How a Wastewater Treatment Plant Works Craig Datko

Table of Contents I. II. III. Audience and Purpose Introduction Components 1. Primary Treatment a. Screen & Grit Chamber b. Primary Sedimentation 2. Secondary Treatment c. Bioreactor d. Secondary Sedimentation e. Tertiary Treatment f. Sludge Processing Conclusion

IV.

I.

Audience and Purpose

This documents purpose will be to give a summary of the Wastewater Treatment Plant process with the hope of providing a base knowledge for students. Knowledge on this topic is essential for any students planning on working in the environmental or water resources fields. Therefore, this specific document will be issued to entry level students taking CE 370, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, at The Pennsylvania State University. This is a mandatory class for all Civil Engineering students and this document can provide insight to topics learned in this class along with future classes if they decide to take that path

II.

Introduction

Wastewater treatment is the biological, chemical, and/or mechanical process of removing contaminants from water. The purpose of this process is to provide environmentally safe effluents and sludge that is acceptable for reuse or disposal. The wastewater treatment plant is separated into two main parts. These two parts are primary treatment and secondary treatment. The goal of primary treatment segment is to remove debris and settable solids. The goal of the secondary treatment segment is to convert the biochemical oxygen demand into more microorganisms and then have them removed. Many methods are used within this complex process and all the methods contribute to the final goal of environmentally stable disposal.

Effluent- An outflow of liquid waste from a treatment plant Sludge- Semi solid material that is a residual of wastewater treatment Biochemical Oxygen Demand- a measure of the organic pollution of water: the amount of oxygen, in mg per liter of water Settable Solids- volume of solids in one liter of sample that will settle to the bottom

III.

Components

(Figure 1: Basic Schematic of Wastewater Treatment Plant (Letters Matched with Table of Contents)) 1. Primary Treatment a. Screen and Grit Chamber The screen and grit chambers are the first step in the wastewater treatment process. Therefore it is fairly simple in comparison to future steps. The purpose of this segment is essentially to separate larger particles and objects in the wastewater. This is done to protect the succeeding components from damage. The impact of larger solids and foreign objects as well as clogs throughout the system can cause problems that may lead to failure. Screens typically consist of bars that are typically placed anywhere from a quarter of an inch to six inches apart. The bars are also angled at 45 degrees for better entrapment of solids as depicted in Figure 2. This will block most of the larger objects that are not wanted later in the process. These may include fecal matter, foreign objects, trash, and any other materials large enough to be captured. These blocked waste products are removed manually and cleaned based on the wastewater treatment plants specifications. The grit chamber is right behind the screens. This is used to stop particles that are still too large to continue on but pass through the screen. As seen in Figure 3 materials that would pass through the screen such as sand, gravel, dirt and any other gritty components would be stopped by the grit chamber. These are also cleared manually based upon the wastewater treatment plants specifications.

(Figure 2: Screen)

(Figure 3: Grit Chamber)

b. Primary Sedimentation
The next step in wastewater treatment is the primary sedimentation tanks. These are designed to remove more of the organic solids or sludge. This is done by decreasing the velocity of the wastewater so the sludge can settle to the bottom. The sludge is then mechanically removed by scrapers that run across the bottom. Any sludge that floats is directed out of the tank by jets at the surface. All the sludge is sent separately to the sludge processor. There are three primary designs of the primary sedimentation tanks. a. Rectangular sedimentation tank b. Circular sedimentation tank c. Hopper bottomed sedimentation tank While they all serve the same purpose they differ slightly in their way of achieving the final goal as depicted in Figure 4. (Figure 4: Sedimentation Tanks a, b, and c)

2. Secondary Treatment c. Bioreactor Now the wastewater enters the secondary treatment phase. Any waste that hasnt been disposed of continues onto the bioreactor. Bioreactors are separated into many different types, however, the activated sludge tank is the most common. The activated sludge tank process decreases the organic components of the wastewater. This is done by adding oxygen to wastewater that has made it this far in the process. After this treatment the new mixture is discharged into settling tanks. While the new mixture is in the tanks, the wastewater will separate based on density. Any sludge that has settled is sent into an aeration tank where air is circulated through the liquid to further separate components. At this point the wastewater is either sent to sludge processing as a waste or recirculated through until it passes inspection for the next phase as seen below in Figure 5.

(Figure 5: Bioreactor)

d. Secondary Sedimentation The secondary sedimentation portion of the wastewater treatment plant process is very similar to the primary sedimentation portion. The velocity is again decreased so that any suspended solids can settle to the bottom so they can be removed. This may be needed because aeration can create larger solids that need to be removed at this stage. This is as a last chance to remove anything that may have made it through the previous stages or were generated since the primary sedimentation.

e. Tertiary Treatment The purpose of the tertiary treatment phase is to provide final treatment to the wastewater before it is released. There are many different types of tertiary treatment methods and wastewater treatment plants try to implement as many as possible. 1. UV Disinfectant: Uses The UV light spectrum to kill bacteria that may be present 2. Sand Filtration: Uses Sand as a type of physical barrier to clear out residue 3. Chlorination: Chemically Disinfects wastewater 4. Denitrification: Removes Nitrogen in wastewater through aeration 5. High Density Solids Pumps: Separates sludge and wastewater to reduce odor f. Sludge Processor The sludge processor is where the materials that are unfit (sludge) to be released into the environment go. At this the sludge must be dealt with in a way that is appropriate. The ultimate goal is to reduce the amount of organic matter and microorganisms present. Through the processes of anaerobic digestion, incineration and composting the sludge is made acceptable to be responsibly released into the environment.

IV.

Conclusion The wastewater treatment plant process is a very complex system that affects almost everyone. Without this important process the infrastructure of the United State would not be stable. A minor failure in this process causes huge problems across the system and to the users. With some knowledge of how the wastewater treatment plant works and the appreciation that comes with it I think that this otherwise ignored process can gain some well deserved recognition.

Work Cited Masters, Gilbert, and Ela Wendell. Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science. 3rd. Print. Photos Links https://www.ebmud.com/our-water/wastewater-treatment/ebmud-receives-platinum-10award http://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-systemoperators.htm http://www.infobarscreens.com/manual-bar-screen.htm
http://depositphotos.com/3847709/stock-illustration-Design-with-metallic-realistic-mesh.html

http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=446152 http://web.deu.edu.tr/atiksu/toprak/ani4063.html