Wastewater
Treatment
CE 326 Principles of Environmental
Engineering
Prof. Tim Ellis
Spring 2008
Wastewater generation
TABLE 1
Typical wastewater flowrates from various sources
Flow, L/unit - d
Source
Unit
Range
Typical
Airport
Passenger
Cabin, resort
Person
Cafeteria
Customer
4-11
Employee
30-45
38
Campground (developed)
Person
75-150
115
Cocktail lounge
Seat
45-95
75
Coffee shop
Customer
15-30
23
Dormitory, bunkhouse
Person
75-190
150
8-15
11
30-190
150
Collection Systems
Separate sewers
Combined sewers
Combined sewer overflows
Photo courtesy of Water Environment Federation Collection Systems Committee cMOM Subcommittee
Regulations
Federal Water Pollution Control Legislation,
US
Federal Water Pollution
Control Act of 1956
Refuse Act of 1899
Water Pollution
Control Act of 1948
Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments
of 1972(Clean Water Act)
Water Quality Clean Water Act
Ocean Dumping Ban
of 1977
Act of 1965
Act of 1988
Clean Water Restoration Water Quality Act
Act of 1966
of 1987
Amendments to
the FWPCA of 1961
Municipal Wastewater Treatment
Construction Grant Amendments of 1981
Wastewater Treatment
Receiving water
Infuent
Process steps
2) Primary
sedimentati
3) Biological
on
4) Secondary
1) Preliminar
Process:
sedimentati
y
Conversion to
on
Treatment
settleable solids
5) Sludge solids to
further
treatment and
disposal
5) Sludge solids to
further
treatment and
disposal
Four levels of wastewater treatmen
P_______________
Screens
Grit removal
P_______________
Solids settling
S_______________
Biological treatment
Settling of biological solids
T______________
Filtration
Wastewater Treatment
Preliminary Treatment
Screens:
sticks, rocks, logs, shoes, dead
animals, etc.
Grit Removal:
grit causes undue wear
downstream unit processes
Preliminary Treatment:
Screens
Bar Screens
Bar Racks
Preliminary Treatment:
grit removal
Secondary Treatment
Biological treatment
Classification of
microorganisms by their
c______ and e______ source.
Secondary Treatment
H________________
Utilize
organic matter to supply their
carbon and energy needs.
These are the predominant organisms
in biological wastewater treatment
plants, responsible for converting
organic pollutants to
carbon dioxide,
water, and
additional heterotrophic biomass.
Secondary Treatment
A________________
get
their energy from an inorganic
source and
their carbon from carbon dioxide.
An example of autotrophs in
wastewater treatment is nitrifying
bacteria.
Nitrifiers use ammonia for energy and
carbon dioxide for a carbon source.
End products of nitrification are
nitrate,
water, and
hydrogen ions
additional nitrifying (autotrophic) biomass.
Biological Treatment
Classification of
microorganisms by their
t__________ e__________
a__________
Terminal electron
acceptor
A___________:
microorganisms
transfer electrons from
the energy source to oxygen, O2.
In
the process oxygen and organic
matter is converted to carbon dioxide,
CO2, and water, H2O.
Oxygen
is termed the terminal electron
acceptor or TEA.
Terminal electron
acceptor
A___________:
microorganisms
utilize some other
oxidized compound to accept
electrons.
In the case of denitrifying
microorganisms, nitrate, NO3-, serves
as the TEA, as nitrate is converted to
nitrogen gas, N2
Terminal electron
acceptor
A___________:
utilize
CO2 and organic compounds as
terminal electron acceptors.
In this process, organic compounds are
converted to fermentation products
and carbon dioxide.
In anaerobic digestion of wastewater
solids, the fermentation products are
converted to
methane,
CH4,
and carbon dioxide
Terminal Electron Acceptor
(TEA)
Examples:
Process
TEA
Predominant Reactions
Example
Aerobic
O2
organic matter + O2 CO2 + H2O
CBOD removal
Aerobic
O2
NH3 + O2 NO3-
nitrification
Anoxic
NO3-
organic matter + NO3-
Anaerobic
CO2
organic matter
N2 + CO2 + H2O
CH4 + CO2 + H2O
denitrification
anaerobic digestion
