Chapter 3.

Secondary (Biological) Treatment Processes

Objective:
Removal of dissolved & Colloidal organic matter
( BOD Reduction)
Bacteria (cells) feed on the organic materials in the
wastewater which is transformed into cellular mass
Most commonly used biological processes are:

• The Activated Sludge Process

• Aerated Lagoons/ Stabilization Ponds

• Trickling Filters

• Rotating Biological Contactors

 Treatment Processes
Two broad categories( based on nature of microbial growth )

Suspended growth systems:

micro-organisms are suspended in the wastewater
being treated.
Examples include
•Activated sludge
•Lagoon systems
•Aerobic and anaerobic digesters
Attached growth systems:
microorganisms are attached to “engineered”
surfaces rather than being suspended in the water.
Examples include
•Trickling filters/packed towers
•Rotating biological contactors
Important Data and information to be gathered for secondary
treatment processes

Select the type of biological treatment process.

Conduct a material mass balance and determine expected range of

flows (minimum, average, and peak) and loadings (COD, TSS,

nutrients, etc.).
Determine biological kinetic coefficients (lab studies).
Develop a preliminary site plan, piping layout, and location of
collection boxes, return sludge pumps, etc.
Obtain design criteria.
Obtain effluent quality criteria (BOD5, TSS, TN and TP).
Develop data on settling characteristics of the biological solids.
Obtain list of equipment manufacturers and provide equipment
selection guide
 Activated Sludge Process
Activated sludge, a suspended growth process, is
the most widely used form of wastewater treatment
The activated sludge process uses an active population
of microorganisms suspended in the water (as opposed
to attached to a surface).
Activated Sludge Process (cont.)
Mixing the activated sludge with the wastewater to be
treated (mixed liquor).
 Aeration and agitation of this mixed liquor for the
required length of time.
Separation of the activated sludge from the mixed liquor,
in the final clarification process.
Return the proper amount of activated sludge for
mixture with the wastewater
Disposal of the excess activated
RAS (Return Activated Sludge)
The majority of the biomass (bugs) that settle on the bottom of the clarifier are
returned back to the head of the oxidation ditch and put into contact with the raw
wastewater stream in order to consume the incoming BOD (organic
material/food). The RAS and raw sewage combined is what constitutes the mixed
liquor suspended solids (MLSS, ranges b/n 2000mg/l to 4000mg/l).
MLSS of RAS- 10,000mg/l to 20,000mg/l)
Complete mix reactor

Effluent
Inf.

Return activated sludge (RAS)

Waste sludge
WAS -(Waste Activated Sludge)

A portion of the biomass has to be wasted from the system on a regular basis.
This is necessary to maintain a proper balance of biomass in the process. This
also provides a route to remove a large amount of phosphorus from the system.
Bugs are wasted out of the system on a batch basis, pretty much daily. These
bugs are wasted into our Biosolids Storage Tanks.
 Biological Reactors
•Batch mode with discontinuous flow
•Plug flow mode with continuous flow
•Partially mixed mode with continuous flow
•Completely mixed mode with continuous flow
 Types of Activated Sludge
Processes

Low substrate removal rate (q)

Standard substrate removal rate (q)
High substrate removal rate (q)

qBOD, kg/kg VSS·day qCOD, kg/kg

VSS·day

Low rate 0.05~0.1 0.1~0.2

Standard rate 0.1~0.5 0.2~0.8
High rate 0.5~5 >1
 Low Rate Activated Sludge
Extended Aeration
 Low rate, suspended growth system
 Biomass captured in clarifier recycled to reactor
 Long contact time created by enlarging aeration
basin

Raw
wastewater Effluent
Aeration tank Final
clarifier

Waste
Return activated sludge (RAS) activated
sludge
(WAS)
 Types of Activated Sludge Processes (Activated
Sludge process Modifications)
1. Complete Mix or High Rate
• Complete mix reactor
(uniform characteristic throughout the reactor)
Complete mix reactor
Effluent

Influent

Return activated sludge (RAS)

Waste sludge
• Advantages:
– Distributes waste evenly throughout the
reactor, thus reducing the effect of toxic or
shock loading
– Easier to operate, more forgiving of
operator errors
• Disadvantage
– Lower removal for equal sized basins
 2. Conventional (Plug Flow)
• The flow moves through the tank or reactor
without mixing in the flow (axial) direction
• Several activated sludge process
modifications utilize plug flow.
• Plug flow provides superior removal of
substrate ( B/c influent stays much longer
periods in long rectangular units ).
• Compared to complete mix (or high rate)
activated sludge, the plug flow modifications
all are more susceptible to toxic or shock
loading.
 Conventional (Plug Flow)

Radial mixing without axial mixing

 Modifications of plug flow
a. Step aeration
• Plug flow reactor
• Evenly distributed air input
• Influent is fed at beginning of reactor
Air supply for aeration & mixing

Effluent

Return activated sludge (RAS)

Waste sludge
 b. Step Feed
Air supply for aeration & mixing
Effluent

Step feed

Return activated sludge (RAS) Waste sludge

• The influent is fed at multiple points throughout the

reactor to distribute the waste loading
•Plug flow reactor
 c. Tapered Aeration
• Plug flow reactor
• Additional air is input at the beginning of the
process due to added biological activity
Tapered air supply for aeration & mixing
Effluent

Influent
Return activated sludge (RAS) Waste sludge
 Design Considerations
Factors to be considered in the design of activated sludge
processes
• Reactor type
• Hydraulic retention time
• Hydraulic loading
• Organic loading
• Aeration capacity
• Sludge age
• Food/microorganisms ratio (F/M)
• Return activated sludge recirculation rate
• Nutrients
•Environmental factors (pH, temperature ,etc)
Kinetics of Microbial Growth
 Biochemical reaction

 Biomass concentration.
The concentration of biomass, X (mg/L),
increases as a function of time due to
conversion of food to biomass:
( growth rate of bacteria)

Where  is the specific growth rate constant (d -

1). This represents the mass of cells
produced/mass of cells per unit of time.
Effect of substrate concentration on growth rate
constant
 Monod Kinetics
Growth rate
 Growth rate constant,  , is a function of the
substrate concentration, S.
 Two constants are used to describe the growth
rate
◦  m (mg/L) is the maximum growth rate constant (the
rate at which the susbtrate concentration is not limiting)
◦ Ks is the half-saturation constant (mg/L) (i.e.,
concentration of S when  =  m/2

 Biomass production (Substrate limited growth)

Where kd represents the endogenous

decay rate (d-1) (i.e., micro-organism
death rate).
◦ Substituting the growth rate constant:
Substrate utilization

Where Y is the yield factor (mg of

biomass produced/mg of food consumed)
Y range:
◦ Aerobic: 0.4 - 0.8 mg/mg
Food to microorganism ratio (F/M)
 Represents the daily mass of food supplied to the
microbial biomass, X, in the mixed liquor
suspended solids, MLSS
 Units are Kg BOD5/Kg MLSS/day

 substra

Also called specific substrate utilization rate, q, per day

In some books,
given as
Since the hydraulic retention time,  =
V/Qo, then
The mean cell residence time in the system is defined as
the mass of organisms in the aeration tank divided by the
mass of organisms removed from the system per day,
and is expressed as
Activated Sludge Design Equations
Mass balance of biomass production
 Influent
biomass + biomass production = effluent
biomass + sludge wasted


 Substitute biomass production equation



 Assume that influent and effluent biomass

concentrations are negligible and solve


Mass balance of food substrate
 Influent substrate + substrate consumed =
effluent susbtrate + sludge wasted substrate


 Substitute substrate removal equation



 Assume that no biochemical action takes place in

clarifier. Therefore the substrate concentration in
the aeration basin is equal to the substrate
concentrations in the effluent and the waste
activated sludge. Solve:

 Overall equations
◦ Combine the mass balance equations for food and biomass :

 The cell residence time is:

 and the hydraulic retention time is,= V/Qo

 Substitute and rearrange:

 Compute the F/M ratio

K= maximum rate of substrate utilization per unit mass of microorganism, per day
EXAMPLE :
The MLSS concentration in the aeration tank is 2800 mg/L. The sludge
settleability test showed that the sludge volume, settled for 30 min in a 1-L
graduated cylinder, is 285 mL. Calculate the sludge volume index

Solution

Sludge settleability is used as one approach to calculate RAS flow rate

Solution
Waste Stabilization Ponds and Lagoons
suspended culture biological systems
Relatively shallow earthen basin used as secondary
or tertiary wastewater treatment
 Types of waste stabilization ponds
According to the dominant type of biological activity or
reactions occurring in the pond.
 Advantages of ponds/lagoons
 Simplicity (easily constructed and maintained)
 Relatively low capital investment when flat land
is available at reasonable price
Can absorb shock loads
Their potential to be easily scaled down to small
scale application make them particularly attractive
for remote towns and villages
Ability to markedly reduce BOD, nutrients and
pathogen concentrations have made Ponds a very
attractive treatment method, in particular in tropical
countries
 Major disadvantage of Ponds
Large area requirement
 The potentially high algal content of the
effluent
Evaporation losses
The potential odor and mosquito nuisance
Sensitivity of algae to toxic matter present
in raw municipal sewage
 I) Aerobic pond
 Shallow ponds in which dissolved oxygen is
present at all depths
Aeration mechanisms
 From the atmosphere by a process of
diffusion aided by turbulence caused by wind
movement on the surface of the water
The photosynthetic activity of algae
 Facultative Ponds
 waste stabilization is the result of both oxidation of organic matter
by aerobic and facultative bacteria as well as anaerobic
processes in the anaerobic bottom layer

BOD removal mechanisms

 bacterial oxidation of BOD
 anaerobic digestion
 sedimentation
 Facultative Ponds (cont.)

usually 1.5-2.5 m deep

HRT for ponds treating anaerobic
effluent varies between 5 and 30 days
 most widely used for treatment of
municipal wastewater following aerated
or anaerobic ponds
 Design of facultative ponds
 various design methodologies,
some semi-empirical, others empirical

a. Design based on first-order BOD degradation constants

and ideal flow conditions (CMASR or plug-flow)
(semi-empirical)
b. Design based on the dispersed-flow model
(semi-empirical)

c. Design based on surface BOD load (empirical)

 a. Design based on first-order BOD degradation constants
and ideal flow conditions (CMASR or plug-flow)
(semi-empirical)
The approach is based on "completely mixed" behaviour
The mass balance for soluble organic matter is written as:

BOD accumulated = BOD influent – BOD effluent – BOD degraded

For soluble organic matter the first term is zero and thus

Ponds with high length/width ratio’s (> 10)

can be assumed to behave like a plug-flow reactor
 b. Design based on the dispersed-flow model (semi-empirical)
The real hydraulic conditions in most stabilization ponds is in between
CMASR and plug-flow

Wehner–Wilhelm model

Thirumurthi (1969) developed design charts where values for

kθ can be found as function of the dispersion factor D and the
required BOD removal rate
Relationship between kt values and percent BOD remaining
for various dispersions factors
c. Design based on surface BOD load (empirical)
Table Various empirical design equations developed from full-scale
performance of facultative ponds (Ellis and Rodrigues, 1995)

λo =organic surface loading rate = (BOD)(Q)/(A)

EXAMPLE:
Design a facultative pond system using the Wehner–
Wilhelm model and Thirumurthi application with the
following given data.

• Design flow rate Q = 1100 m3/d (0.29 Mgal/d)

• Influent TSS = 220 mg/L
• Influent BOD5 = 210 mg/L
• Effluent BOD5= 30 mg/L
• Overall first-order k at 20oC= 0.22 per day
• Pond dispersion factor D= 0.5
• Water temperature at critical period = 1oC
• Pond depth = 2 m (6.6 ft)
• Effective depth = 1.5 m (5 ft)
Solution:
Step 1. Calculate the percentage of BOD remaining in the effluent
S/S0 = 30 mg/L x 100%/(210 mg/L)= 14.3%
 Anaerobic Ponds

 BOD removal is the combined effect of sedimentation

and biological degradation.
Biological degradation is due to the anaerobic degradation of
complex organic material
Pond depth is usually between 3 to 5 meters
 Design of anaerobic ponds
 designed on the basis of volumetric organic loading
Table : Design volumetric organic loading rates for anaerobic ponds
as a function of the monthly average air temperature (Mara and
Pearson, 1986).

The performance of anaerobic ponds may deteriorate when ponds

are getting full with sludge. The operational period of an anaerobic pond
until de-sludging is required is given by
 Maturation ponds
The major application for maturation ponds is to polish or
upgrade facultative pond effluents and achieve substantial
microbial reductions to allow safe use of the effluents in
agriculture or aquaculture.

 are entirely aerobic and 1 - 1.5 m deep.

 stabilization of organic matter and nutrient removal is

accomplished mainly through aerobic bacteria, while

pathogen destruction is realized via a complex
interaction of various environmental factors
Waste stabilization ponds lay-out
 Physical design of WSP
a) POND LOCATION
should be located at least 200 m (preferably 500 m) downwind from
the community they serve and away from any likely area of future
expansion
b) GEOTECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Ensure correct embankment design and to determine whether the
soil is insufficiently impermeable to require the pond to be lined.
c) POND LINING

k=in situ coefficient of permeability

 d) POND GEOMETRY
 The most common shape is rectangular

e) INLET AND OUTLET STRUCTURES

 should be simple and inexpensive
 should permit samples of the pond effluent to be taken with ease

f) BY-PASS PIPEWORK
 Trickling filtration
 A trickling filter is a bed of solid media for bacteria to
attach on its surfaces
 Also called a biological filter/bio-film process/ slim layer
or fixed film process
 Attached Growth Processes
 principal components
Rotary distributor

Plastic media
provides surface area
for the micro-organisms
to grow

Under drain
Collection & aeration
 supports the media

Effluent Influent
Schematic diagram of attached-growth process
In a packed tower or trickling filter, the
wastewater is sprayed or poured over rock
or synthetic media on which a microbial
population grows.
Contrary to the name, no filtration takes
place.
The wastewater simply flows (or trickles)
down through the media and collects in a
trough at the bottom.
 The wastewater is recycled back through the
packed tower to increase the contact with the
biofilm and to provide a constant shear force to
prevent an excessive buildup of biomass.
 Earlier versions of the trickling filter were
circular tanks with rocks (5 to 10 cm) used as
media for bacterial attachment.
 The tank depth was usually limited to six or
seven feet, because of poor oxygen
penetration.
 Design Equations (empirical)
1. Schultz and Germain Equation

Se  k 20 D 
= exp  - 
Si  Q/A 
k20 = Treatability constant for a given depth of filter at 20°C,
Z = filter depth,
Q = volumetric flow rate,
A= filter cross-sectional area,

 The k20 must be corrected for depth if the design is not for
the same depth as used for the constant determination i.e., if
the constant was determined for a 15 ft. unit, then a correction
must be applied if it is to be used for designing a 30 ft or 20 ft.
unit.
 A common correction is
x
 D1 
k 2 = k1 
 D2 
K1 = Treatability constant at depth D1
K2 = Treatability constant at depth D2
Z1= depth of filter one
Z2=depth of filter two,
X = 0.5 for vertical and rock media filters 0.3 for cross
flow plastic media filters
 2. National Research Council

The recirculation factor is calculated by

 The BOD removal efficiency of the second stage is

EXAMPLE :
Estimate the BOD removal efficiency and effluent BOD5 of
a two-stage trickling filter using the NRC formula with the
following given conditions.
Solution:
Step 1. Estimate BOD loading at the first stage (consider 35% BOD removal
at primary clarifier)
Influent BOD= C1= 300 mg/L (1 - 0.35) = 195 mg/L
BOD(kg0d) =W = QC1=195*7570*1000=1476.15kg/m3
Step 2 Calculate BOD removal efficiency of filter 1

E1=63.8%
Step 3. Calculate effluent BOD concentration of filter 1 (C1e)

C1e = 195 mg/L (1- 0.638)

=71 mg/L

Step 4. Calculate BOD removal efficiency of filter 2

Mass of influent BOD= 7570x 71x 0.001=537.5kg/d