Screening: The first unit operation generally encountered in wastewater treatment

plants is screening. A screen is a device with openings, generally of uniform size,

that is used to retain solids found in the influent wastewater to the treatment
pant. It is the removal of corase and settleable solids by surface straining

coarse solids reduction

As an alternative to coarse bar screens or fine screens, communitors and macerators
be use to intercept coarse solids and grind or shred them in the screen channel.
High � speed grinders are used in conjunction with mechanically cleaned screens to
grin and shred screenings that are cit up into a smaller, more uniform size for
return to the flow stream for subsequent removal by downstream treatment operations
and processes, communitors, macerators and grinders can theoretically eliminate the
messy and offensive task of screening handling and disposal.

flow equalizations
Flow equalization is method used to overcome the operational problems and flow rate
variations to improve the performance of downstream processes and to reduce the
size & cost of downstream treatment facilities. To prevent flow rate, temperature,
and contaminant concentrations from varying widely, flow equalization is often
used. It achieves its objective by providing storage to hold water when it is
arriving too rapidly, and to supply additional water when it is arriving less
rapidly than desired. A smaller the screen opening, greater will be the amount of
material screened.

grit removal
Removal of grit form waste Swater may be accomplished in grit chambers or by
centrifugal separation of solids. Grit chambers are designed to remove grit,
consisting of sand, gravel, sanders, or other heavy solid materials that have
specific gravities or setting velocities substantially greater than those of
organic particles in wastewater. Grit chambers are most commonly located after the
bar screens and before the primary sedimentation. These are just like sedimentation
tanks, design mainly to remove heavier particles or coarse inert and relatively dry
suspended solids from the wastewater. There are two main types of grit chambers
like rectangular horizontal flow types and aerated grit chambers. In the aerated
grit chamber the organic solids are kept in suspension by rising aerted system
provided at the bottom of the tank.

sedimentation: removal of settleable solids and thickening of sludge

Sedimentation or setting tanks that receive raw wastewater prior to biological
treatment are called primary tanks. The objective of the primary sedimentation tank
is to remove readily settleable organic solids and floating material and thus
reduce the suspended solid content. Efficiently designed and operated primary
sedimentation tanks should remove from 50 to 70% the suspended solids and 25 to 40%
of the BOD.

high-rate clarification
High-rate clarification combines techniques of chemically enhanced particle
settling and solids contact/recirculation with lamella plate and tube settlers to
achieve rapid settling. Very high settling velocities combined with rapid
flocculation kinetics can reduce required process footprints to less than 10% of
conventional primary treatment

accelerrated gravity separation

Accelerated gravity separation is a process that has been used for many years for
the removal of grit in
wastewater treatment plants. Separation of particles is performed by tangential
introduction of the slurry
to the unit, with discharge from an opening in the top of the unit. This creates a
condition where the
velocity at the outside wall of the unit is much slower than the velocity at the
center of the unit. The
resulting condition is called a free vortex. The free vortex creates a radial
centrifugal acceleration force
field affecting particles with specific gravities greater than water. This
generated force field, in
combination with that due to gravity, causes these settleable particles to settle
into and be hydraulically
collected in a boundary layer at the bottom of the unit. Particles, such as
organics, with specific gravities
near that of water, are carried through the unit. This designed combination of
force fields is referred to as
accelerated gravity separation and is accomplished in a free vortex classifier.

flotation: removal of finely divided suspended solids and particles. Also thickens
biological sludge.
Flotation pay is used in place of sedimentation, primarily for treating industrial
waste waters containing finely divided suspended solids and oily matter. Flota�tion
technique is used in paper industry to recover fine fibres from the screened
effluent and in the oil industry for the clarification of oil-bearing waste. It is
also used for treating effluents from tanneries, metal finishing, and cold-rolling
and phar�maceutical industries.

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/flotation-as-primary-treatment-of-waste-
water-explained-with-diagram/28341

oxygen transfer
Oxygen transfer, the process by which oxygen is transferred from the gaseous to the
liquid phase, is a vital part of a number of wastewater treatment processes. The
functioning of aerobic processes, such as activated sludge, depends on the
availability of sufficient quantities of oxygen. Because of the low solubility of
oxygen and the consequent low rate of oxygen transfer, sufficient oxygen to meet
the requirements of aerobic waste treatment does not enter water through normal
surface air-water interface. To transfer the large quantities of oxygen that are
needed, additional interfaces must be formed.

aeration
In municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, aeration is part of the stage
known as the secondary treatment process. The activated sludge process is the most
common option in secondary treatment. Aeration in an activated sludge process is
based on pumping air into a tank, which promotes the microbial growth in the
wastewater. The microbes feed on the organic material, forming flocks which can
easily settle out. After settling in a separate settling tank, bacteria forming the
"activated sludge" flocks are continually recirculated back to the aeration basin
to increase the rate of decomposition.Aeration provides oxygen to bacteria for
treating and stabilizing the wastewater. Oxygen is needed by the bacteria to allow
biodegradation to occur. The supplied oxygen is utilised by bacteria in the
wastewater to break down the organic matter containing carbon to form carbon
dioxide and water.
https://www.oxymem.com/blog/why-is-aeration-important-for-wastewater-treatment

volatilization and stripping of VOCs

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can be emitted to the surrounding atmosphwew due
to aeration. Volatilization indicates partitioning of VOCs between the atmosphere
and the wastewater and will continue until equilibrium concentration is achieved.
Air stripping can happen in various biological treatment processes such as
trickling filter, aerated lagoon, and activated sludge. Depending on the particular
VOC, air stripping and biodegradation may simultaneoulsy contribute to its removal.

https://www.aboutcivil.org/preliminary-treatment-process-of-waste-water.html