A Training Program for Operators of Small Wastewater Treatment Plants

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
K. D. Kerri

Operators of small wastewater treatment plants frequently live in remote areas where operator training is not readily available. A training program has been prepared using the techniques of self-instruction, wherein an operator reads a short section of the training material, writes the answers to questions in a notebook, and compares the written answers with suggested answers. The training materials were developed by experienced operators following extensive field studies. First, operators (subject matter experts) for each treatment process prepared an outline of what knowledge and skills (need-to-know criteria) they expected their operators to possess to safely operate and maintain each treatment process in the training manual. Draft chapters were then field tested using operators with varying levels of education and experience to determine the effectiveness of the training materials. Studies conducted on the performance of operators who had participated in the training program and those who had not received the training revealed that trained operators produced a better quality effluent at the same treatment plant over a one-year period. Effective training materials and programs can help operators safely and efficiently operate and maintain small wastewater treatment plants.

1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-34
Author(s):  
M. Ettala ◽  
E. Rossi

Seven operational mishaps were specified on the basis of a questionnaire on wastewater treatment plants, some of them large. In this study a process was developed for screening the chemical spill risks to municipal biological sewage treatment plant. Data on wastewater treatment processes, potential spill sources and chemical properties were combined to determine the threshold chemical quantities which may inhibit the removal of carbonaceous material, prevent nitrification and methanogenesis, cause sludge contamination or lead to the aeration capacity being exceeded. Two sewage treatment plants and eleven industrial sites were chosen for field studies. The influence of spill duration and maintenance activities on threshold quantities are discussed. A field survey lasting 1-2 hours at each site was long enough for the most relevant data to be obtained when the screening method developed was applied. Several chemical spill risks to the plants studied were specified. In addition, cases were identified in which failure of the pretreatment facilities for industrial wastewaters could cause severe mishaps at a biological wastewater treatment plant.


2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. V. Kjellerup ◽  
K. Keiding ◽  
P. H. Nielsen

A large industrial activated sludge wastewater treatment plant had temporary problems with settling and dewatering of the sludge. Microscopical investigations revealed that the poor settling properties were not due to presence of filamentous bacteria, but poor floc properties. In order to characterise the changes in floc properties that led to settling and dewatering problems and to find reasons for this taking place, a comprehensive monitoring program was conducted during more than one year. The monitoring program included various measurements of floc settleability, floc strength and sludge dewaterability. The monitoring program revealed that a deterioration of the floc strength and the settling properties in the process tanks was closely connected to downstream dewatering problems and poor effluent quality. Particularly severe problems were observed a few weeks after the production at the factory had started after summer closedown. Possible reasons for the changes in floc properties in the process tanks were found by a) analysing change in wastewater composition by evaluating the different production lines in the industrial plant, b) evaluating the operation of the plant, and c) performing short-term laboratory experiments testing factors that could potentially affect floc properties (absence of oxygen, presence of sulphide, detergents, etc). Among several measured parameters, the use of floc strength measurements in particular proved useful to monitor the activated sludge floc properties at this industrial plant. The described strategy can be useful in general to find and solve many solid/liquid separation problems in activated sludge wastewater treatment plants.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 339-346
Author(s):  
J. L. Hansen ◽  
P. S. Nielsen

In connection with the Danish Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment (APAE), the Copenhagen wastewater treatment plants are to be upgraded to nutrient removal. This paper describes the way in which the basis of the decision in respect of design load, choice of treatment process, upgrade type, etc. is achieved. There are 2 wastewater treatment plants in Copenhagen and it is possible either to upgrade both plants or only to upgrade one and close the other one. It was decided to upgrade both plants and we describe the rationale for this decision. An extensive effort has been made in order to choose the treatment process. The technical-financial evaluation of various methods will be described, as will the testing of the chosen methods in pilot plants. The design load criteria include the present load, industrial discharges of nutrients, runoff, infiltration, water consumption forecasts, and wastewater temperature. Finally, the plans for a gradual extension are described. The first stage aims at an extension to the load expected in 1996 when the plant will be put into operation, however, with the possibility to adapt the size of the works during construction, if developments do not correspond to expectations.


2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Matulova ◽  
P. Hlavinek ◽  
M. Drtil

This paper evaluates the results from a 12-month study of a single-household wastewater treatment plant with submerged membrane module (household MBR plant) that was monitored from winter to winter season. The samples were collected at least twice a week (an intensive research study at real conditions). The household MBR (membrane bioreactor) plant was linked to a family house with 4 residents. In this study the treatment plant was fed by real domestic wastewater. In contrast to most other experiments with small-scale WWTPs (wastewater treatment plants) carried out in laboratories and facilities of large municipal WWTPs (polygons) which guarantee stable and flexible operation but the characteristics of wastewater and activated sludge in these studies usually differ from those that occur in real small-scale/single-household WWTPs. One of the main goals of this research was to test the response of membrane and activated sludge to different conditions during real operation of the household MBR plant, such as a long period of zero influent/load, or vice versa the presence of a large amount of concentrated wastewater (e.g. during the weekend), very low winter temperatures (water temperature below 5–6°C), high pH values, and the presence of domestic detergents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (10) ◽  
pp. 2046-2054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Xu ◽  
Qingtong Hou ◽  
Yingang Xue ◽  
Yun Jian ◽  
LiPing Wang

Abstract Wastewater discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is suspected to be a significant contributor of microplastics (MPs) to the environment, and fiber is the main shape of MPs in wastewater effluent. A typical textile industry WWTP with 30,000 tons of daily treatment capacity was sampled for microfibers at different stages of the treatment process to ascertain at what stage in the treatment process the microfibers are being removed. The average abundance of microfibers was 334.1 (±24.3) items/litre in influent, and it reduced to 16.3 (±1.2) items/litre in the final effluent with a decrease of 95.1%. Despite this large reduction we calculated that this textile industry WWTP was releasing 4.89 × 108 microfibers including microplastic fibers and non-microplastic fibers into the receiving water every day. This study showed that a modest amount of microplastics being released per litre of effluent could result in significant amounts of fibers entering the environment, despite the fact that efficient removal rates of microplastic fibers and non-microplastic fibers were achieved by this modern treatment plant when dealing with such a large volume of effluent. The fate of fibers is described during the textile industry wastewater treatment process.


2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 2324-2327
Author(s):  
Jun Feng Wu ◽  
Hua Shu Ouyang ◽  
Xian Li Wang

To alleviate the water pollution, the original wastewater treatment process was transformed based on the existing structures. Anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process (A2/O process) was used as the main process, instead of the original two-stage aeration process (AB process). Pretreatment process and advanced treatment process were strengthened. After transformation, the effluent quality could meet the first class of A standard of the "municipal wastewater treatment plant emission standards" (GB18918-2002) and all the quality indexes of the treated water met the requirements of discharge standard of sewage treatment. The original structures were fully used in this transformation, saving investment, which provided a practical reference for the transformation of the wastewater treatment plants.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 1495-1504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Talvitie ◽  
Mari Heinonen ◽  
Jari-Pekka Pääkkönen ◽  
Emil Vahtera ◽  
Anna Mikola ◽  
...  

This study on the removal of microplastics during different wastewater treatment unit processes was carried out at Viikinmäki wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The amount of microplastics in the influent was high, but it decreased significantly during the treatment process. The major part of the fibres were removed already in primary sedimentation whereas synthetic particles settled mostly in secondary sedimentation. Biological filtration further improved the removal. A proportion of the microplastic load also passed the treatment and was found in the effluent, entering the receiving water body. After the treatment process, an average of 4.9 (±1.4) fibres and 8.6 (±2.5) particles were found per litre of wastewater. The total textile fibre concentration in the samples collected from the surface waters in the Helsinki archipelago varied between 0.01 and 0.65 fibres per litre, while the synthetic particle concentration varied between 0.5 and 9.4 particles per litre. The average fibre concentration was 25 times higher and the particle concentration was three times higher in the effluent compared to the receiving body of water. This indicates that WWTPs may operate as a route for microplastics entering the sea.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-151
Author(s):  
Peter Lukac ◽  
Lubos Jurik

Abstract:Phosphorus is a major substance that is needed especially for agricultural production or for the industry. At the same time it is an important component of wastewater. At present, the waste management priority is recycling and this requirement is also transferred to wastewater treatment plants. Substances in wastewater can be recovered and utilized. In Europe (in Germany and Austria already legally binding), access to phosphorus-containing sewage treatment is changing. This paper dealt with the issue of phosphorus on the sewage treatment plant in Nitra. There are several industrial areas in Nitra where record major producers in phosphorus production in sewage. The new wastewater treatment plant is built as a mechanicalbiological wastewater treatment plant with simultaneous nitrification and denitrification, sludge regeneration, an anaerobic zone for biological phosphorus removal at the beginning of the process and chemical phosphorus precipitation. The sludge management is anaerobic sludge stabilization with heating and mechanical dewatering of stabilized sludge and gas management. The aim of the work was to document the phosphorus balance in all parts of the wastewater treatment plant - from the inflow of raw water to the outflow of purified water and the production of excess sludge. Balancing quantities in the wastewater treatment plant treatment processes provide information where efficient phosphorus recovery could be possible. The mean daily value of P tot is approximately 122.3 kg/day of these two sources. The mean daily value of P tot is approximately 122.3 kg/day of these two sources. There are also two outflows - drainage of cleaned water to the recipient - the river Nitra - 9.9 kg Ptot/day and Ptot content in sewage sludge - about 120.3 kg Ptot/day - total 130.2 kg Ptot/day.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luchien Luning ◽  
Paul Roeleveld ◽  
Victor W.M. Claessen

In recent years new technologies have been developed to improve the biological degradation of sewage sludge by anaerobic digestion. The paper describes the results of a demonstration of ultrasonic disintegration on the Dutch Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Land van Cuijk. The effect on the degradation of organic matter is presented, together with the effect on the dewatering characteristics. Recommendations are presented for establishing research conditions in which the effect of sludge disintegration can be determined in a more direct way that is less sensitive to changing conditions in the operation of the WWTP. These recommendations have been implemented in the ongoing research in the Netherlands supported by the National Institute for wastewater research (STOWA).


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gaber ◽  
M. Antill ◽  
W. Kimball ◽  
R. Abdel Wahab

The implementation of urban village wastewater treatment plants in developing countries has historically been primarily a function of appropriate technology choice and deciding which of the many needy communities should receive the available funding and priority attention. Usually this process is driven by an outside funding agency who views the planning, design, and construction steps as relatively insignificant milestones in the overall effort required to quickly better a community's sanitary drainage problems. With the exception of very small scale type sanitation projects which have relatively simple replication steps, the development emphasis tends to be on the final treatment plant product with little or no attention specifically focused on community participation and institutionalizing national and local policies and procedures needed for future locally sponsored facilities replication. In contrast to this, the Government of Egypt (GOE) enacted a fresh approach through a Local Development Program with the United States AID program. An overview is presented of the guiding principals of the program which produced the first 24 working wastewater systems including gravity sewers, sewage pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants which were designed and constructed by local entities in Egypt. The wastewater projects cover five different treatment technologies implemented in both delta and desert regions.


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