INTRODUCTION

The term aerobic digestion refers to the use of aerobic bioreactors to stabilize particulate
organic matter arising from primary clarification (predominant biodegradable organic matter) and
biological treatment (predominantly biomass) of wastewaters (Leslie Grady Jr. et al., 2011). Leslie
Grady Jr (2011) stated that the solids (in the wastewater) are oxidized using either dissolved
oxygen or nitrate-N as the terminal electron acceptor. Based from the experiment conducted, the
solids are oxidized by only using dissolved oxygen, as it only involves activated sludge process.
Leslie Grady Jr. (2011) also claimed that the resulting residue consists primarily of a relatively
inert, humus-like material that degrades quite slowly (months to years) in both aerobic and
anaerobic environment. The destruction of pathogens is also an objective in municipal wastewater
treatment facilities (Leslie Grady Jr.).

The aerobic digestion process used in this experiment is specifically the activated sludge
process. Based from the explanation from Sperling (2007), the activated sludge process is widely
used around the world for the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater, in situations where
the high effluent quality is necessary and space availability is limited. He also claimed that
however, the activated sludge system is more heavily mechanised than the other treatment systems,
involves a more sophisticated operation. Hung, Wang & Shammas (2012) stated that the physical
components are aeration tanks in which the biological oxidation takes place and settling tanks used
for recovering activated sludge. Sperling added that the settling of solids (biomass), leads to a
clarified final effluent, occurs in the sedimentation tank, where the solids that settle in the bottom
of the secondary sedimentation tank is recirculated to the reactor (return sludge), to maintain a
large biomass concentration in the reactor, which is responsible for the high efficiency of the
system.
 Hung, Wang & Shammas (2012) stated the following:

Oxygen is diffused or transported by mechanical aerators. The aerobic microorganisms in

activated sludge use the organic material in the waste as a source of food. They are able to produce
002-1 kg of activated-sludge suspended solids for 1 kg of BOD. For a good operation of activated-
sludge process, the required conditions include:

Sludge should contain sufficient number and mass of microorganisms.

Sufficient dissolved oxygen (more than 1.0 mg/L) should be present at all positions in the
aeration tank.
Sludge should easily settle.

From the experiment conducted, the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), which is the
measurement of the oxygen required to oxidize soluble and particulate organic matter in water, is
taken before the activated sludge process started, and after the activated sludge process finished.
This is done to determine how much the COD in a wastewater will decrease after treatment by
using activated sludge process. This COD test is important as it will determine the value of
Dissolved Oxygen in a sample tested, where if the COD reading is higher, it means that the number
of pollutant in a sample is high. It is important to test the COD before and after the experiments,
in order to determine whether this treatment is viable for treating wastewater, and showing how
much the effectiveness of treating wastewater by using this activated sludge process.

Fig.1: Basic flow sheet of an activated sludge process.