Wastewater Treatment

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G. ME148F – 2 / E01

2019169905 03 SEPTEMBER 2023
BS ME – 3 ENGR. EDWARD B.O. ANG

Summary and Introduction

Water that has been utilized in various homes, industrial, commercial, or agricultural
operations and has picked up the pollutants, contaminants, or other chemicals as a result of those
processes is referred to as wastewater. This water needs to be treated before it can be safely
released into the environment or reused because it is no longer fit for its original usage. The organic
matter is often one of many pollutants found in wastewater. It comprises food scraps, animal and
human waste, and other biodegradable substances. The first category is inorganic material, which
includes substances that can be hazardous to the environment and human health, such as chemicals,
heavy metals, and minerals. The second category is pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses,
and parasites. The third factor is excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which can
degrade aquatic ecosystems and produce water pollution. The fourth category is suspended solids,
which are solid particles that can cloud water and reduce its quality. final is the toxic compounds,
chemicals, and pollutants that pose dangers to human health as well as the aquatic life.
According to Crini and Lichtfouse, there are multiple causes of water pollution: mining
activities, industrial wastes, sewage, and waste water, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, energy
use, radioactive waste, urban development, etc. This pertains that every movement or use of water
that provides the goods for the people has a negative effect such as spread of harmful toxic,
chemicals, and pathogens to the ecosystem, and aquatic life when it does not undergo wastewater
treatment.
Ammonia is converted to nitrite and then to nitrate by the microbiological process known
as nitrification. Two different forms of autotrophic nitrifying bacteria often carry out the
nitrification process. These bacteria may build organic molecules using energy from inorganic
sources, such as ammonia or nitrite. In the initial stage of nitrification, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria
convert ammonia to nitrite. Nitroso monas is the most well-known genus associated with this stage,
although other species, including Nitrosococcus and Nitrosospira, may also be implicated.
Nitrates are converted to gaseous nitrogen by facultative anaerobes through a process
called denitrification. For instance, fungi may flourish in anoxic conditions because they degrade
oxygen-containing molecules to get oxygen. Once introduced to the aquatic environment, nitrogen
can take on many forms, such as dissolved nitrogen gas, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and organic
nitrogen in proteinaceous materials or in dissolved or particulate phases. The creatures that carry
out this process are called denitrifiers. They are typically heterotrophic bacteria that easily digest
biodegradable substrates using nitrate as an electron acceptor in anoxic conditions. These bacteria

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
will first use the oxygen for metabolism if it is present before utilizing the nitrate. As a result,
dissolved oxygen concentrations must be kept as low as feasible for the denitrification process to
be effective.
The Water Framework provided by the European policy on water that establishes
guidelines for the protection of surface water, underground water and coastal water in the European
continent (Crini and Lichtfouse, 2019). The Water Framework classifies the chemicals into two:
Black List involves the dangerous substances that are considered to be in high tolerance of toxicity
or lead to bioaccumulation; and the other is the Grey List which involves the significant risk for
the environment. The basis of these categories is either on the individual substances such as metals
or industrials such as agro-food industry, chemical industry etc.
The primary goals of wastewater treatment are safeguarding people's health, the
environment, and water supplies. The following are typical goals of wastewater treatment, though
they may differ based on the particular situation and the type of wastewater being treated. There
are five specific objectives that mainly focus to achieve the primary goals of wastewater treatment.
First is the pollution removal; it removes the physical, chemical and biological element involved
in the water such as the solids, organic matter, pathogens, particles of metals and chemicals etc.
with the assistance of wastewater treatment. Second is the public health protection, wastewater
treatment ensures that the used water is treated or removed the harmful elements, pathogens,
contaminants as well as the health diseases involved to become safe for human contact and
consumption. Third is the environmental protection; humans, plants, and animals depend their
foods on the environment. So, if treated water is released on the lands or bodies of water, then it
would reduce the harm to the ecosystem, as well as to the aquatic life. Fourth is the water resource
conservation, this promotes the reuse of treated wastewater to conserve the consumption of
freshwater worldwide. The treated wastewater often uses for irrigation, industrial, or groundwater.
Fifth is the following maintaining the regulation; every personnel in the wastewater treatment plant
should meet the overall regulations and standards given by the local, regional, and national
government to ensure the safety of the people, and the environment.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
Wastewater Treatment
There are four categories of water that are known: Rainwater, domestic wastewaters,
agricultural water, and industrial wastewaters (Crini and Badot, 2007). Wastewaters are different
from the drinking water resources such as rivers, reservoirs, or lakes due to the contaminant levels
in drinking water are low while the contaminant level in wastewaters are derived from industrial
activities (Cooney, 1999), depending on their composition or industrial to where it belongs.

Kristoffer G. Patricio

FIGURE 1. The Primary Clarifier.

The first destination of the wastewater is the primary clarifier where the process is
primarily needs to removed the heavily or huge particles of inorganic grit or dirt. It is separated
the from the wastewater in the grit chambers, and the huge particles of dirt are placed to the
separation tank outside the primary clarifier and sent to the solids processing.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
 Kristoffer G. Patricio

Figure 2. The Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor.

After the Primary Clarifier process, the pre-treated wastewater proceeds to the moving bed
biofilm reactor. The moving bed biofilm reactor is a biological process where in a small
microorganism such as bacteria are used in the water treatment to decompose the waste which is
found in the wastewater. The treatment procedure uses natural cellular mechanism where in the
microbes in the wastewater allows it to degrade the waste, turning the microorganisms to break
down and consume the waste. The bacteria break down the waste into simpler chemicals which
will be filtered out by the further treatment or final clarifier.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
 Kristoffer G. Patricio

Figure 3. The Sludge Judge.

Sludge Judge is used to gather the accurate result of the settleable which is 5% or less. As
it was shown above, it is measured by a measuring instrument in the field of wastewater. This
method is required to any plants such as sewage treatment, chemical plants, food processing
industries, etc.
After the sludge judge procedure, the UV disinfection system follows up as a part of the
third wastewater treatment process. The microorganism that are involved in the wastewater are
exposed to UV radiation to break down the DNA and disinfect the water. After the UV disinfection,
the anaerobic digestion follows up to break down of the organic waste from the sewage sludge
from the clarifiers.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
 Kristoffer G. Patricio

Figure 4. The Fan Press.

The fan press’ purpose is to remove the water from the sludge through a continuous
pressure with a rotating speed of no more than 1 rpm. The fan is automated and enclosed to ensure
that no sludge is flowing outside and reduce the spread of smell from the fan press. A variety of
capacities are offered to handle flow applications of various sizes. Installation is made simpler by
the tiny design. Skid-mounted systems include everything you need, including a feed pump,
chemical preparation, inline mixing, a central operator control panel, and the choice of plant-
integrated controls. Mobile systems can be deployed on trailers or in containers.
After the process of fan press, the sludge would flow to the biogas generator to lower its
oxygen levels. The biogas generator lessens the potential of having a contamination in the
wastewater. However, there are some elements such as Nitrogen and Phosphorus that are left after
the anaerobic digestion and they can be sent in the agricultural production and used as a substitute
fertilizer for the fields or crops.
After the biogas generator, the Pipe Gallery follows up and it connected the gallery top
chamber through the gallery influent line and filter influent pipes. A gallery upper chamber, a
gallery lower chamber, and a backwash waste chamber are all located inside a pipe gallery's
exterior peripheral wall. The bottom chamber is used as the separate supply chamber that attached
to the gallery backwash supply line and filter backwash pipes.
All of the processes are connected in to the control room of the treatment facility to ensure
and maintain all of the control, conduct a test of the treated water if it is allowed to distribute to
the reservoirs for usage of the people.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
Why Do We Need the Wastewater Treatment?
Wastewater treatment is necessary because nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus
compounds can be found in wastewater. These are often created using cleaning materials like
various soaps and human waste. This benefit is seriously jeopardized by permitting untreated,
nutrient-rich effluent to reach lakes and rivers. Watercourses with high nitrogen or phosphorus
levels may develop a place that no people must enter within a radius.
Another factor is the presence of inorganic compounds in wastewater. Examples of
inorganics in wastewater such as compounds including copper, lead, magnesium, nickel,
potassium, sodium, or zinc. Commercial and industrial activities regularly produce these
dangerous substances. Inorganics are difficult to decompose. If they enter through untreated
wastewater, they remain in lakes and rivers. As their concentrations increase over time, the quality
of the water degrades, endangering both people and animals.
Organic Matters are a further justification for treating wastewater. Organic materials in
wastewater, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, oils, greases, and synthetic materials, are found
in some detergents. The requirement for oxygen increases with the quantity of pollution in the
water. This process becomes uncontrolled in lakes and rivers with a high concentration of organic
debris. If nothing is done, the aquatic life in these watercourses may go extinct due to the low
oxygen levels.

Appendix A: How Wastewater Treatment Started?

The history of wastewater treatment dates back thousands of years, and there is proof that
early civilizations used primitive wastewater management techniques. Some of the earliest
wastewater management methods trace back to ancient civilizations like the Indus Valley
Civilization (about 2500 BCE) and ancient Mesopotamia, where it all began. These civilizations
created rudimentary wastewater disposal techniques and sewer systems, frequently employing
gravity to carry waste away from inhabited regions.
Progressively jumping to the 19th century, we see that the Industrial Revolution
significantly increased both urbanization and industrialization, which created more challenging
wastewater problems. The environmentalists and government required improved wastewater
management due to the environmental issues brought on by the fast rise of cities and businesses.
Cities like London and Paris started constructing more comprehensive sewer systems in the middle
of the 19th century.
For reasons of public health, public enjoyment, aesthetics, and economics, it became
imperative that some technique of collecting discharged raw wastewater be offered as the City
grew, and certain areas became more populated. Due to the discharge of raw sewage, Tannery
Brook, which was initially established in the City's Outer Wilson Street and Chamberlain Street

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
sections, was basically an open sewer by the late 1800s and became the City's first endeavor to
protect public health and eliminate offensive odors. One of the public health risks brought on by
the discharge of raw sewage into the brook was the potential for waterborne diseases, including
typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, and others.
The term called solution to pollution is dilution was generally accepted as the conventional
method of wastewater treatment in the United States before developing municipal and industrial
wastewater treatment plants along the Penobscot River. The Penobscot River was a large enough
body of water with a sufficient dilution ratio during the 1800s and the early to mid-1900s to
preclude major public health problems and offensive odors from wastewater discharge.

PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.
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PATRICIO, KRISTOFFER G.