Biological Wastewater

Treatment
 SOURCES OF WASTEWATER

 Industrial
 Municipal
 Commercial
CHARECTERISTICS OF WASTERWATER

 Physical Characteristics
 Chemical Characteristics
 Biological Characteristics
Basic Treatments Of Wastewater

 Physical Treatment
 Chemical Treatment
 Biological Treatment / Secondary Treatment
 Advanced treatment / Tertiary Treatment
Biological Wastewater Treatment

 The use of bacteria and other microorganisms to

remove contaminants by assimilating them.
 Main objectives of biological treatment:
-to remove or reduce the concentration of organic,
inorganic compounds nutrients specially nitrogen and
phosphorus. Also denitrification of common
terminology used for biological treatment process.
Objectives of Biological Treatment

 For domestic wastewater, the main objectives are:

 Transform (oxidize) dissolved and particulate
biodegradable constituents into acceptable by-
products
 Capture and incorporate suspended and nonsettleable
colloidal solids into a biological floc or biofilm
 Transform or remove nutrients, such as nitrogen and
phosphorous
 Remove specific trace organic constituents and
compounds
Objectives of Biological Treatment

 For industrial wastewater, the main objectives is:

 Remove or reduce the concentration of organic and inorganic
compounds
Pre-treatment of industrial wastewater may be required due to
presence of toxicants before being discharged to sewer line.
 For agricultural wastewater, the main objective is:
 Remove nutrients, such as N and P, that stimulate the growth of
aquatic life
Types of Biological Treatment

 There are two types of biological treatment. These

are:
 Aerobic Treatment
 Anaerobic Treatment
 Types of Biological Treatment

 Aerobic process use bacteria that require oxygen, so

air is circulated throughout the treatment tank. These
aerobic bacteria then breakdown the waste within
the wastewater.
 Aerobic wastewater treatment is a biological process
that takes place in the presence of oxygen. Aerobic
wastewater treatment encourages the growth of
naturallyoccurring aerobic microorganisms as a
means of renovating wastewater. Such microbes are
the engines of wastewater treatment plants.
Types of Biological Treatment
 Types Of Aerobic Treatment
Systems

 Fixed film systems

 Fixed film systems use a porous medium which provides a
bed to support the biomass film that digests the waste
material in the wastewater. Designs for fixed film systems
vary widely, but fall into two basic categories (though
some systems may combine both methods). The first is a
system where the media is moved relative to the
wastewater, alternately immersing the film and exposing it
to air, while the second uses a stationary media, and varies
the wastewater flow so the film is alternately submerged
and exposed to air.
 Types Of Aerobic Treatment
Systems

 Continuous flow, suspended growth aerobic systems

 CFSGAS systems, as the name implies, are designed to
handle continuous flow, and do not provide a bed for a
bacterial film, relying rather on bacteria suspended in the
wastewater. The suspension and aeration are typically
provided by an air pump, which pumps air through the
aeration chamber, providing a constant stirring of the
wastewater in addition to the oxygenation. A medium to
promote fixed film bacterial growth may be added to some
systems designed to handle higher than normal levels of
biomass in the wastewater.
 Types Of Aerobic Treatment
Systems
 Retrofit or portable aerobic systems
 Another increasingly common use of aerobic treatment is for
the remediation of failing or failed anaerobic septic systems, by
retrofitting an existing system with an aerobic feature. This
class of product, known as aerobic remediation, is designed to
remediate biologically failed and failing anaerobic distribution
systems by significantly reducing the biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS) of the
effluent. The reduction of the BOD5 and TSS reverses the
developed bio-mat. Further, effluent with high dissolved
oxygen and aerobic bacteria flow to the distribution
component and digest the bio-mat. Doing so on single tank
systems where solids do not have anywhere to settle, or there
is no a clarifying area can do damage to the field lines as the
solid matter is stirred up in the tank.
 Aerobic Biological Treatment
Technologies

 Conventional Activated Sludge Process (ASP) System

 This is the most common and oldest biotreatment process
used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater. Typically
wastewater after primary treatment i.e. suspended
impurities removal is treated in an activated sludge process
based biological treatment system comprising aeration
tank followed by secondary clarifier.
 Conventional Activated Sludge Process (ASP) System
 Aerobic Biological Treatment
Technologies

 Cyclic Activated Sludge System (CASS)

 Cyclic Activated Sludge System (CASS) as the name
suggests is one of the most popular sequencing batch
reactor (SBR) processes employed to treat municipal
wastewater and wastewater from a variety of industries
including refineries and petrochemical plants. Aquatech
has an agreement with AECOM (erstwhile Earth Tech), UK,
the licensor of this technology to supply CASS technology
in India on exclusive basis to both municipal and industrial
markets.
Advantages of Cyclic Activated Sludge System (CASS)

 Operates under continuous reduced loading through simple cycle

adjustment.
 Operates with feed-starve selectivity, So/Xo operation (control of
limiting substrate to micro-organism ratio), and aeration intensity to
prevent filamentous sludge bulking and ensures endogenous
respiration (removal of all available substrate), nitrification and
denitrification together with enhanced biological phosphorus
removal.
 Simultaneous (co-current) nitrification and denitrification by variation
of aeration intensity.
 Tolerates shock load caused by organic and hydraulic load variability.
The system is easily configured and adjusted for short-term diurnal
and long-term seasonal variations.
 Elimination of secondary clarifier.
Advantages of Cyclic Activated Sludge System
(CASS)

 Elimination of separate load equalization. The CASSTM SBR basin

is in itself an equalization basin and a clarifier with a much lower
solids flux, compared to conventional clarifier design.
 Inherent ability to remove nutrients without chemical addition,
by controlling the oxygen demand and supply.
 Provision for energy optimization through nutrient removal
mechanisms. The feed water carbonaceous BOD used in
denitrification and enhanced biological phosphorus removal
reduces overall oxygen demand and hence energy requirement.
 Capital and operating cost advantages.
 Minimum footprint and reduced land requirement.
 Provision for easy plant expansion through simple modular and
common wall construction.
 Aerobic Biological Treatment
Technologies

 Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) System

 Another modification of above configuration that has been implemented
in newer industrial wastewater treatment systems is fluidized media
bioreactor (also known as moving bed bioreactor (MBBR)) in lieu of
biotower followed by activated sludge process. In some of the industries
(e.g. refineries and petrochemical plants, where the existing wastewater
treatment system was single stage conventional activated sludge process
(based on aeration tank and clarifier unit), that underwent capacity
expansion and/or faced stricter discharge regulations, the up-gradation of
activated sludge process by addition of fluidized bio-media has been
implemented to meet these requirements.This hybrid process of fluidized
media and activated sludge process taking place in a single aeration tank
is known as Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) process.
 Aerobic Biological Treatment
Technologies

 Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

 Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) is the latest technology for
biological degradation of soluble organic impurities. MBR
technology has been in extensive usage for treatment of
domestic sewage, but for industrial waste treatment
applications, its use has been somewhat limited or
selective.
 Types of Biological Treatment

 Anaerobic processes in wastewater treatment are used mainly

for treating the organic sludges removed from the wastewater
in primary sedimentation and in final sedimentation following
aerobic biological treatment. Simple forms of anaerobic
treatment, such as anaerobic ponds and septic tanks,
however, are used for treating wastewater (rather than
sludge) although, even in these cases, the most intense
anaerobic action takes place in the layer of concentrated
sludge, which settles to the bottom. Although the poor level
of mixing, especially in the simpler processes, makes
classification a little difficult, most conventional anaerobic
processes are essentially suspended growth systems.
Anaerobic Treatment

 Stages Of Anaerobic Treatment

 Hydrolysis
 Acidogenesis
 Acetogenesis
 Methanogenesis
Stages of Anaerobic Treatment

1. Hydrolysis is the process of breaking chains and

dissolving the smaller molecules into solution.
Therefore, hydrolysis of these high-molecular-weight
polymeric components is the necessary first step in
anaerobic digestion. Through hydrolysis the complex
organic molecules are broken down into simple sugars,
amino acids, and fatty acids.
Stages of Anaerobic Treatment

 2. Acidogenesis The biological process of

acidogenesis results in further breakdown of the
remaining components by acidogenic (fermentative)
bacteria. Here, VFAs are created, along with
ammonia, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide, as
well as other byproducts. The process of acidogenesis
is similar to the way milk sours.
Stages of Anaerobic Treatment

 Acetogenesis. The third stage of anaerobic treatment

is acetogenesis. Here, simple molecules created
through the acidogenesis phase are further digested
by acetogens to produce largely acetic acid, as well as
carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Stages of Anaerobic Treatment

 Methanogenesis. The terminal stage of anaerobic digestion

is the biological process of methanogenesis. Here,
methanogens use the intermediate products of the
preceding stages and convert them into methane, carbon
dioxide, and water. These components make up the
majority of the biogas emitted from the system.
Methanogenesis is sensitive to both high and low pHs and
occurs between pH 6.5 and pH 8. The remaining,
indigestible material the microbes cannot use and any dead
bacterial remains constitute the digestate.
Benefits of Biological Treatment

 Low capital and operating costs com pared to those of

chemical-oxidation processes
 True destruction of organics, versus mere phase separation,
such as with air stripping or carbon adsorption
 Oxidation of a wide variety of organic compounds
 Removal of reduced inorganic com pounds, such as sulfides
and ammo nia, and total nitrogen removal pos sible
through denitrification
 Operational flexibility to handle a wide range of flows and
wastewater characteristics
 Reduction of aquatic toxicity