Biological Treatment

Dr. Akepati S. Reddy

Associate Professor, Thapar University
Adjunct Scientist and Head DAS, TCIRD
Patiala (PUNJAB) – 147 004
INDIA
 Biological Treatment
Concerned with contaminants removal from wastes (water and
wastewater, and solid wastes & sludges)
– Organic matter and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus)
– Heavy metals, pathozens, pesticides and other toxic organic
substances and even dissolved salts
Usually designed for the removal of organic matter or nutrients or
both (removal by design)
– Other contaminants also get removed (coincidental removal)
Biological treatment processes
– Biological treatment units of wastewater and water
– Anaerobic and aerobic digesters for sludges
– Land farming, Composting, Vermicomposting, Mushroom
culturing and Animal husbandry
– Constructed wetlands and vegetated ponds
 Biological Treatment
Biological means with the help of or by living forms -
microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and algae), animals and
plants
Bacteria:
• Organic matter removal (heterotrophic bacteria)
– Aerobic and Anaerobic (attached and suspended growth)
biological treatment units for wastewater treatment
– Stabilization pond systems for wastewater treatment
– Sludge digestion (aerobic and anaerobic), composting,
vermicomposting, land farming, etc.
• Nutrient removal:
– Nitrification (autotrophic bacteria) and denitrification removals
– Biological phosphorus removal
 Biological Treatment
Fungi
• Mushroom culturing
• Wastewater treatment by fungi (mycotechnology)
Algae
• Nutrient removal
• Supporting bacterial removal (photosynthetic O2 supply)
– Facultative and maturation ponds
– Oxidation ponds
Animals
• Vermicomposting (earthworms) – stabilization and mineralization of
organic waste
• Animal husbandry – piggeries, dairy animal keeping, poultry, etc. –
use agricultural residues, residential, commercial, and institutional
wastes rich in organic matter as food
 Biological Treatment
Plants
• Aquatic plants are used – supply oxygen, provide surfaces for
microbial films, uptake and assimilate nutrients, metals and
salts
• Submerged (hydrilla, vallisnaria) floating (water hyacinth, duck
weed) and emergent (reeds, typha) aquatic macrophytes
• Constructed wetlands (root zone treatment technology) and
macrophyte ponds (vegetated ponds)
• Land farming and phytoremediation
 Biological Treatment
What is included?
• Biological water and wastewater treatment for organic matter
and nutrient removal
– Aerobic and anaerobic treatment systems
– Attached and suspended growth systems
• Stabilization pond systems
• Constructed wetland systems and macrophyte ponds
• Biological (aerobic and anaerobic) sludge stabilization
What is excluded?
• Mycotechnology for water and wastewater treatment
• Composting, vermicomposting and mushroom culturing
• Land farming and bioremediation including phytoremediation
• Animal husbandry
 Mechanisms of Biological Treatment
• Bioflocculation, Biosorption and Bioaccumulation
• Use as food by heterotrophs
– Biooxidation, biosynthesis and autooxidation
– Transforming into Inorganic end products, cell debris and wasted
sludge (secondary sludge)
– Methane, organic acids and alcohols (anaerobic oxidation)
• Uptake and use as nutrients (assimilative use)
• Nitrification (by autotrophs) and denitrification
transformations of nitrogen
• Symbiotic association by algae and plants with
heterotrophs
– Using the nutrients released from waste treatment by
heterotrophs
– Supplying oxygen generated from potosynthesis
– Bioaccumulation of pollutants/contaminants
 Mechanisms of removal
Removal of contaminants occur through biosorption,
biooxidation and bioflocculation
Biosorption
• Relatively rapid process when compared with biooxidation)
• can be both adsorption or absorption
• Hydrolysis by exoenzymes can solubilizise the adsorbed organic
matter
• Hydrolysed material is partly absorbed and partly released into the
surrounding medium
Biooxidation
• Represents the actual removal process for biodegradable organic
matter
• Respiration and fermentation are the processes
• Respiration can be aerobic or anaerobic depending on oxygen
availability and can use oxygen, nitrate, sulfate and carbon dioxide
as inputs
• Water, carbon dioxide, sulfide, nitrous oxide, methane etc. are end
products
 Mechanisms of removal (contd..)
Bioflocculation
• Microorganisms of the aeration tank produce biopolymers
and these bring about flocculation and form biological flocs
• Biological flocs are constituted of
– Microorganisms
– Cell debris
– Suspended and colloidal organic and inorganic constituents
of the wastewater
• The bioflocculated organic material can also be hydrolysed
to form soluble organic matter which can be biosorbed
 Bio-oxidation
Respiration
• Involves glycolysis, TCA cycle and electron transport
• Uses inorganic substances like, oxygen, nitrate, sulfate or
carbon dioxide as electron acceptors
• Aerobic respiration uses oxygen as electron acceptor in the
electron transportation system
• Anaerobic respiration occurs in the absence of oxygen through
use of nitrate, or sulfate or carbon dioxide as electron acceptor
in the electron transport system
Fermentation
• Involves glycolysis and TCA cycle but no electron transport
system
• Some organic molecules produced by either glycolysis or TCA
cycle or by some other process act as electron acceptors
Nitrification
Denitrification
 Continuous and batch processes
• Batch process:
– A multi-step process is brought about sequentially
one step after the other usually in one tank/vessel
– Even when the inflow to the process is continuous
it is collected into the tank to facilitate batch
operation
• Continuous process:
– A multi-step process is brought about
simultaneously usually in more than one
tank/vessel
– Inflow to the process is continuous
 HRT & SRT, and Suspended & Attached
Growth Systems
HRT: hydraulic retention time
SRT: (Bio)solids retention time (mean cell residence time)
Strategy for bioreactor size reduction
– Making SRT independent of HRT
Suspended growth systems
– (External and internal) solid-liquid separators and solids
recycling
Attached growth systems
– Biofilms on media surfaces (specific surface area!)
– Packed beds (with risk of clogging)
– Expanded beds and moving beds (fluidized beds)
 Flow regimes
• Plug flow regime:
– All fluid particles entering the reactor have same
speed and their movement in the reactor is not
influenced
– No longitudinal mixing of the fluid occur within the
reactor
• Completely mixed flow regime:
– Contents of the reactor are completely mixed and the
influent gets instantaneously mixed with and diluted in
the reactor contents
 Flow regimes
S0 S0

Se Se Se

QS0 QSe QS0 QSe

Plug flow reactor CFSTR

S0 S0
Oxygen demand Oxygen demand

Se Se Se

QS0 QSe QS0 QSe

Plug flow reactor CFSTR
 Oxygen demand
S0 Oxygen supply
Oxygen supply S0
Oxygen demand

Se Se
Se

QS0 QSe QS0 QSe

Plug flow reactor CFSTR
•In plug flow reactor organic matter removal rate is higher
(Monad’s equation)
•Hence plug flow reactor size is smaller
Taking advantage of smaller plug flow reactor size is affected by
•Mismatch between oxygen supply and demand
(too little in the initial section and too much in the final section)
• Limiting oxygen results in
•Filamentous growth and fluffy biological flocs
•Insufficient thickening of solids and less than desired level of recycling
•Lower MLVSS and reduced treatment efficiency
•Increased washout of sludge in clarified effluent
 Biological treatment systems
Aerobic treatment
• Attached growth systems: TF, SAF, RBC
• Suspended growth systems: ASP, Aerated lagoons, sequencing
batch reactor, membrane bioreactor (MBR)
Anaerobic treatment
• Suspended growth reactors: Complete mix process, Anaerobic
contact process, Anaerobic SBR, UASB and its modifications
• Attached growth reactors: upflow and downflow filters (packed bed),
expanded and fluidized bed reactors
• Hybrid reactors
• Two stage or multi stage anaerobic digestion
Mixed and miscellaneous types
• Oxidation ponds
• Stabilization pond systems
• Vegetated ponds and constructed wetland system
 Trickling filters
• Most conventional technology but relatively less used
• Tanks with rock or plastic medium packing - non-
submerged fixed film bioreactors - includes
– Rock/plastic medium for bio-film development
– Wastewater dosing or application system
– Under drain system
– Structure containing packing
• Microorganisms (Bacteria) grow over the medium as (0.01
to 10 mm thick) biofilm which continually looses mass
through erosion and sloughing off
• Substrate, oxygen and nutrients diffuse through stagnant
boundary layer and the reactions are diffusion limited
 Trickling filters
• Clarified wastewater is sprayed over the packing by rotating
spray arm to trickle through as a thin film over the bio-film
alternatively exposing the latter to wastewater and air
• Treated effluent from TF is passed through a secondary
clarifier and let out as treated secondary effluent
• Portion of the clarified effluent is recycled for diluting the
strength of incoming wastewater or maintaining the
biofilm wet during minimal or no flow conditions
• Advantages: Less energy and simple operation, no
sludge bulking and better sludge thickening, and
withstand shock toxic loads
• Disadvantages: sensitive to low temperatures, poor
effluent quality, odour and flies problem, nitrogen
removal difficult, and sloughing off events produce
excessive sludge
 Rotating biological contactor (RBC)
• Used to remove BOD, to bring about nitrification, or both, or for
pretreatment of higher strength industrial effluent
• Clarified or fine screened wastewater is fed to RBC
• Effluent treated in RBC needs secondary clarification
• Use RBC units partially submerged (40%) and rotated (1-1.6
rpm) in wastewater tanks of short HRT
– Shaft orientation is either perpendicular to or parallel to the
wastewater flow
– Series of closely spaced polystyrene/polyvinyl chloride circular disks
on horizontal shaft constitute the RBC unit
– Discs serve as medium for biofilm growth
– Through rotation biofilm on the discs is alternatively brought in
contact with wastewater and atmosphere
• RBC unit is usually provided with an enclosure to prevents algal
growth, to protect the discs from sunlight (UV light) and to
prevent heat loss and exposure to cold weather
 Principal elements of RBC
• HDPE of different configurations or corrugation patterns is
used as disc material (corrugation increases available
surface area and enhances structural stability)
• Square, round or octagonal steel shafts coated for
protection against corrosion of 13-30 mm thickness
• Tanks with 1.44 hrs HRT and 1.5 m side wall depth are
used - tankage of 0.0049 m3/m2 film area - hydraulic
loading rate is 0.08 m3/m2 day
• Mechanical or pneumatic drive systems
– Deep plastic cups attached to perimeter of disks are used
and compressed air is released into the cups for rotation
• Enclosures: segmented fiberglass reinforced plastic
enclosures are used
 RBC
• A number of RBC units may be operated in series to
form a process train
– 2-4 units in series are used for BOD removal
≥ 6 units are used for combined BOD removal & nitrification
– To avoid overloading on initial stages, stepped feed or
tapered systems are opted
– RBC units/stage decrease as one moves to higher stages
• RBC units are of low, medium and high density types
– Low density or standard type units are used for initial stages
– Medium and high density units (11000 and 16,700 m2 area)
are used in the mid and final stages
 RBC
• Advantages
– Simple to operate and low energy costs
– Low sludge production, short HRT and capable of handling flow
variations
• Disadvantages
– Sensitive to temperature
– Performance is related to specific surface loading of BOD and/or
NH4-N
– Associated with odor - occurs when oxygen demand exceeds
supply
– Biofilm sloughing problems - sulfur oxidizing bacteria form
tenacious whitish film and prevent sloughing off
– Structural failure of shafts, disks and disk support systems can
occur - excessive biofilm growth and sloughing problems cause it
 Aerobic suspended growth
Mainly 3 types: oxidation ponds, aerated lagoons and
activated sludge treatment process
Oxidation ponds
• Oxygen for the biooxidation of organic matter is supplied by
– Photosynthetic activity of algae
– Natural surface aeration
• For avoiding settling of active microbial and algal cells and for
improving natural aeration rotating paddle aerators are used
• Biooxidizing microorganisms and algae live in mutually beneficial
way: algae supply to bacteria the oxygen required and bacteria
supplies nutrients to algae
Aerated lagoons
• Wastewater is ponded in a tank and aerated either surface fixed
or floating aerators or by a diffused aeration system
• Biooxidation process converts soluble organic matter into
suspended biological flocs
• Secondary settling tank is used for separating the biological flocs
and discharging the wastewater as secondary effluent
 Aerobic suspended growth
Activated sludge treatment process (ASP)
• Similar to aerated lagoon but involves recycling of sludge from
secondary settling tank to the aeration tank
• HRT and SRT are same in aerated lagoon
• Through recycling the biological flocs SRT is made independent
of HRT and increased
• Increased SRT increases organic matter removal rate and
facilitate treatment of more wastewater in smaller aeration tanks

Aerated lagoon Activated sludge treatment process

(ASP)
 Sludge bulking
• Compact floc granule shows DO gradient from outer
surface to the interior
• If DO level of the wastewater is sufficiently low then DO
inside the floc granule can become zero
• Under zero DO levels internal cells of the granule become
filamentous and extend into wastewater for getting oxygen
• Consequence is formation of filtration and fluffy flocs
• Fluffy flocs affect
– sludge thickening in secondary settling tank
– reduce the sludge being recycled and microorganisms level
in the aeration tank
– Reduce the treatment efficiency of the ASP
– Increase sludge washout in the clarified effluent
• Bulking can occur from limited oxygen supply or from
increased organic loading
• Once occur, bulking persists for quite long time even after
restoring DO level and organic matter loading
 Modifications to ASP
For small flows sequential batch reactors are used
Conventionally ASP is a plug flow reactor
• Inability to match the oxygen demand with supply and to avoid
longitudinal mixing CFSTR model is being used
• CFSTR is the disadvantage of very low organic matter removal
rates and larger aeration tank volumes
For overcoming the problems and taking advantages of the
plug flow reactor following modifications preferred
– CFSTR in series
– Step aeration system
Organic matter removal involves rapid biosorption and
bioflocculation and slower bio-oxidation
• For wastewater with low solubility index adsorption and
bioflocculation processes are separated from the bio-oxidation
process
– Modified version of ASP ‘contact stabilization process’
Significant quantity of putrifiable microbial sludge is
generated in ASP its handling requires elaborate system
• When smaller wastewater flows in order to avoid sludge
generation the synthesized sludge is autooxidized
– Modified version of ASP ‘Extended aeration system’
 CFSTRs in series

Step aeration (3 steps)

 Contact tank

Stabilization tank

Contact stabilization process

Augmented ASP
•Used for taking care of difficult wastewaters
•Involves augmenting system with microbial culture
at regular intervals or continuously
 Sequencing Batch Reactor

Another modification to the ASP for transforming the

continuous process into a batch process
Preferred when the wastewater quantity to be treated is
lesser
All the steps of treatment (aeration and clarification) in the
same tank
Involves filling, aeration, settling, decanting
supernatant,and again filling for the next batch of
treatment
Excess activated sludge is wasted after decanting the
supernatant prior to starting next batch of treatment.
Quantity and frequency of sludge wastage is decided on
the basis SRT to be maintained
 Membrane Bioreactor
Membrane process (micro and ultra filtration) plus suspended growth
bioreactor
• Membrane process eliminates the need for external solid-liquid separator
for maintaining higher SRT against low HRT
• Two configurations, internal (submerged and integral to the bioreactor)
and external/ side stream) are in use
• Hollow fibre and flat sheet membranes are usually used
Present day MBR systems allow 10-20 day SRT and 10-15 g/L MLSS.
Problems associated with MBR are
• High membrane cost and high energy requirements for maintaining high
transmembrane pressure
• Membrane fouling rapidly deteriorating the flux rates across and
necessitates frequent membrane cleaning and replacement
– Aeration (2-phase flow) helps in controlling the fouling through keeping the
solids in suspension and scouring the membrane surface
 Anaerobic treatment

Anaerobic digestion involves

• Hydrolysis – break down of suspended, colloidal and
soluble organic polymers into monomers
• Acidogenesis – fermentation of monomers into acids (and
H2!)
• Methanogenesis – methane formation from acids, CO2 &
H2
Favoured for high strength wastewaters
 Anaerobic treatment
Salient features of anaerobic digestion
• Generates biogas (fuel composed of methane & carbon
dioxide)
• It is a slower process – requires higher HRTs and SRTs
• Sludge yield is rather low – often can not compensate
biological solids washout with the effluent
• This, specially methanogenesis, is obligate anaerobic
process
• It is temperature sensitive (temperature variations are not
tolerated (35°C is appropriate)
• It (specially methanogenesis) requires neutral pH
(acidogenesis tend to lower the pH)
 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Complete mix process

– HRT=SRT (15-30 days) – no sludge recycling
– Good for wastes with high concentration of solids or
extremely high concentration of dissolved organics
– Organic loading: 1 to 5 kg/m3.day
 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Anaerobic contact process (parallel with ASP)

• SRT>HRT (HRT is 0.5 to 5 days)
• Organic loading is 1 to 8 kg/m3.day
• Gravity separation (0.5 to 1 m/hr. up-flow velocity) – use
of coagulants / floatation separation of solids (by biogas)
• Gas stripping by agitation or vacuum degasification or
inclined plate separator is followed for tackling the
problem of inefficient solids-liquid separation from gas
production
 Complete mix process

Anaerobic contact process

 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Anaerobic sequencing batch reactor

• Operation involves feeding, reaction, settling and
decanting
• Reaction requires intermittent mixing for a few min. an
hour
• HRT is 6 to 24 hours - sludge settling time is about 30
min. – SRT is 50 to 200 days
• Efficiency is >75% (can be up to 92 or 98%) – Effluent
TSS is 50-100 mg/l or even more at lower temperatures
• Successful if good settling granulated sludge is formed
 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor

• Development of dense granulated sludge (50-100 g/l at
the bottom and 5-40 g/l at the top) is key feature –
particle size of granulated sludge is 1 to 3 mm and its is
SVI <20 ml/g
• Influent wastewater is distributed at the bottom to travel
in up flow mode through the sludge blanket
• Gas-solids separation and effluent withdrawal are
important
• Adding settling tank or using packing material at the top
are certain modifications to basic process
Biogas

liquid-solid-gas Effluent
separation unit

internal packing for

fixed film attached growth

Sludge blanket Sludge blanket

Influent

UASB process
 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Anaerobic baffled reactor

• Baffles are used to direct wastewater flow in up-flow
mode through a series of sludge blanket reactors
• Modifications to the basic process can include – use of
settler to capture and return solids – use of packing in
the upper portion of each chamber to capture solids
• Long SRTs possible with low HRTs
• System is stable to shock loads
 Anaerobic treatment: Suspended
growth reactors

Anaerobic migrating blanket reactor

• Similar to anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) but have
added features of mechanical mixing – adding of settler
or packing is avoided
• Influent feed point is changed periodically to the effluent
side
• Organic loading rate 1 to 3 kg/m3.day and HRT 4-12
hours
• COD removal efficiency increases with temperature
(60% at 15°C and 80-95% at 20°C at lower organic
loading)
 Biogas

Effluent

Influent

Anaerobic baffled reactor

Biogas

Effluent
reversed flow Effluent

Influent Influent
reversed flow
Anaerobic migrating blanket reactor
 Anaerobic treatment

Attached growth reactors

• Up-flow packed bed attached growth reactor
• Upflow attached growth anaerobic expanded bed reactor
• Attached growth anaerobic fluidized bed reactor
• Down-flow attached growth reactor
Anaerobic treatment: Attached growth
reactors
Upflow packed bed attached growth reactors
• Cylindrical or rectangular tanks of 3-13 m depth
• Packing may be total depth or only 50-70%
• Packing material: rock, corrugated plastic (cross-
flow/tubular) modules or plastic pall rings (specific surface
area- 100 m2/m3)
• HRT: 0.5 to 37 days
• Low upflow velocity to prevent biomass washout- recycling
only for high strength wastewaters (recycle ratio: .25 to 5)
• Organic loading: 0.1 to 15 kg/m3.day
• Plugging and flow short circuiting can occur
• Efficiency: 61-96% and suited for w/w with low suspended
solids
Anaerobic treatment: Attached growth
reactors

Upflow attached growth anaerobic expanded bed

reactor
• Packing material - silica sand of 2.65 SG and 0.2 to 0.5
mm size
• On expansion void is 50% and specific surface 10000
m2/m3
• Upflow velocity is 2m/hour - clogging is taken care off
• May be good for domestic w/w
• Efficiency: 80-89% at 4.4 kg/ m3.day organic loading at
20C
Anaerobic treatment: Attached growth
reactors
Attached growth anaerobic fluidized bed reactor
• Reactor depth: 4 to 6 m
• Packing material size 0.3 mm sand – granular activated carbon,
diatomaceous earth, cation/anion exchange resins also used
• Upflow velocity for 100% fluidization: 20m/hour (recycling is
needed for maintaining upflow velocity)
• Better suited for w/w with mainly soluble organic matter
• HRT: 3 to 105 hours and COD loading 3 to 42 kg/m3.day
• Efficiency: better than upflow packed bed (50-99%)
Anaerobic treatment: Attached growth
reactors

Downflow attached growth anaerobic process

• Used for treating high strength w/w
• Packing: 2 to 4 m height - cinter block, random plastic and
tubular plastic
• Plugging of packing is of concern
• HRT: 0.9 to 144 hours and loading: 1 to 30 kg/m3.day (5-
10 kg typical for easily degradable w/w)
• Efficiency: 40-97%
 Anaerobic treatment: Other anaerobic
treatment processes
Covered anaerobic lagoon process
• Suitable for high strength industrial w/w – can tolerate wide
range of characteristics (including solids and oil and grease)
• HRT: 20 to 50 d; depth: 5 to 10m; SRT: usually >HRT (50 to
100 d); organic loading: 1 to 2 kg/m3.day; efficiency: 80-90%
• Following can improve the performance
– Anaerobic ponds in series (than a single large lagoon)
– Separation of acidogenic and methanogenic phases
– Low speed mixers and circulation of sludge to influent zone
• Floating geomembrane cover (with troughs to collect
rainwater) helps in biogas collection, and temperature and
odour control
 Anaerobic treatment: Other anaerobic
treatment processes

Membrane separation anaerobic treatment process

• Technology is still in the developmental stage – currently
external cross flow membrane separation units are used
• Helps through allowing maintenance of higher biomass
concentration and avoiding solids in the treatment effluent
• Higher SRT allows higher COD loading (organic loading
rates are in the range of UASB and attached growth
process)
• Preventing membrane fouling is important – maintaining
high liquid velocities is used
 Biogas

Influent Effluent

Membrane
separator

Solids recycle

Membrane separation anaerobic treatment process

 Anaerobic treatment: Other anaerobic
treatment processes

Hybrid reactors
• Mostly CFSTR with filter or UASB with filter
• Can leads partial phase separation
Two stage or multi stage anaerobic digestion
• Most of the anaerobic digesters are of single stage
reactors
• In cases where hydrolysis is needed then two-stage
anaerobic digestion is desired
 Mixed type biological treatment
processes
Stabilization pond series
• Earthen ponds wherein w/w is retained for long enough
period for natural purification (sufficient level of treatment)
• For acceptable level of treatment part of the system should
be aerobic
• Most of the oxygen is provided by diffusion from air and
some by photosynthesis
• Divisible into three types: aerobic, anaerobic and
facultative ponds
– Aerobic ponds are shallow and oxygen is present at all
depths – usually used as a tertiary/polishing pond (as
additional treatment process)
– Anaerobic ponds: deeper ponds - oxygen is absent except
for the thin surface layer – used to provide partial treatment
for high strength w/w – usually followed by aerobic treatment
– Facultative ponds: have both aerobic and anaerobic zones –
can be used as total treatment system for municipal sewage
 Mixed type biological treatment
processes
Advantages
• Simple and easy to operate technology
• Low cost provided cheap land is available
• Could prove suitable for rural areas where w/w to be handled is
small and cheap land is available
Disadvantages
• Bad odours and files and mosquitoes problems
• Land requirements are quite high
• Risk of ground water pollution and even storm water runoff
• Risk of accidental fall of humans and domesticated animals
• Aesthetically unpleasant and deteriorated landscape
Stabilization ponds are improved upon to tackle some of the
limitations
• Oxidation ponds (with algae, paddle aeration and horizontal
movement of water and secondary clarifier for TSS reduction
• Vegetated ponds (submerged/floating aquatic macrophytes)
• Constructed wetland systems (emergent aquatic macrophytes)
wind sunlight Carbon dioxide

algae

Aerobic zone oxygen

CO2, NO3, PO4

Aerobic bacteria

Algal & bacterial biomass

Facultative zone Organic acids and other
Reduced substances

Anaerobic bacteria
Anaerobic zone biomass

Bottom sludge
 Vegetated pond systems
Ponds with algae
• Can provide additional oxygen for biooxidation and speedup the
treatment process (reduce HRT needed)
• Mixing of the tank contents to keep the algae in suspension may
be needed
• Algal biomass contributes to increased pollutant levels (BOD and
TSS) in the treated effluent
• May require downstream treatment for separating the suspended
algal cells
Ponds with plants (submerged, floating or emergent
aquatic macrophytes)
• Submerged macrophytes - less used (may be appropriate for
very low strength w/w or for polishing)
• Ponds with floating macrophytes, like water hyacinth, lemna,
etc., are the aquatic macrophyte ponds or vegetated ponds
• Systems with emergency aquatic macrophytes are know as
constructed wetland systems
 Vegetated ponds
Purposes served by the macrophyte
• Speed up the treatment processes through
– supply of oxygen into the pond
– root system providing surface for biofilms
• Contribute to efficient removal of suspended solids
– Root system creates quiescent conditions
– Macrophytes can produce bioflocculants
• Contribute to the removal of other pollutants
– Nutrients can be taken up
– Heavy metals & pesticides are taken up and accumulated
– Organic matter of macrophytes can have chelating effect
Disadvantages of the macrophytes
• Unless the biomass is managed, can cause pollution problems
(contribute organic matter to w/w and exert oxygen demand)
• Can become breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes and
habitat for snakes, rodents and insects
 Vegetated ponds
• Depth of the pond is decided on the basis of
– Depth of the root zone of the macrophyte used
– Space provided for the retention of settled solids
• Space provided for settled solids depend on
– Solids load in the influent
– Solids contributed by the macrophyte
– Fraction of settled solids lost during stabilization
– Frequency of cleaning of the vegetated pond
• Space required for settled solids can be reduced by
– Clarification of influent prior to loading
– Management of macrophyte (timely harvesting and removal of
excess biomass)
• Multiple macrophyte ponds operating parallely can facilitate
cleaning of the ponds
• High strength wastewater can affect the macrophytes
– Settled solids can bleed and contribute BOD
 Constructed wetland systems
• Two types: Free water surface & sub-surface types
– Flow in the wetland bed is horizontal or vertical or both
– Hydraulic conductivity of bed and influent suspended solids
load are important for sub-surface flow systems
• Aspect ratio of 5 or more is maintained
• Includes three section: inlet, vegetated and outlet sections
• Inlet section is not vegetated and concerned with
– Uniform distribution of the influent across the width
– Removal and storage of the suspended solids of the influent
and preventing their entry into vegetated section
• Vegetated section
– Plants like Phragmites, Typha, Cyprus are used
– Concerned with the treatment of wastewater
• Outlet section is not vegetated and concerned with
– Preventing carry over of SS with treated effluent
– Regulation of hydraulic conductivity of the bed
 Constructed wetland systems
• Wetland bed profile
– Impervious bottom to act as barrier and avoid contamination
of groundwater
– Soil layer to support macrophytes and store pollutants
– Gravel layer supporting macrophytes and biofilms
– Sand layer to cancel and avoid access to water for flies and
mosquitoes and to prevent addition of litter of the macrophyte
to water
• Macrophytes
– Rhizomatous perennial aquatic plants with deeper root zone
from local habitat to be preferred
– The harvested and removed pant biomass should have utility
value and harvesting removal of biomass should be easy
• Usually multiple wetland cells are operated parallely
• Flood and drain mode of operation may be appropriate for
– better macrophyte growth and effluent treatment
– reduced GHG (methane and nitrous oxide) emissions
Inlet pipe
Inlet section Vegetated section Outlet section

B E E
D
C A
A C
HDPE membrane
Elevation
8.0 m 100 m 4.0 m

Perforated pipe
Perforated pipe Outlet pipe

Control valve

A: plain cement concrete layer

Plan B: coarse gravel layer
C: compact soil layer
D: sand layer
E: gravel layer
Constructed wetland cell (typical)