Sequence of purification stages:

First purification stage = mechanical waste water treatment

First of all the waste water passes a bar screen which holds back larger solid objects such as paper, bottles,
branches and tins and removes them by means of an automated mechanical rake.
The sewage channel broadens out into the grit chamber, reducing the velocity of the incoming sewage and
thus allowing coarser particles such as gravel and sand, which are heavier than water, to settle at the bottom.
In the primary settlement tank the water is retained for approximately two hours. In this large rectangular or
round settlement tank fine suspended particles can settle as sludge at the bottom. This raw sludge is removed,
thickened (10.) and transferred to a digestion tank (11.). Light particles floating on the water's surface such as fat
and mineral oil are skimmed off and discharged into a separate tank.
The first three stages make up the first purification stage. As it involves purely mechanical treatment of the waste
water it is also referred to as the mechanical treatment stage. This stage removes approximately 30 per cent of
polluting matter from the inflowing raw waste water the plant has to process in total.
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Second purification stage = biological waste water treatment
In the second or biological purification stage a natural process is used by passing the sewage liquor into an
aeration tank. In an activated sludge process oxygen is inserted into the liquor to create favourable conditions for
microorganisms which feed on solved organic particles in the effluent and accumulate the ingested matter.
During this process pollutants such as heavy metals are also ingested.
A large number of microorganisms form colonies which become visible as sludge flocs. These sludge flocs
settle at the bottom of the subsequent secondary settling pond or clarifier and are either returned to the activated
sludge process or pumped into the primary settling pond (3.) for sludge disposal. Hence, the removal of sewage
sludge from the effluent eliminates the bio-degradable pollutants. Smaller sewage treatment plants often use
trickling filters, i.e. round concrete tanks loosely filled with porous rocks which provide a large surface area
needed by the bacteria to settle. They form a continuous film ("biofilm" – similar to the sludge flocs of the
activated sludge process) over which the discharged effluent is passed. The mechanical and biological treatment
stages clean the effluent to a degree of approximately 90 per cent.
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Third purification stage = additional waste water treatment
Today waste water is generally polluted with chemical substances such as nitrogen and phosphate which makes
it necessary to apply additional special processes.
 In the example shown in the illustration liquor containing phosphate from the secondary settling pond is
first of all fed into a flocculation tank
In this stage the effluent undergoes vigorous mixing and a dosing pump for precipitants simultaneously
dispenses a chemical solution in the liquor.
This precipitant reacts chemically with the phosphates and forms a water-insoluble compound and the
residual contaminants form flocs which settle in a subsequent clarifier as sludge. This sludge is thickened and
transferred to the digestion tank.
The cleaned waste water can now be discharged into the natural environment.
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Sludge treatment and disposal
The sludge accumulating in stages and has a water content of approximately 98 per cent.
The addition of thickening agents helps to bring this down to 96 per cent, reducing the sludge volume by 50
per cent.
The sludge is subsequently discharged into a digestion tank. In an anaerobic fermentation process a digester
gas is formed at a temperature of 35 ° Celsius which consist of 2/3 of methane and 1/3 of carbon dioxide.
This gas is stored in a separate tank to be used as fuel for heating.
After approximately 4 weeks the digestion process is completed and the then odour-free sludge is discharged
into a sludge drying bed for dewatering.