Waste Stabilisation Ponds

Professor D.D. Mara : University of Leeds

The three types of WSP (normally preceded by pre-
treatment of screening and grit removal) are:
WSP are arranged in series: an anaerobic and a facultative pond,
often followed by one or more maturation ponds. It is possible to
have more than one series at the same site.
Phase I Dandora WSP, Nairobi, Kenya, comprising two series each
of a facultative and three maturation ponds. Sizes:
Each fac. pond: 700 x 300m. Each mat. Pond: 300 x 300m
 Melbourne, Australia. Two of the most recent series
here, each comprising an anaerobic pond, an aerated
lagoon and seven maturation ponds.
 Mèze, near Montpellier, France: two small anaerobic ponds, four
experimental step-fed facultative ponds and a single series of a facultative
pond and four maturation ponds, discharge into the Bassin de
Thau – a saltwater lagoon with commercial oyster beds.
Village, near Rennes, France: single series of a
facultative and three maturation ponds. France
has >2500 WSP systems.
 Setúbal, Portugal: a single series of an anaerobic, a
facultative and one maturation pond. Facultative pond
is baffled to improve hydraulic distribution.
Ginebra, near Cali, Colombia: Acuavalle, the local water
and sewerage company, proudly announces that it’s
treating the town’s wastewater!
 Ginebra: a 2-day anaerobic pond (top) and a 5-day
facultative pond (middle). The Facultative pond effluent
is used to irrigate sugar cane (bottom).
 Braslândia in the Federal District, Brazil: two series,
each comprising an anaerobic and a facultative pond.
 Fortaleza in northeast Brazil: a single series of an
anaerobic, a facultative and three maturation ponds
(poor physical design as anaerobic pond is 30m x 1km!)
Tigh Mor Trossachs, Perthshire, UK: a single series of a facultative
pond and two maturation ponds, serving the holiday home
complex (top). The UK has about 30 WSP systems.
Quebec, Canada: here, even in winter,
ponds work well.
Close-up of a facultative pond – dark green because of
the algae which grow naturally and profusely in it.
A US EPA poster showing some of the algae found in WSP.
The algae with flagellae (“tails”) are most commonly found
in facultative ponds; others in maturation ponds.
 Algal-bacterial mutualism in facultative and maturation ponds: the
algae supply the oxygen (by photosynthesis) for the bacteria to
oxidise the organic compounds in the wastewater, and the bacteria
produce CO2 for the algae to fix into new cellular material.
 US figures for electrical energy consumption by various
wastewater treatment processes. WSP do not need
electrical energy as the algae utilise solar energy directly.
Pond construction is relatively simple: the main
civil works is earthmoving.
Ponds may need lining with a plastic membrane if the
soil is too permeable (>10-6 m/s).
Ponds are good in tourist areas: in summer they
can treat 2-3x the wastewater flow from
the winter population.
 Ponds have these advantages. Their only
disadvantage is that they require more land than other
wastewater treatment processes.