scholarly journals Rethinking micropollutant removal assessment methods for wastewater treatment plants – how to get more robust data?

2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2964-2972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Choubert ◽  
Samuel Martin Ruel ◽  
Cécile Miege ◽  
Marina Coquery

This paper covers the pitfalls, recommendations and a new methodology for assessing micropollutant removal efficiencies in wastewater treatment plants. The proposed calculation rules take into account the limit of quantification and the analytical and sampling uncertainty of measured concentrations. We identified six cases for which a removal efficiency value is reliable and four other cases where result is highly variable (uncertain) due to very low or unquantified concentrations in effluent or when the influent–effluent concentrations differential is below the measurement uncertainty. The influence of the proposed calculation rules on removal efficiency values was scrutinized using actual results from a research project. The paper arrives at detailed recommendations for limiting the impact of other sources of uncertainty during sampling (sampling strategy, cleaning and field blank), chemical analyses (suspended solids and sludge) and data processing according to the targeted objectives.

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 980-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Wittmer ◽  
A. Heisele ◽  
C. S. McArdell ◽  
M. Böhler ◽  
P. Longree ◽  
...  

Ozone transforms various organic compounds that absorb light within the UV and visible spectra. UV absorbance can therefore be used to detect the transformation of chemicals during ozonation. In wastewater, decolourisation can be observed after ozonation. This study investigates the correlation of the UV absorbance difference between the ozonation inlet and outlet and the removal efficiency of micropollutants in wastewater. The absorbance at 254 and 366 nm was measured at the ozonation inlet and outlet, as was the concentration of 24 representative micropollutants and the dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The results clearly showed that the relative decrease of absorbance (ΔAbs) is positively correlated with the relative removal efficiency of micropollutants. We therefore suggest that UV absorbance can be used as a feedback control parameter to achieve optimal ozone dosage in wastewater treatment plants and to gain a fast insight into the process efficiency and stability of the ozonation.


Author(s):  
P Ravi Kumar ◽  
Liza Britta Pinto ◽  
RK Somashekar

Bangalore city hosts two Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (UWTPs) towards the periphery of Vrishabhavathi valley, located in Nellakedaranahalli village of Nagasandra and Mailasandra Village, Karnataka, India. These plants are designed and constructed with an aim to manage wastewater so as to minimize and/or remove organic matter, solids, nutrients, disease-causing organisms and other pollutants, before it reenters a water body. It was revealed from the performance study that efficiency of the two treatment plants was poor with respect to removal of total dissolved solids in contrast to the removal/reduction in other parameters like total suspended solids, BOD and COD. In Mailasandra STP, TDS, TSS, BOD, and COD removal efficiency was 20.01, 94.51, 94.98 and 76.26 % and respectively, while in Nagasandra STP, TDS, TSS, BOD, and COD removal efficiency was 28.45, 99.0, 97.6 and 91.60 % respectively. The order of reduction efficiency was TDS < COD < TSS < BOD and TDS < COD < BOD < TSS respectively in Mailasandra and Nagasandra STPs. Additionally, the problems associated with the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants is discussed. Keywords: Total dissolved solids; Chemical oxygen demand; Biochemical oxygen demand; Aeration tank; Mixed liquor suspended solids; Sludge volume index DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v6i2.4020Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.6. No II, November, 2010, pp.115-125


1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 171-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Saqqar ◽  
M. B. Pescod

The performance of the primary anaerobic pond at the Alsamra Wastewater Treatment Plant in Jordan was monitored over 48 months. Overall averages for the removal efficiencies of BOD5, COD and suspended solids were 53%, 53% and 74%, respectively. An improvement in removal efficiency with increase in pond water temperature was demonstrated. A model, which takes into account the variability of raw wastewater at different locations, has been developed to describe the performance of a primary anaerobic pond in terms of a settleability ratio for the raw wastewater. The model has been verified by illustrating the high correlation between actual and predicted pond performance.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. D. Lam ◽  
B. Schmalz ◽  
N. Fohrer

Abstract. The aims of this study are to identify the capacities of applying an ecohydrological model for simulating flow and to assess the impact of point and non-point source pollution on nitrate loads in a complex lowland catchment, which has special hydrological characteristics in comparison with those of other catchments. The study area Kielstau catchment has a size of approximately 50 km2 and is located in the North German lowlands. The water quality is not only influenced by the predominating agricultural land use in the catchment as cropland and pasture, but also by six municipal wastewater treatment plants. Ecohydrological models like the SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) are useful tools for simulating nutrient loads in river catchments. Diffuse entries from the agriculture resulting from fertilizers as well as punctual entries from the wastewater treatment plants are implemented in the model set-up. The results of this study show good agreement between simulated and measured daily discharges with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and a correlation coefficient of 0.76 and 0.88 for the calibration period (November 1998 to October 2004); 0.75 and 0.92 for the validation period (November 2004 to December 2007). The model efficiency for daily nitrate loads is 0.64 and 0.5 for the calibration period (June 2005 to May 2007) and the validation period (June 2007 to December 2007), respectively. The study revealed that SWAT performed satisfactorily in simulating daily flow and nitrate loads at the lowland catchment in Northern Germany.


2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Vandaele ◽  
C. Thoeye ◽  
B. Van Eygen ◽  
G. De Gueldre

In Flanders (Belgium) an estimated 15% of the population will never be connected to a central wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Small WWTPs can be a valuable option. Aquafin bases the decision to build SWWTPs on a drainage area study. To realise an accelerated construction the process choice is made accordingly to a standard matrix, which represents the different technologies in function of the size and the effluent consents. A pilot scale constructed two-stage reed bed is used to optimise the concept of the reed beds. The concept consists of a primary clarifier, two parallel vertical flow reed beds followed by a sub-surface flow reed bed. The removal efficiency of organic pollutants is high (COD: 89%, BOD: 98%). Phosphorus removal is high at the start-up but diminishes throughout the testing period (from 100% to 71% retention after 7 months). Nitrogen removal amounts to 53% on average. Nitrification is complete in summer. Denitrification appears to be the limiting factor. In autumn leakage of nitrogen is assumed. Removal efficiency of pathogens amounts to almost 99%. Clogging forms a substantial constraint of the vertical flow reed bed. Problems appear to be related with presettlement, feed interval and geotextile.


Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Pil Kim ◽  
Dal Rae Jin ◽  
Wonseok Lee ◽  
Minhee Chae ◽  
Junwon Park

In this study, livestock wastewater treatment plants in South Korea were monitored to determine the characteristics of influent and effluent wastewater, containing four types of veterinary antibiotics (sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline), and the removal efficiencies of different treatment processes. Chlortetracycline had the highest average influent concentration (483.7 μg/L), followed by sulfamethazine (251.2 μg/L), sulfathiazole (230.8 μg/L) and oxytetracycline (25.7 μg/L), at five livestock wastewater treatment plants. Sulfathiazole had the highest average effluent concentration (28.2 μg/L), followed by sulfamethazine (20.8 μg/L) and chlortetracycline (11.5 μg/L), while no oxytetracycline was detected. For veterinary antibiotics in the wastewater, a removal efficiency of at least 90% was observed with five types of treatment processes, including a bio-ceramic sequencing batch reactor, liquid-phase flotation, membrane bioreactor, bioreactor plus ultrafiltration (BIOSUF) and bio best bacillus systems. Moreover, this study evaluated the removal efficiency via laboratory-scale experiments on the conventional contaminants, such as organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and veterinary antibiotics. This was done using the hydraulic retention time (HRT), under three temporal conditions (14 h, 18 h, 27 h), using the anaerobic–anoxic–oxic (A2O) process, in an attempt to assess the combined livestock wastewater treatment process where the livestock wastewater is treated until certain levels of water quality are achieved, and then the effluent is discharged to nearby sewage treatment plants for further treatment. The removal efficiencies of veterinary antibiotics, especially oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline, were 86.5–88.8% and 87.9–90.8%, respectively, exhibiting no significant differences under various HRT conditions. The removal efficiency of sulfamethazine was at least 20% higher at HRT = 27 h than at HRT = 14 h, indicating that sulfamethazine was efficiently removed in the A2O process with increased HRT. This study is expected to promote a comprehensive understanding of the behavior and removal of veterinary antibiotics in the livestock wastewater treatment plants of South Korea.


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