Fatima Riaz

FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY IN SEWAGE WASTE WATER

Sewage and waste water are terms with two different meanings but are used interchangeably. WASTE WATER: This is that water, the quality of which is negatively affected due to human influence and activities. As the growth in industries and expansion in urbanization occurs, the volume of waste water will increase exponentially(1). SEWAGE: Commonly defined as a type of waste water that has been predominantly contaminated with human excrements such as feces or urine. Sewage waste water is a broad term that encompasses municipal, domestic or industrial waste products discarded in sewers or in a cesspool emptier. The term sewage is now used to mean any type of waste water.(2) The origin of sewage is very diverse and comes from all sorts of sources, a few of which are listed below Human waste (feces,urine and other body fluids) or black water Septic tank effluents Washing water or grey water Agricultural drainage or run off Industrial effluents Rainfall accumulated as standing water As sewage waste water comes from different sources, hence, its composition is not defined and may contain many of the below mentioned components Water makes up more than 95% of sewage waste water Pathogens such as viruses,bacteria, prions , parasitic worms Organic compounds such as feces,vomit,plant material ,hairs etc Dangerous toxins like pesticides,herbicides and various commonly available poisons Animal like small fish,arthropods,insects and protozoa Hormones and pharmaceuticals Gases like hydrogen sulfide,methane,carbon dioxide etc Large sold wastes like sanitary napkins,nappies,needles and condoms

SEWAGE TREATMENT: This is the process in which the noxious chemicals and impurities are removed from waste water and domestic sewage. It encompasses the different physical,chemical and biological techniques employed to remove the different varieties of pollutants and contaminants. An ideal sewage treatment process relies on the production of safe treated effluent and a treated solid sludge which has applications as a fertilizer to improve the yield of crops. Fermentation technology is commonly known as the technology in which microorganisms/enzymes are utilized to make lucrative compounds that find tremendous use in the chemical ,pharmaceutical, material, energy and food sector.(3) One such application has been found where fermentation technology is employed to effectively sanitize sewage waste water employing the use of microorganisms. This use comes at the time of the secondary or biological treatment of waste water for which an understanding of the primary steps is crucial. Primary Waste Water Treatment: The first step in the treatment, it involves the basic screening and filtering of large waste products,plastics,sticks and large and small debris.This step is important as these solid materials risk clogging of the pipes and damage to the pumps. Hydrophobic compounds like grease,fat and oil are also siphoned off. Waste water is intentionally made to rest for several hours in a large settling dam. At this step primary sludge forms due to the deposition of large solid waste to the bottom of the tank because of gravity. This slurry like primary sludge and the liquid supernatant are further processed in the secondary treatment. (4) Secondary Stage: The primary effluent obtained from the initial treatment is inoculated with a large amount of bacteria and oxygen.The organic materials present within the waste water like fats,carbohydrates,excrements etc are broken down and digested by the microogrganisms.This helps remove some of the soluble organic waste that doesnot separate as primary sludge. This treated waste water than moves towards the secondary clarifiers in which these sludges are propelled into anaerobic digesters while the clear secondary effluent is released into the environment or sent to a disinfectant facility. (5) Secondary treatment has employed many different types ,one of which is the activated sludge method. ACTIVATED SLUDGE The hallmark of this technique is the use of large quantities of dissolved oxygen to encourage the escalation of the biological floc which is responsible for removing large amounts of organic material.It is widely lauded because of the useful end products it produces i.e Nitrogen gas. An improvement in this fermentation technique is the Aerobic Granular Sludge. (6)

AEROBIC GRANULAR SLUDGE It is advantageous to modify the activated sludge systems into aerobic granular sludge systems as it has greater maintenance of biomass because of the increased sludge settlability. Activated sludge systems which are the commonly employed secondary treatments, unfortunately, use a very large amount of surface area because of the poor settling characteristics of the sludge.The aerobic granulation technique has no such qualms.Incorporating biomass in the shape of aerobic granules is being investigated for the exclusion of organic matter,nitrogen and phosphorous compounds from waste water.The aerobic granules are preferentially used as : 1.More stable to changing conditions and flexible enough to withstand drastic changes and toxic additions. 2.Little energy is needed for the process because of its increased aeration efficiency 3.Biomass concentrations can be increased and greater amounts of substrates can be taken care of. 4.Availability of both aerobic and anoxic zones to cater for parallel running biological processes. 5.Finally, adopting aerobic granular sludge technique reduces surface area requirement by 75% and reduces cost by 20% (7)

FERMENTATION TREATMENT:

TECHNOLOGY

FOR

BIOGAS

AND

WASTE

WATER

Methanogenic bacteria when placed in anaerobic conditions convert organic material into the commonly knows methane gas.This is called methane fermentation and relies on microbial metabolism.Biogas is combustible and is produced naturally in nature by the action of free living bacteria in the sludge and sediment of rivers and lakes. A lucrative employment of methanogenic bacteria is in the anaerobic treatment and degradation of sludge and in the purification of industrial waste water.When biogas is produced from anaerobic metabolism of sewage sludge , it is called digestion gas and this same gas, if employed, can help provide 50% of the energy needs of the running treatment plant.This new advancement using the principles of fermentation technology and microorganisms can help in creating new techniques for the safe dumping of waste, liquid fertilizer and controlling global warming by reducing green house gases use and emission.(8)

REFERENCES 1.Wastewater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Wastewater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastewater. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 2.Sewage treatment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Sewage treatment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewage_treatment. [Accessed 01 January 2013] 3.Fermentation Technology . 2013. Fermentation Technology . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.chalmers.se/en/areas-of-advance/lifescience/research/Pages/FermentationTechnology.aspx. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 4.Lesson 12: Overview of the Wastewater Treatment Process. 2013. Lesson 12: Overview of the Wastewater Treatment Process. [ONLINE] Available at: http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/env110/lesson12.htm. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 5.How Wastewater Treatment Works. 2013. How Wastewater Treatment Works. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wastewatermadeclear.ca/what/howitworks.htm. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 6.Activated sludge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Activated sludge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_sludge. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 7.Aerobic granulation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Aerobic granulation Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_granulation. [Accessed 01 January 2013]. 8.APEC-VC - New Developments of Methane Fermentation Technology in Japan February 24 , 2012. 2013. APEC-VC - New Developments of Methane Fermentation Technology in Japan February 24 , 2012. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.apecvc.or.jp/e/modules/tinyd01/index.php?id=44. [Accessed 01 January 2013].