Wastewater Treatment Methods 

Wastewater treatment consists of applying known technology to improve or upgrade

the quality of a wastewater.  Usually wastewater treatment will involve collecting the wastewater
in a central, segregated location (the Wastewater Treatment Plant) and subjecting the wastewater
to various treatment processes.  Most often, since large volumes of wastewater are involved,
treatment processes are carried out on continuously flowing wastewaters (continuous flow or
"open" systems) rather than as "batch" or a series of periodic treatment processes in which
treatment is carried out on parcels or "batches" of wastewaters.  While most wastewater
treatment processes are continuous flow, certain operations, such as vacuum filtration, involving
as it does, storage of sludge, the addition of chemicals, filtration and removal or disposal of the
treated sludge, are routinely handled as periodic batch operations. 
Wastewater treatment, however, can also be organized or categorized by the nature of the
treatment process operation being used;  for example, physical, chemical or biological.   
Physical, Chemical and Biological Wastewater Treatment Methods

Physical
Sedimentation (Clarification) : This  water treatment process used to settle out suspended
solids in water under the influence of gravity.
Screening: This  water treatment process used to trap and remove the floating matter such as
paper, wood etc. by using automated mechanically raked bar screens.

Aeration: This Water aeration process is used for water bodies that suffer from anoxic
conditions, usually caused by adjacent human activities such as sewage discharges, agricultural
run-off, or over-baiting a fishing lake. Aeration can be achieved through the infusion of air into
the bottom of the lake, lagoon or pond or by surface agitation from a fountain or spray-like
device to allow for oxygen exchange at the surface and the release of noxious gasses such
as carbon dioxide,  methane  or  hydrogen sulfide.
Filtration: This water treatment process is used at the end to remove remaining suspended
particles and unsettled floc.

Chemical
Chlorination:This is a method of treatment which has been employed for many purposes to
disinfect or destruct the pathogenic organisms and to prevent water from decomposition.
Ozonation: In this process O3 is used, Which is an unstable molecule gives up one atom of
Oxygen providing a powerful oxidizing agent which is toxic to most waterborne organisms.

  
Neutralization: The neutralization process can be performed  for the industrial wastewater
containing acidic substances (acidic) or base (alkaline) that need to be neutralized before
discharge of water into the waste water treatment process.
  Coagulation:  Coagulation is one of the most important physio-chemical reactions used in
water treatment. The precipitation of ions (heavy metals) and colloids (organic and inorganic) are
mostly held in solution by electrical charges. By the addition of ions with opposite charges, these
colloids can be destabilized; coagulation can be achieved by chemical or electrical methods. The
coagulant is added in the form of suitable chemical substances. Alum [Al2(SO4)3.18H2O] is such
a chemical substance, which has been widely used for ages for wastewater treatment.

Adsorption: This is the physical adhesion of chemicals on to the surface of the solid. The
effectiveness of the adsorbent is directly related to the amount of surface area available to attract
the particles of contaminant. The most commonly used adsorbent is a very porous matrix of
granular activated carbon.
Ion Exchange: This technique has been used extensively to remove hardness, and iron and
manganese salts in drinking water supplies. It has also been used selectively to remove specific
impurities and to recover valuable trace metals like chromium,nickel, copper, lead and cadmium
from industrial waste discharges. The process takes advantage of the ability of certain natural
and synthetic materials to exchange one of their ions.

Biological
Aerobic: Under aerobic (O2 ) conditions bacteria rapidly consume organic matter and convert
into CO2  .The following treatment methods come under this method.
 Activated Sludge Treatment Methods 
 Trickling Filtration  
 Oxidation Ponds
  Lagoons
  Aerobic Digestion 
Anaerobic: This is a bacterial process of domestic sewage in septic tanks which normally retain
the sewage from one day to two days reducing B.O.D by about 35 to 40 percentage. The
following treatment methods come under this method.
 Anaerobic Digestion  
 Septic Tanks
  Lagoons
Physical treatment methods 
Include processes where no gross chemical or biological changes are carried out and
strictly physical phenomena are used to improve or treat the wastewater.  
Examples would be coarse screening to remove larger entrained objects and sedimentation (or
clarification). In the process of sedimentation, physical phenomena relating to the settling of
solids by gravity are allowed to operate.  Usually this consists of simply holding a wastewater for
a short period of time in a tank under quiescent conditions, allowing the heavier solids to settle,
and removing the "clarified" effluent.  Sedimentation for solids separation is a very common
process operation and is routinely employed at the beginning and end of wastewater treatment
operations. While sedimentation is one of the most common physical treatment processes that is
used to achieve treatment, another physical treatment process consists of aeration -- that is,
physically adding air, usually to provide oxygen to the wastewater.  Still other physical
phenomena used in treatment consist of filtration.  Here wastewater is passed through a filter
medium to separate solids.  An example would be the use of sand filters to further remove
entrained solids from a treated wastewater.  Certain phenomena will occur during the
sedimentation process and can be advantageously used to further improve water quality. 
Permitting greases or oils, for example, to float to the surface and skimming or physically
removing them from the wastewaters is often carried out as part of the overall treatment process. 
In certain industrial wastewater treatment processes strong or undesirable wastes are
sometimes produced over short periods of time.  Since such "slugs" or periodic inputs of such
wastes would damage a biological treatment process, these wastes are sometimes held, mixed
with other wastewaters, and gradually released, thus eliminating "shocks" to the treatment plant. 
This is call equalization.  Another type of "equalization" can be used to even out wide variations
in flow rates.  For example, the wet well of a pump station can receive widely varying amounts
of wastewater and, in turn, pump the wastes onward at more uniform rates. 

Chemical treatment Methods

These methods consist of using some chemical reaction or reactions to improve the water
quality.  Probably the most commonly used chemical process is chlorination.  Chlorine, a strong
oxidizing chemical, is used to kill bacteria and to slow down the rate of decomposition of the
wastewater.  Bacterial kill is achieved when vital biological processes are affected by the
chlorine.  Another strong oxidizing agent that has also been used as an oxidizing disinfectant is
ozone. 
A chemical process commonly used in many industrial wastewater treatment operations
is neutralization.  Neutralization consists of the addition of acid or base to adjust pH levels back
to neutrality.  Since lime is a base it is sometimes used in the neutralization of acid wastes. 
Coagulation consists of the addition of a chemical that, through a chemical reaction,
forms an insoluble end product that serves to remove substances from the wastewater. 
Polyvalent metals are commonly used as coagulating chemicals in wastewater treatment and
typical coagulants would include lime (that can also be used in neutralization), certain iron
containing compounds (such as ferric chloride or ferric sulfate) and alum (aluminum sulfate). 
Certain processes may actually be physical and chemical in nature.  The use of activated
carbon to "adsorb" or remove organics, for example, involves both chemical and physical
processes.  Processes such as ion exchange, which involves exchanging certain ions for others,
are not used to any great extent in wastewater treatment. 

Biological treatment methods

These methods use microorganisms, mostly bacteria, in the biochemical decomposition
of wastewaters to stable end products.  More microorganisms, or sludges, are formed and a
portion of the waste is converted to carbon dioxide, water and other end products.  Generally,
biological treatment methods can be divided into aerobic and anaerobic methods, based on
availability of dissolved oxygen. The purpose of wastewater treatment is generally to remove
from the wastewater enough solids to permit the remainder to be discharged to a receiving water
without interfering with its best or proper use.  The solids which are removed are primarily
organic but may also include inorganic solids.  Treatment must also be provided for the solids
and liquids which are removed as sludge.  Finally, treatment to control odors, to retard biological
activity, or destroy pathogenic organisms may also be needed. 
While the devices used in wastewater treatment are numerous and will probably combine
physical, chemical and biological methods, they may all be generally grouped under six
methods: 
1.Preliminary Treatment
2. Primary Treatment
 3. Secondary Treatment
4. Disinfection
5.Sludge Treatment
6.Tertiary Treatment
Degrees of treatment are sometimes indicated by use of the terms primary, secondary and tertiary
treatment.  Tertiary treatment, properly, would be any treatment added onto or following
secondary treatment. 
 Preliminary Treatment
At most plants preliminary treatment is used to protect pumping equipment and facilitate
subsequent treatment processes.  Preliminary devices are designed to remove or cut up the larger
suspended and floating solids, to remove the heavy inorganic solids, and to remove excessive
amounts of oils or greases. 
To effect the objectives of preliminary treatment, the following devices are commonly used: 
1. Screens -- rack, bar or fine
2. Comminuting devices -- grinders, cutters, shredders
3. Grit chambers
4. Pre-aeration tanks
  In addition to the above, chlorination may be used in preliminary
treatment.  Since chlorination may be used at all stages in treatment, it is considered to be a
method by itself. Preliminary treatment devices require careful design and operation.  
   
Primary Treatment
In this treatment, most of the settleable solids are separated or removed from the
wastewater by the physical process of sedimentation.  When certain chemicals are used with
primary sedimentation tanks, some of the colloidal solids are also removed.  Biological activity
of the wastewater in primary treatment is of negligible importance. 
The purpose of primary treatment is to reduce the velocity of the wastewater sufficiently
to permit solids to settle and floatable material to surface.  Therefore, primary devices may
consist of settling tanks, clarifiers or sedimentation tanks.  Because of variations in design,
operation, and application, settling tanks can be divided into four general groups: 
1. Septic tanks
2. Two story tanks -- Imhoff and several proprietary or patented units
3. Plain sedimentation tank with mechanical sludge removal
4. Upward flow clarifiers with mechanical sludge removal
When chemicals are used, other auxiliary units are employed.  These are: 
1. Chemical feed units
2. Mixing devices
3. Flocculators
The results obtained by primary treatment, together with anaerobic sludge digestion as
described later, are such that they can be compared with the zone of degradation in stream self-
purification.  The use of chlorine with primary treatment is discussed under the section on
Preliminary Treatment. 
 Secondary Treatment
Secondary treatment depends primarily upon aerobic organisms which biochemically
decompose the organic solids to inorganic or stable organic solids.  It is comparable to the zone
of recovery in the self-purification of a stream. 
The devices used in secondary treatment may be divided into four groups: 
1. Trickling filters with secondary settling tanks
2. Activated sludge and modifications with final settling tanks
3. Intermittent sand filters
4. Stabilization ponds
The use of chlorine with secondary treatment is discussed under the section on Secondary
Treatment  

 Chlorination
This is a method of treatment which has been employed for many purposes in all stages
in wastewater treatment, and even prior to preliminary treatment.  It involves the application of
chlorine to the wastewater for the following purposes: 
1. Disinfection or destruction of pathogenic organisms
2. Prevention of wastewater decomposition --
(a)odor control, and  
(b) protection of plant structures 
1. Aid in plant operation --
(a) Sedimentation, 
(b)trickling filters,  
(c) activated sludge bulking 
1. Reduction or delay of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
While chlorination has been commonly used over the years, especially for disinfection,
other methods to achieve disinfection as well as to achieve similar treatment ends are also used. 
Among the most common is the use of ozone.  In view of the toxicity of chlorine and chlorinated
compounds for fish as well as other living forms, ozonation may be more commonly used in the
future.  This process will be more fully discussed in the section on disinfection. 
 Sludge Treatment
The solids removed from wastewater in both primary and secondary treatment units,
together with the water removed with them, constitute wastewater sludge.  It is generally
necessary to subject sludge to some treatment to prepare or condition it for ultimate disposal. 
Such treatment has two objectives -- the removal of part or all of the water in the sludge to
reduce its volume, and the decomposition of the organic solids to mineral solids or to relatively
stable organic solids.  This is accomplished by a combination of two or more of the following
methods: 
1. Thickening
2. Digestion with or without heat
3. Drying on sand bed -- open or covered
4. Conditioning with chemicals
5. Elutriation
6. Vacuum filtration
7. Heat drying
8. Incineration
9. Wet oxidation
10. Centrifuging
Tertiary and Advanced Wastewater Treatment
 Tertiary treatment is the next wastewater treatment process after secondary
treatment. This step removes stubborn contaminants that secondary treatment was not able to
clean up. Wastewater effluent becomes even cleaner in this treatment process through the use of
stronger and more advanced treatment systems. Tertiary treatment technologies can be
extensions of conventional secondary biological treatment to further stabilize oxygen-demanding
substances in the wastewater, or to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. Tertiary treatment may also
involve physical-chemical separation techniques such as carbon adsorption,
flocculation/precipitation, membranes for advanced filtration, ion exchange, dechlorination and
reverse osmosis.