Wastewater Treatment Plant

Wastewater or sewage is basically the flow of used water from a community. Wastewater is
typically over 99% water by weight. The remainder is solid material either dissolved or in the
water or suspended as particulates. Sewer systems receive both domestic sewage and storm water
runoff. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) is a measure of the amount of oxygen needed (in
milligrams per liter) by bacteria and other microorganisms to decompose the organic matter
present in a water sample over a period of 5 days. Raw sewage typically has Biochemical
Oxygen Demand (B.O.D.) of 100-200 mg/L or ppm (parts per million). It also contains
significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous. The B.O.D. of drinking water should be less
than 1 ppm.

In general, the goal of wastewater treatment is to transform raw sewage into water clean enough
to be discharged into a lake or stream without causing harmful environmental or ecological
consequences. Effective sewage treatment combines physical, chemical, and biological processes
to accomplish several goals: 1) to reduce “aesthetic pollution”- unsightly or smelly organic
matter; 2) to kill pathogenic microorganisms and remove toxic wastes; 3) to reduce organic
material or B.O.D.; and 4) to remove inorganic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) that can
cause eutrophication. It is important not to confuse wastewater or sewage treatment with water
purification. Sewage treatment plants are not designed to purify drinking water, but to reduce the
potential of sewage to pollute aquatic ecosystems.

A typical wastewater treatment plant subjects sewage to a two-step cleaning process. Primary
treatment involves the mechanical or physical separation of suspended solids from the liquids in
the raw sewage. It is a process in which screens, scrapers, and settling tanks are used to filter out
the debris and settle out the suspended organic solids. On average, primary treatment reduces the
B.O.D. of sewage by 30%. It removes about 60% of the suspended solids and 30-40% of the
oxygen-demanding wastes from sewage. It also removes FOG, or fats, oils and grease, by
allowing them to float to the top of a settling tank. They are removed using scrapers.

The second step is called secondary treatment, which is primarily a biological process.
Secondary treatment is designed to further reduce the B.O.D. of the organic material. It makes
use of devices that agitate and aerate the sewage in order to promote the activity of naturally
occurring aerobic decomposing bacteria. This stage accepts the effluent from the primary
process, which contains mostly dissolved or suspended waste. The suspended material settles out
in a secondary settling tank, and the dissolved waste is decomposed by bacteria. Secondary
treatment typically reduces B.O.D. by an additional 60% over primary treatment, for a net
reduction of in organic material of ~90%. The sludge, or left-over solid organic waste, produced
in primary and secondary treatment may be used as inexpensive source of agricultural fertilizer.
After secondary treatment, 79% of toxic metal compounds, 70% of the phosphates and 50% of
the nitrogen (mostly as nitrates) are removed. Finally, the effluent is treated to kill any remaining
pathogens by disinfection using chlorine, ozone or UV radiation.

After secondary treatment, wastewater still may contain high percentages of P, N, and other
materials resistant to biological breakdown. The removal of any of these substances requires
highly complex and specialized chemical and physical procedures, all of which fall under the
heading of tertiary treatment or advanced treatment. Tertiary treatment uses a series of
specialized chemical and physical processes to remove specific pollutants that still remain. It
mostly involves the use of special filters or chemical reactions to remove more nitrogen and
phosphates to reduce eutrophication.

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Summary questions: These are a series of questions that relate to the background information on
wastewater treatment plants. Please answer these on a separate sheet of paper.

Reading questions

1. List and describe the 4 goals of effective sewage treatment.

2. Explain the three steps of wastewater treatment.
3. What is B.O.D.? What is the acceptable level for drinking water in ppm?
4. Why do most municipalities not conduct tertiary treatment on effluent?

Now, check these two sites for a virtual tour of water treatment plants:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2FmNrEmowE

http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/ww-treatment/ww-tour-dc/blue_plains.swf OR
http://tinyurl.com/254p88h

Answer the following questions based on the virtual tours that you took online:

1. Does both wastewater and storm water come into the plant? If so, why could this be a
problem?
2. A. When wastewater comes into the plant what is the first process through which it passes?
B. What is removed from it during this step? Where are these materials disposed?
3. What is the purpose of primary clarifiers and/or grit settling tanks?
4. How are nitrogen and/or phosphorous in the sewage removed during treatment?
5. How long does the sludge stay in the sludge digesters?
6. What happens to the methane gas that is produced here?
7. How is the sludge disposed of after it is removed from the digester?
8. What are some advantages and disadvantages of using sludge for fertilizer?
9. What steps are taken during secondary treatment?
10. What parts of the nitrogen cycle are utilized during waste water treatment?
11. How is the wastewater disinfected at this facility before it is released?
12. Where does the wastewater go when it leaves the treatment plant?
13. What is one form of tertiary treatment that was discussed? Why was it used?