loadings below 10%. Hence, a low sampling frequency can potentially lead to under- or overestimation of design parameters. Through an analogous approach, it was possible to identify uncertainties of ±11% in COD loading when weekly average data was used with 4 samples per week. Finally, a tendency of lower COD input loads with increasing temperatures was identified, with a reduction of about 1% of the average loading per degree Celsius.

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1590-1598 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Masi ◽  
S. Caffaz ◽  
A. Ghrabi

In the present paper the detailed design and performances of two municipal wastewater treatment plants, a four-stage constructed wetlands (CW) system located in the city of Dicomano (about 3,500 inhabitants) in Italy, and a three-stage CW system for the village of Chorfech (about 500 inhabitants) in Tunisia, are presented. The obtained results demonstrate that multi-stage CWs provide an excellent secondary treatment for wastewaters with variable operative conditions, reaching also an appropriate effluent quality for reuse. Dicomano CWs have shown good performances, on average 86% of removal for the Organic Load, 60% for Total Nitrogen (TN), 43% for Total Phosphorus (TP), 89% for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and 76% for Ammonium (NH4+). Even the disinfection process has performed in a very satisfactory way, reaching up to 4–5 logs of reduction of the inlet pathogens concentration, with an Escherichia coli average concentration in the outlet often below 200 UFC/100 mL. The mean overall removal rates of the Chorfech CWs during the monitored period have been, respectively, equal to 97% for TSS and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), 95% for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), 71% for TN and 82% for TP. The observed removal of E. coli by the CW system was in this case 2.5 log units.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-322
Author(s):  
A. Sperlich ◽  
P. Geyer ◽  
R. Gnirss ◽  
M. Barjenbruch

Operation of a pilot-scale dual-media biological filter as post-denitrification step in a municipal wastewater treatment plant was investigated for 28 months. In order to identify key design parameters, filtration rate, external carbon dosing concentration and strategy as well as backwash frequency were varied. The results show that dual-media biological filtration is able to achieve effluent concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) ≤2 mg/L and NO3-N ≤ 5 mg/L. TSS removal also leads to a reduction of particulate bound phosphorus and chemical oxygen demand without dosing any precipitant. Soluble reactive phosphorus is required for growth of the denitrifying bacteria and reduced from 0.4 to 0.3 mg/L in the filter effluent, corresponding to approximately 0.02 g P/g NOx-N removed. Depending on NOx-N loading and carbon dosage, average denitrification rates of 0.5–1.0 kg NOx-N/m3*d were achieved in different operational phases. Seasonally varying nitrite formation and breakthrough in the filter effluent were observed and could not be controlled by adjusting carbon dosage and backwash frequency. Effective operational strategies to prevent nitrite breakthrough at NOx-N loads in the range of 1–2 kg NOx-N/m3*d and high influent O2 levels are therefore needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 515-527
Author(s):  
L. Desa ◽  
P. Kängsepp ◽  
L. Quadri ◽  
G. Bellotti ◽  
K. Sørensen ◽  
...  

Abstract Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in touristic areas struggle to achieve the effluent requirements due to seasonal variations in population. In alpine areas, the climate also determines a low wastewater temperature, which implies long sludge retention time (SRT) needed for the growth of nitrifying biomass in conventional activated sludge (CAS). Moreover, combined sewers generate high flow and dilution. The present study shows how the treatment efficiency of an existing CAS plant with tertiary treatment can be upgraded by adding a compact line in parallel, consisting of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR)-coagulation-flocculation-disc filtration. This allows the treatment of influent variations in the MBBR and a constant flow supply to the activated sludge. The performance of the new 2-step process was comparable to that of the improved existing one. Regardless significant variations in flow (10,000–25,000 m3/d) and total suspended solids (TSS) (50–300 mg/L after primary treatment) the effluent quality fulfilled the discharge requirements. Based on yearly average effluent data, TSS were 11 mg/L, chemical oxygen demand (COD) 27 mg/L and total phosphorus (TP) 0.8 mg/L. After the upgrade, ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) dropped from 4.9 mg/L to 1.3 mg/L and the chemical consumption for phosphorus removal was reduced.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (9) ◽  
pp. 2242-2252 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Vaccari ◽  
P. Foladori ◽  
S. Nembrini ◽  
F. Vitali

Abstract One of the largest surveys in Europe about energy consumption in Italian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is presented, based on 241 WWTPs and a total population equivalent (PE) of more than 9,000,000 PE. The study contributes towards standardised resilient data and benchmarking and to identify potentials for energy savings. In the energy benchmark, three indicators were used: specific energy consumption expressed per population equivalents (kWh PE−1 year−1), per cubic meter (kWh/m3), and per unit of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed (kWh/kgCOD). The indicator kWh/m3, even though widely applied, resulted in a biased benchmark, because highly influenced by stormwater and infiltrations. Plants with combined networks (often used in Europe) showed an apparent better energy performance. Conversely, the indicator kWh PE−1 year−1 resulted in a more meaningful definition of a benchmark. High energy efficiency was associated with: (i) large capacity of the plant, (ii) higher COD concentration in wastewater, (iii) separate sewer systems, (iv) capacity utilisation over 80%, and (v) high organic loads, but without overloading. The 25th percentile was proposed as a benchmark for four size classes: 23 kWh PE−1 y−1 for large plants > 100,000 PE; 42 kWh PE−1 y−1 for capacity 10,000 < PE < 100,000, 48 kWh PE−1 y−1 for capacity 2,000 < PE < 10,000 and 76 kWh PE−1 y−1 for small plants < 2,000 PE.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marketa Julinova ◽  
Jan Kupec ◽  
Roman Slavik ◽  
Maria Vaskova

Abstract A synthetic polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP - E 1201) primarily finds applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries due to its resistance and zero toxicity to organisms. After ingestion, the substance passes through the organism unchanged. Consequently, it enters the systems of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) without decomposing biologically during the waste treatment process, nor does it attach (through sorption) to particles of activated sludge to any significant extent, therefore, it passes through the system of a WWTP, which may cause the substance to accumulate in the natural environment. For this reason the paper investigates the potential to initiate aerobic biodegradation of PVP in the presence of activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The following agents were selected as the initiators of the biodegradation process - co-substrates: acrylamide, N-acethylphenylalanine and 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, a substance with a similar structure to PVP monomer. The biodegradability of PVP in the presence of co-substrates was evaluated on the basis of biological oxygen demand (BOD) as determined via a MicroOxymax O2/CO2/CH4 respirometer. The total substrate concentration in the suspension equaled 400 mg·dm-3, with the ratio between PVP and the cosubstrate being 1:1, while the concentration of the dry activated sludge was 500 mg·dm-3. Even though there was no occurrence of a significant increase in the biodegradation of PVP alone in the presence of a co-substrate, acrylamide appeared to be the most effective type of co-substrate. Nevertheless, a recorded decrease in the slope of biodegradation curves over time may indicate that a process of primary decomposition was underway, which involves the production of metabolites that inhibit activated sludge microorganisms. The resulting products are not identified at this stage of experimentation.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 191-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hallvard Ødegaard ◽  
Bjørn Rusten

Most of the dairies in Norway discharge their wastewater to the municipal sewers. Insufficient knowledge about the organic load coming from the dairies, has resulted in inadequate design and organic overloading in the municipal wastewater treatment plants of this category. Several of the plants that originally based their biological process upon RBC as the bioprocess, have experienced mechanical breakdown of the RBC system. The submerged biological filter (SABF) has been introduced as an alternative biofilm method that may be used when broken down RBC-plants (or activated sludge plants) are to be upgraded. The paper describes results from pilot-plant experiments on dairy waste when the SABF is used for pretreatment, as well as results from plants in practice where the SABF is used for combined treatment of the dairy and municipal wastewater. It is shown how pretreatment in a balancing tank may be established, and results from the use of an alternative floating biofilm media are given.


2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 2011-2022
Author(s):  
Vallo Kõrgmaa ◽  
Mailis Laht ◽  
Riin Rebane ◽  
Erki Lember ◽  
Karin Pachel ◽  
...  

Abstract Chemical pollution poses a threat to the aquatic environment and to human health. Wastewater treatment plants are the last defensive line between the aquatic environment and emissions of pollutants. This study focuses on identification of most relevant hazardous substances in Estonian municipal wastewater and their fate in the treatment process. During this study, seasonal wastewater and sewage sludge samples were collected from nine municipal wastewater treatment plants and analyzed for 282 hazardous substances, including EU (n = 45) and Estonian (n = 31) priority substances. Results of this study show that several substances that are subject to international restrictions (e.g. Stockholm Convention) are still present in untreated sewage. Wastewater treatment systems that had a greater level of complexity (TEC >5) were more successful in removing hazardous substances. Statistical analyses showed that removal efficiency of organic hazardous substances had significant (p-value <0.05) linear correlation with removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS), but a monotonic relationship with operators' competency. This study showed that operators' competency had a strong influence on the stability of the wastewater treatment efficiency and removal of organic hazardous substances.


2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 3299-3306
Author(s):  
M. Kaless ◽  
L. Palmowski ◽  
J. Pinnekamp

Abstract The energy content of screenings from six municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was examined. Hourly samples of separated screenings were taken over 24 hours at three of the plants to illustrate diurnal variations. To recover the chemical energy, which usually leaves the WWTP with the screenings, a screenings wash press was used to transfer organic matter from the solid into the liquid phase. The chemical energy of raw and compacted washed screenings as well as the chemical energy of washing water were determined by measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD) for the six WWTPs. A mass weighted average of 1.35 gCOD/gdm (dm: dry matter) was found in the raw screenings of three WWTPs. The overall recovered energy from screenings was found to range from 0.27 to 0.62 gCOD/gdm. This washed-out COD found in the washing water could be sent for anaerobic digestion or to the wastewater treatment process as a carbon source for denitrification.


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