Subject Chemistry

Paper No and Title 4 Environmental Chemistry

Module No and Title 12 Waste Water Purification

Module Tag CHE_P4_M12_E-Text

CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry

MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3.Pre Primary Treatment
4. Primary Treatment
4.1 Coagulation and Flocculation
4.2 Sedimentation
4.3 Filtration
5. Secondary Treatment
5.1 Trickling Filter
5.2 Activated Sludge Process
5.3 Anaerobic Treatment Process
6 Disinfection
6.1 Chlorination
6.2 UV radiation
6.3 Ozonation
7 Summary

CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry

MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 1. Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you shall be able to

• Know various steps involved in water purification

• Learn the various techniques of water purification
• Learn different methods of disinfection of water
• Evaluate the level of purity of water at each step of purification

2. Introduction
You all must be familiar with the importance of water in our day to day life. The use of
contaminated water cause several diseases famous as water borne diseases such as jaundice,
cholera etc. therefore it is important to remove these contaminates from water in order to make it
fit for drinking and other household purposes. Since the protection of the environment and public
health are extremely important hence treatment of waste water is an absolute necessity for any
nation. Water has different levels of quality classification based on its potential use. Drinking
water or potable water should be of the highest level of purity. Water bodies become
contaminated with waste water from various sources like industrial waste, domestic waste and
municipal waste etc. and therefore require different types of purification methods depending on
the source and end use. In this module we will discuss these methods of water purification in
detail. If a small amount of biodegradable waste is present in water body then it can be easily
decomposed by microorganisms present in water, this is known as self-purification. The
increasing amount of pollutants (organic chemicals, toxic metals, pesticides etc.) in water has
pushed the self-purification processes beyond their limits. Therefore water has to be purified
before it is to be reused. Though different types of waste require different mechanisms for water
purification but all treatment processes for water quality improvement go through some
generalized steps. Water treatment is an industrial process to make water fit for drinking or
other industrial uses. This helps in removal of contaminants from water in order to return less
concentration of contaminated water to the environment.

The wastewater discussed in this module is predominantly of domestic origin. The main purpose
of sewage treatment is to stop the receiving water pollution. In the sewage treatment, there are
number of industrial and laboratory wastewaters are collected.

In general, water purification processes are divided into three stages: preliminary (physical),
primary treatment (mechanical treatment) and secondary (biological) treatment. Domestic and
municipal waste water should receive at least primary (physical removal/settling) and secondary
(biological) treatment, which can be followed by disinfection before discharge. Sometime
effluent obtain from secondary treatment is not acceptable, therefore, third level of treatment i.e.,
tertiary treatment or advanced treatment is used. We will study each of them in detail. The flow
chart shown here represents a typical waste water treatment plant.

CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry

MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 Figure 1: Schematic Representation of a Typical Waste Water Treatment Plant

3.Preprimary (Preliminary) Treatment

Let us first discuss about the preprimary treatment in water purification.

It involves removal of coarse, suspended, dispersed and colloidal impurities from water. First of
all screening is done to remove relatively large floating and suspended debris. Screening process
is basically used to reduce the size of large solids passing through the sewage system. The
process is such as firstly the solids are collected and disposed of. Comminuting devices are used
to grind these solids in the sewage. The floating material is removed by skimming. Substances
like oils, grease, free fatty acids and insoluble soaps are eliminated by skimming. The efficiency
of the skimming process can be increased by adding collecting (potassium xanthates) and
activating agents that form a thin film of suspended particles to which air bubbles get attached.
Foaming agents like oil or glue may be added to stabilize the froth for a longer period of time, so
that the grit particles remain attached to the bubbles before these can be skimmed off.

CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry

MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 4.Primary Treatment
Now the primary treatment involves removal of all suspended solids by flocculation and
sedimentation. In this treatment waste water and chemicals are mixed that causes coagulation of
suspended solids to larger particles of floc. After that settling of floc takes place by slowing the
flow that causes gravity to dominates and settles the floc. The Figure shown here represents the
various processes used in primary treatment of waste water.

4.1 Coagulation and flocculation

The two processes i.e. coagulation and flocculation are interdependent process let us study about
these two in detail. As you know waste water contain suspended particles and other impurities
that are too small to settle in a reasonable time and cannot be filtered. The process of
consolidation of colloidal particles, terminating in precipitation of the substance and its removal
from the treated water by settling or filtration is called coagulation. During this process the
smaller particles (particles in the size range of about 0.001-1 µm) adhere together and grow in
size and therefore can be easily removed by filtration and sedimentation. Most of the colloidal
particles in water are stable, negatively charged and repel each other. The coagulant neutralizes
the charge and allows particles to come closer and large particles are formed which can be
removed from water easily. The commonly used coagulants are aluminium sulphate (alum),
ferrous sulphate, potassium aluminium sulphate (potash alum) and ferric chloride. They are used
as 5-10% solutions. (Fig 2)

Figure 2: Primary Treatment of Waste Water

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MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 When the coagulant is added to water it undergoes hydrolysis as shown in the reaction below

Some of
the Al+3 ions produced by the dissolution of the alum neutralize the negative charge on the
colloids and due to basicity of water acid formed is neutralized to form insoluble aluminium
hydroxide. The aluminium hydroxide absorbs ions from the solution and forms a precipitate of
Al(OH)3 and adsorbed sulphates. The process of coagulation depends on factors like pH of water,
amount of coagulant and water temperature etc. an increase in H+ ion concentration or decrease in
pH of the medium causes the equilibrium to shift to the left. At low pH aluminium hydroxide
passes into the solution and the process of coagulation is disturbed. Aluminium hydroxide, due to
its amphoteric nature, dissolves at high pH resulting in the formation of aluminates. If insufficient
amount of bicarbonates are present in water, then the pH must be raised by adding lime or sodium
carbonate.

Figure 3. The Process of Coagulation

The process of flocculation follows after coagulation which involves mixing which forms the fine
particles by coagulation. Flocculation exists for thirty to forty-five minutes. Water is then passed
through a flocculation basin having number of compartments with decreasing mixing speeds.
This allows large floc to form without breaking due to the mixing blades.

4.2 Sedimentation

In sedimentation process, solid particles are allowed to settle by gravity on the bottom of the
settling tanks which are also called sedimentation tanks or primary clarifiers. This process
involves in reduction of the velocity of water that results the settling of suspended particles due to
gravity. Tanks are used to settle sludge but grease and oils rises and skimmed off. The suspended
solids, flocs and other precipitates are continuously driven by the scrapers in the settling tanks
towards the hopper inside the base. Then the suspended solid is pumped to sludge treatment. In
sedimentation coagulation and flocculation processes takes place that removes suspended
particles in the water before filtration.

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 4.3 Filtration

The last process is filtration in this process solids collected at the bottom of the sedimentation
tanks is removed and the effluent water is filtered. The most widely used filtration unit is a rapid
sand filter, which consists of a layer of sand on the top of a bed of graded gravels. Gravity
filtration is done in order to frequently remove these solids. In this process, water with solid
impurities is send to a porous medium, which are basically layers of sand and gravel. The force of
gravity is used to push the water through the medium. You can see this in the figure shown here.
The water molecule small in size can easily pass holes between sand and gravel pieces. But the
solid particles in water trapped in the holes, hence taken in the porous medium. Hence the water
passes through the filter bottom is free from solid impurities.

Figure 4: The Process of Filtration and a Rapid Sand Filter

5. Secondary Treatment
Let us now discuss about the secondary treatment:

In the secondary treatmentbiological content i.e. animal and plant waste, soaps and detergent is
degraded. Aerobic biological processes are used by number of municipal plants in order to settle
the sewage. The complex and hazardous organic compounds are biodegraded by microorganisms
into harmless simple compounds. A sufficient quantity of dissolved oxygen is important for this
process. The secondary treatment is called biological treatment as it involves the decomposer
bacteria and air. One of the hazards of this method has been that a toxic, industrial chemical may
enter the sewage and destroy the microorganisms and wreck the entire process for weeks. Primary
treatment combined with secondary treatment can reduce the biological oxygen demand to about
90%, chemical oxygen demand by 80%, total nitrogen to about 50% and total phosphorous to
about 30%.
The following processes are mainly used for secondary treatment:

5.1 Trickling Filter

Trickling filters, also called trickling biofilters, biofilters, biological filters and biological
trickling filters and consists of aerobic fixed film systems made out of rocks, gravel, plastic
CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry
MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 modules, etc. Waste water is sprayed on the filter bed and trickles through the filter media. A bio
film growing on the filter material aerobically degrades organic pollutants.

Figure 5: Trickling filter

A trickling filter is used under aerobic conditions. In this filtration process wastewater which pre-
settled is ‘trickled’ over the filter. As the water passes through the pores of the filter, biomass
covering results in degradation of organics present in water. It consists of circular or rectangular
beds, usually 3-5 cm at the top and 10-15 cm at the base with a depth of 1-3 m. The beds are
packed with the stone, gravel, stones etc. you can see the trickling filter and its principle in the
figure shown here.
It contains a cylindrical tank and a filter bed that is highly permeable. The filter media should
have a large surface area and large pores and is generally made of crushed rock, slag, gravel or
plastic modules. The waste water is sprayed on the filter’s top and filter through the media. After
some time, aerobic bacteria start to grow and multiply on the stones and gravel until they become
numerous enough to consume most of organic matter of the waste.

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 5.2 Activated Sludge Process
This basically consists of microorganisms nurtured in the treatment process for breaking of
organic matter into carbon dioxide, water, and other inorganic compounds. It consists of three
components as shown in the fig.

There are number of activated sludge processes, that involves variations in the aeration method
and the process of returning of sludge to the initial stage.

Figure 6: Flow diagram of Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment

Aerobic bacteria bloom as they travel through the aeration tank. They rapidly grow in the
presence of food and oxygen. When the waste reaches the tank ending, most of the organic matter
is being used by microorganisms produce new cells. The organisms settle at the tankbottom.
Meanwhile sludge is send back to the aeration tank varied with the incoming waste water or
removed from the system. The relatively clear liquid above the sludge is supplied for further
tertiary treatment. For efficient operation of this method, it is necessary that sufficient amount of
activated sludge, containing biologically active microorganism, must be present. Sometime the
activated sludge is heat dried, (usually after dewatering) and sold as fertilizer. The process has
been costly and there has been only a limited demand for the product. So the sludge is incinerated
or used as landfill.

5.3 Anaerobic Treatment Process

Let us now study about anaerobic treatment process:

In this process, anaerobic microorganisms decompose the organic waste and produce bio mass.
This process is used in municipal waste water treatment. Approximately, 40-60% of the organic
solids is converted into methane and carbon dioxide with hydrogen, nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide
and water in trace amounts. Out of these methane(CH4) is the most valuable fuel. The matter left
after the anaerobic decomposition is chemically stable, nearly odourless and has very less amount

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 of pathogens. On comparing it is easy to separate the suspended solids from water than the
incoming sludge. Anaerobic decomposition occurs in four steps (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Schematic of anaerobic digestion of organic waste

• Hydrolysis: In this process complex organic molecules are hydrolysed to soluble organic
molecules using water to break the chemical bonds in the substances.
• Fermentation or acidogenesis: The chemical decomposition of organic molecules is
carried out by anaerobic microorganisms (enzymes, bacteria, yeasts, or moulds) in
absence of oxygen.
• Acetogenesis: products obtain from fermentation are converted into acetate, hydrogen
and carbon dioxide by the acetogenic bacteria.
• Methanogenesis: Methane gas is formed from acetate by methanogenic bacteria

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 5.3.1 Upflow Sludge Anaerobic Bed Reactor (USAB) Process
This process defines the settling ability of microbial flocs to produce a region at the bottom of the
digester where the concentration of biomass is maintained.

Figure. 8 UASB Reactor

The waste water is introduced from the reactor bottom and it flows in upper direction through a
sludge blanket which is made up of biologically formed granules.
Treatment of the waste occurs as it comes in contact with the sludge blanket. Under anaerobic
conditions the organic waste undergoes degradation and produces methane gas (fig8). The
degradation process produces approximately 5-10% of sludge therefore this method is effective
than the conventional aerobic process.

6. Disinfection
Let us now study about the disinfection process. This process is used to reduce the number of
microorganisms in the water that is supposed to discharge back into the environment and is
almost always the final step in the treatment process regardless of the level or type of treatment
used. The efficiency of this method depends on the water quality that is being treated

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 (e.g.cloudiness, pH, ammonia content, etc.), type of disinfection, the disinfectant dosage and
other variables in the environmental. Disinfection of water is achieved by a variety of methods

6.1 Chlorination

This is the most common method and is used in India. Chlorine, either in gaseous form or as
hypochlorite salts, is used to disinfect wastewater. All forms of chlorine react with water to
produce hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which rapidly dissociates to form the hypochlorite ion
according to the reaction shown here:

The main drawback of this method is that the free and combined chlorine residues are toxic to
aquatic organisms. There is also potential for the formation of organo-chlorinated derivatives.
These derivatives tend to be relatively toxic, persistent and bioaccumulative.

6.2 Ultra-violet radiation

Other alternative is UV radiations. They can be used instead of chlorine. Bacteria, viruses and
many other pathogens are genetically damage by UV radiation resulting them incapable of
reproduction. But main disadvantage of UV disinfection is that it needed lamp maintenance and
replacement; also it required highly treated effluent in order to ensure that the microorganisms
that are targeted are not shielded from the UV radiation.

6.3 Ozonation

At last in the ozonation, microorganisms that contacts with ozone are oxidized by unstable and
reactive ozone. Ozone is supposed to be safe in use than chlorine as it is generated at the time of
need therefore there is no need to store it. A drawback of ozonation is its high cost as equipment
used to generate ozone requires special operators.

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MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification
 7. Summary
Let us now summarize what we have learnt in this module.

We have studied methods of water purification that includes removal of suspended, dispersed and
colloidal impurities from water. Water treatment is collectively the industrial-scale processes that
make water more acceptable. The wastewater discussed in this module is predominantly of
domestic origin. The main purpose of sewage treatment is to stop the receiving water pollution.
In the sewage treatment, there are number of industrial and laboratory wastewaters are collected.

The Primary waste water treatment involves the removal of suspended impurities by the series of
steps i.e. coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation and filtration. On the other hand in the
secondary treatment BOD is reduced from biologically degrading human waste, food waste,
soaps and detergent etc. after that municipal plant treat the sewage biologically. In the treatment
process microorganism used to break organic matter to CO₂, water and inorganic compounds are
known as activated sludge. Tertiary treatment refers to removal of pathogenic microorganisms by
chlorination, ozonation and UV treatment etc. A drawback of ozonation is its high cost as
equipment used to generate ozone requires special operators.

Steps involved in anaerobic decomposition of microorganism

• Hydrolysis: In this process complex organic molecules are hydrolysed to soluble organic
molecules using water to break the chemical bonds in the substances.
• Fermentation or acidogenesis: The chemical decomposition of organic molecules is
carried by anaerobic microorganisms (enzymes, bacteria, yeasts, or moulds) in absence of
oxygen.
• Acetogenesis: products obtain from fermentation are converted into acetate, hydrogen
and carbon dioxide by the acetogenic bacteria.
• Methanogenesis: Methane gas is formed from acetate by methanogenic bacteria.

CHEMISTRY PAPER No.4: Environmental Chemistry

MODULE No.12: Waste Water Purification