Effluents Treatment

Effluents Treatment
Effluents treatment plants are the most widely

accepted
approaches
towards
achieving
environmental safety.
But,
unfortunately,
no
single
treatment
methodology
is
suitable
or
universally
adoptable for any kind of effluent treatment.
The treatment of waste stream is done by
various methods, which include physical,
chemical and biological treatment depending
on pollution load.
The treatment processes may be categorized
into preliminary, primary, secondary and
tertiary treatment process.

Methods of treatment
Methods

of treatment in which the

application of physical forces predominate
are known as unit operations.

Methods

of treatment in which the

removal of contaminants is brought about
by chemical or biological reactions are
known as unit processes.

At

present time, unit operations and

processes are grouped together to provide
various levels of treatment known as
preliminary, primary, advanced primary,
secondary and advanced or tertiary
treatment.

Different level of wastewater

treatment
Treatment
level

Description

Preliminary

Removal of wastewater constituents such

as rags, sticks, floatables, grit, and
grease that may cause maintenance or
operational problems with the treatment
operations,
processes,
and
ancillary
system.

Primary

Removal of a portion of the suspended

solids and organic matter from the
wastewater.

Secondary

Removal of biodegradable organic matter

and suspended solids. Disinfection is also
typically included in the definition of
conventional secondary treatment.

Tertiary

Removal of residual suspended solids

usually by granular medium filtration or
micro
screens.
Disinfection
is
also

Primary
Treatment
excessive quantities of oil and grease, the next step is

After the removal of gross solids, gritty materials and

to remove the remaining suspended solids as much as

possible.
This step is aimed at reducing the strength of the
waste water and also to facilitate secondary treatment.
Primary treatment includes the following separate
steps
Screening: The Coarse suspended matters such as rags,
pieces of fabric, fibres, yarns and lint are removed. Bar
screens and mechanically cleaned fine screens remove most
of the fibres.

Sedimentation: The suspended matter in textile effluent

can
be
removed
efficiently
and
economically
by
sedimentation. This process is particularly useful for
treatment of wastes containing high percentage of settable
solids or when the waste is subjected to combined
treatment with sewage.

Cont..
Equalization:

Effluent
streams
are
collected into sump pit. Sometimes
mixed effluents are stirred by rotating
agitators or by blowing compressed air
from below.

Neutralization: Normally, pH values of

cotton finishing effluents are on the

alkaline side. Hence, pH value of
equalized effluent should be adjusted.
Chemical coagulation and Mechanical
flocculation: Finely divided suspended
solids and colloidal particles cannot
be efficiently removed by simple
sedimentation by gravity. In such
cases, mechanical flocculation or
chemical coagulation is employed.

Secondary Treatment
The main purpose of secondary treatment is to

provide BOD removal beyond what is achievable

by simple sedimentation.
It also removes appreciable amounts of oil and
phenol.
In secondary treatment, the dissolved and
colloidal organic compounds and color present in
waste water is removed or reduced and to
stabilize the organic matter.
This is achieved biologically using bacteria and
other microorganisms.
These processes may be aerobic or anaerobic. In
aerobic
processes,
bacteria
and
other
microorganisms consume organic matter as food.

Cont.
Anaerobic

treatment
is
mainly
employed for the digestion of sludge.
The efficiency of this process depends
upon pH, temperature, waste loading,
absence
of
oxygen
and
toxic
materials.

Biological treatment
processes

Some of the commonly used biological treatment

processes are described below:

Aerated lagoons
These are large holding tanks or ponds having a depth

of 3-5 m and are lined with cement, polythene or rubber.

The effluents from primary treatment processes are
collected in these tanks and are aerated with
mechanical devices, such as floating aerators, for about
2 to 6 days.
During this time, a healthy flocculent sludge is formed
which brings about oxidation of the dissolved organic
matter.
BOD removal to the extent of 99% could be achieved
with efficient operation.
The major disadvantages are the large space
requirements and the bacterial contamination of the
lagoon effluent, which necessitates further biological
purification.

Trickling filters
The

trickling filters usually consists of

circular or rectangular beds, 1 m to 3 m
deep, made of well-graded media (such as
broken stone, PVC, Coal, Synthetic resins,
Gravel or Clinkers) of size 40 mm to 150
mm.
Over
which
wastewater
is
sprinkled
uniformly on the entire bed with the help of
a slowly rotating distributor (such as rotary
sprinkler) equipped with orifices or nozzles.
The filter is arranged in such a fashion that
air can enter at the bottom; counter current
to the effluent flow and a natural draft is
produced.

Cont..
A gelatinous film, comprising of
bacteria and aerobic microorganisms
known as Zooglea, is formed on the
surface of the filter medium, which
thrive on the nutrients supplied by the
waste water.

The

organic
impurities
in
the
wastewater
are
adsorbed
on
the
gelatinous film during its passage and
then are oxidized by the bacteria and
the
other
micro-organisms
present
therein.

Activated sludge process

This is the most versatile biological oxidation

method employed for the treatment of

wastewater
containing
dissolved
solids,
colloids and coarse solid organic matter.
In this process, the wastewater is aerated in a
reaction tank in which some microbial floc is
suspended.
The
aerobic bacterial flora bring about
biological degradation of the waste into carbon
dioxide and water molecule, while consuming
some organic matter for synthesizing bacteria.
The
bacteria
flora
grows
and
remains
suspended in the form of a floc, which is called
Activated Sludge.

Cont

The

effluent from the reaction tank is

separated from the sludge by settling and
discharged.
A part of the sludge is recycled to the same
tank to provide an effective microbial
population for a fresh treatment cycle.
The surplus sludge is digested in a sludge
digester, along with the primary sludge
obtained from primary sedimentation.
An efficient aeration for 5 to 24 hours is
required for industrial wastes. BOD removal
to the extent of 90-95% can be achieved in
this process.

Oxidation ditch
This can be considered as a modification of the

conventional Activated Sludge process.

Waste water, after screening is allowed into the
oxidation ditch. The mixed liquor containing the
sludge solids is aerated in the channel with the
help of a mechanical rotor.
The usual hydraulic retention time is 12 to 24
hrs and for solids, it is 20-30 days.
Most of the sludge formed is recycled for the
subsequent treatment cycle. The surplus sludge
can be dried without odor on sand drying beds.