Wastewater treatment by pond systems: experiences in Catalonia, Spain

2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. García ◽  
R. Mujeriego ◽  
A. Bourrouet ◽  
G. Peñuelas ◽  
A. Freixes

An evaluation of the 24 existing pond systems for treatment of urban wastewater in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain) was conducted in 1997-1998. The evaluation covered 13 aerated ponds, 7 waste stabilization ponds (WSP), and 4 maturation ponds added to conventional biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The technical characteristics of the pond systems were obtained through a survey completed during several visits to the plants. Performance data was supplied by the Catalonia Wastewater Agency and the monthly monitoring campaigns conducted during 12 months in five WWTP. The average ratio of water surface to population equivalent (p-e) is 1.3 m2/p-e for aerated ponds, 9.6 m2/p-e for WSP and 1.7 m2/p-e for maturation ponds added to conventional WWTP. Average electrical energy consumption is 0.5 kW.h/m3 for aerated ponds and 0.04 kW.h/m3 for WSP (when wastewater has to be pumped from the sewer). Most of the WSP show an inadequate level O & M, because the very limited operator attendance (0.6 h/dayon average) as compared to aerated ponds (3.2 h/day on average). Effluent quality of aerated ponds (31 mg SS/l and 22 mg BOD5/l, on average) is usually better that of WSP (100 mg SS/l and 67 mg BOD5/l, on average). Most of the WSP are overloaded, with only two of the pond systems receiving less than 50 kg BOD5/ha. Facultative WSP show a better performance than anaerobic WSP; anaerobic WSP have very high overloading conditions (with more than 250 kg BOD5/ha.d). Average effluent quality of all the pond systems studied comply with European Union standards.

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
L. Van Vooren ◽  
P. Willems ◽  
J. P. Ottoy ◽  
G. C. Vansteenkiste ◽  
W. Verstraete

The use of an automatic on-line titration unit for monitoring the effluent quality of wastewater plants is presented. Buffer capacity curves of different effluent types were studied and validation results are presented for both domestic and industrial full-scale wastewater treatment plants. Ammonium and ortho-phosphate monitoring of the effluent were established by using a simple titration device, connected to a data-interpretation unit. The use of this sensor as the activator of an effluent quality proportional sampler is discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 99-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Johnson ◽  
D.D. Mara

Facultative waste stabilization ponds in the UK, loaded at 80 kg BOD/ha day, produce effluents which comply with the European Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (i.e., ≤25 mg filtered BOD/l and ≤150 mg SS/l). However, the Environment Agency of England and Wales typically requires a higher effluent quality of ≤40 mg/l unfiltered BOD and ≤60 mg/l SS, both on a 95-percentile basis. An ammonium-nitrogen requirement might also be applied. Traditionally, maturation ponds and reedbeds have been used to upgrade facultative pond effluents, requiring large land areas. This paper describes and compares aerated and unaerated rock filter performance for BOD, SS, nitrogen and faecal coliform removals, and highlights the land-saving opportunities as maturation ponds and reedbeds become redundant.


Author(s):  
IRENE AURELIA TARIMO

This paper presents the results from a study conducted in Tanzania to develop a dynamic mathematical model, tool for the environmental pollution control. This led to Modelling Nitrogen Transformation, Removal and Re-use of Treated water from Maturation Ponds for agriculture and agriculture. The study was conducted at the wastewater treatment system located in Mabogini Moshi in Kilimanjaro Region, North Eastern Tanzania.


2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 1633-1648
Author(s):  
Nasim Hejabi ◽  
Seyed Mahdi Saghebian ◽  
Mohammad Taghi Aalami ◽  
Vahid Nourani

Abstract Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are highly complicated and dynamic systems and so their appropriate operation, control, and accurate simulation are essential. The simulation of WWTPs according to the process complexity has become an important issue in growing environmental awareness. In recent decades, artificial intelligence approaches have been used as effective tools in order to investigate environmental engineering issues. In this study, the effluent quality of Tabriz WWTP was assessed using two intelligence models, namely support Vector Machine (SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN). In this regard, several models were developed based on influent variables and tested via SVM and ANN methods. Three time scales, daily, weekly, and monthly, were investigated in the modeling process. On the other hand, since applied methods were sensitive to input variables, the Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis method was used to investigate the best-applied model dependability. It was found that both models had an acceptable degree of uncertainty in modeling the effluent quality of Tabriz WWTP. Next, ensemble approaches were applied to improve the prediction performance of Tabriz WWTP. The obtained results comparison showed that the ensemble methods represented better efficiency than single approaches in predicting the performance of Tabriz WWTP.


1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-H. Schierup ◽  
H. Brix

Since 1983 approximately 150 full-scale emergent hydrophyte based wastewater treatment plants (reed beds) have been constructed in Denmark to serve small wastewater producers. The development of purification performance for 21 plants representing different soil types, vegetation, and hydraulic loading rates has been recorded. Cleaning efficiencies were typically in the range of 60-80% reduction for BOD, 25-50% reduction for total nitrogen, and 20-40% reduction for total phosphorus. The mean effluent BOD, total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations of the reed beds were 19 ± 10, 22 ± 9 and 6.7 ± 3.2 mg/l (mean ± SD), respectively. Thus, the general Danish effluent standards of 8 mg/l for N and 1.5 mg/l for P for sewage plants greater than 5,000 PE cannot be met by the present realised design of EHTS. The main problem observed in most systems is a poor development of horizontal hydraulic conductivity in the soil which results in surface run-off. Since the political demands for effluent quality will be more strict in the future, it is important to improve the performance of small decentral sewage treatment plants. On the basis of experiences from different types of macrophyte based and conventional low-technology wastewater treatment systems, a multi-stage system is suggested, consisting of sedimentation and sand filtration facilities followed by basins planted with emergent and submergent species of macrophytes and algal ponds.


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 257-261
Author(s):  
M. Truett Garrett ◽  
Zaki Ahmad ◽  
Shelly Young

The recent requirements by U.S.E.P.A. for dechlorination and biomonitoring have increased the importance of automatic control of effluent chlorination in wastewater treatment plants. Difficulties with the Ziegler-Nichols controller tuning procedure were reported at the Kyoto Workshop, 1990. Problems are caused by the noise of incomplete mixing, a long time constant, and the disturbances of changing flow and chlorine demand. The Astrom-Hagglund relay feedback procedure provides acceptable control while data is logged to determine the controller constants. Experiences in using the procedure in existing facilities (not redesigning the mixing point) and the quality of control are presented.


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
Jes la Cour Jansen ◽  
Bodil Mose Pedersen ◽  
Erik Moldt

Influent and effluent data from about 120 small wastewater treatment plants (100 - 2000 PE) have been collected and processed. Seven different types of plants are represented. The effluent quality and the treatment efficiency have been evaluated. The most common type of plant is mechanical/biological treatment plants. Some of them are nitrifying and some are also extended for chemical precipitation of phosphorus. Constructed wetlands and biological sandfilters are also represented among the small wastewater treatment plants.


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 91-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Racault ◽  
C. Boutin ◽  
A. Seguin

In 1992, a survey was conducted on the performance of waste stabilization ponds in France. The data selected come from a sample of 178 ponds, with an average capacity of 600 p.e., throughout France. For each plant, one or several input--output load measurements over a 24-h period are available. The average organic load level received is approximately 25 kg BOD/ha.d, representing 50% of the nominal load. The quality of the treated water is presented based on the type of sewerage system feeding the ponds. The results appear dispersed, however; in 70% of the cases the concentrations in COD and BOD on filtered samples are under 120 mg/l and 40 mg/l, respectively, and the concentration in TSS under 120 mg/l (discharge standards in France for waste stabilization ponds). The reductions in nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients are on average from 60% to 70%. The influence of different parameters (sewerage system type, organic load, season, age of plant, etc.) was studied. The results appear noticeably worse when the ponds receive wastewater from a strictly separate sewerage system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 1225-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schäfer ◽  
I. Hobus ◽  
T. G. Schmitt

In the future, an additional potential of control reserve as well as storage capacities will be required to compensate fluctuating renewable energy availability. The operation of energy systems will change and flexibility in energy generation and consumption will rise to a valuable asset. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are capable of providing the flexibility needed, not only with their energy generators but also in terms of their energy consuming aggregates on the plant. To meet challenges of the future in regard to energy purchase and to participate in and contribute to such a volatile energy market, WWTPs have to reveal their energetic potential as a flexible service provider. Based on the evaluated literature and a detailed analysis of aggregates on a pilot WWTP an aggregate management has been developed to shift loads and provide a procedure to identify usable aggregates, characteristic values and control parameters to ensure effluent quality. The results show that WWTPs have a significant potential to provide energetic flexibility. Even for vulnerable components such as aeration systems, load-shifting is possible with appropriate control parameters and reasonable time slots without endangering system functionality.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sílvia C. Oliveira ◽  
Marcos von Sperling

This article analyses the performance of 166 wastewater treatment plants operating in Brazil, comprising six different treatment processes: septic tank + anaerobic filter, facultative pond, anaerobic pond + facultative pond, activated sludge, UASB reactors alone, UASB reactors followed by post-treatment. The study evaluates and compares the observed effluent quality and the removal efficiencies in terms of BOD, COD, TSS, TN, TP and FC with typical values reported in the technical literature. In view of the large performance variability observed, the existence of a relationship between design/operational parameters and treatment performance was investigated. From the results obtained, no consistent relationship between loading rates and effluent quality was found. The influence of loading rates differed from plant to plant, and the effluent quality was dictated by several combined factors related to design and operation.


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