NOVEL METHODS FOR MONITORING

WASTEWATER FROM THE WASTEWATER

NETWORK AND ACROSS THE SEWAGE
TREATMENT PLANT TO AID OPTIMISATION

Even with business as usual, the challenges facing a wastewater treatment plant operator are
considerable. In activated sludge plant treatments how do you maintain the correct balance of microbes?
How do you optimise treatment processes? What about when the influent hydraulic and organic loads
vary daily, weekly and seasonally and with storms? All of this must be achieved whilst also reducing
environmental damage from discharges and reducing pollution incidents, and remaining within
discharge limits. Added to these challenges is the introduction of smart network control with influent
sewers. All this takes place in the context of what are sometimes seen as inflexible and mechanical
operating regimes. Indeed there are multiple drivers for the optimisation of treatment processes, not
least high energy costs, so how can operators achieve optimisation of wastewater treatment processes?

Luckily, with the digitisation of the water industry, data from
on-line instrumentation is increasingly being used for process
optimisation and control and for monitoring compliance critical
operations. Online instrumentation is therefore becoming
fundamental for managing risk, maximising efficiency
and providing the wider business with reliable and trusted
information. However, monitoring data can only be trusted from
instrumentation that has been appropriately selected for the
application (taking into account whole life cost), properly installed,
maintained and operated. Measurements in crude sewage at
Sewage Treatment Works (STWs) are a particularly challenging
Diagram 1: Monitoring at a typical sewage treatment plant
environment. This article will outline a few examples of novel
solutions for measurement in challenging wastewater applications.
In the typical wastewater and industrial effluent treatment process,
monitoring for process control, optimisation and compliance takes
place throughout the works from the inlet to the final effluent and
at every stage of the treatment process between these two points.
Monitoring also takes place in the sewerage network before the
wastewater reaches the plant, for example at sewage pumping
stations to ensure the pumps are operating effectively and to flag
up ragging issues.
The current UK investment cycle for the UK water industry is
from 2020-2025 (AMP7) during this period the water authorities
publishes its plans to meet their key objectives for the AMP. One
of the drivers is to encourage water companies to adopt methods
to increase the lifetime of pipes; rather than replacing rising mains
try to operate them more efficiently. New methods for monitoring
rising main performance such as high sample rate pressure
monitors [diagram 2] are helping in reaching these drivers.
Sewage pumping stations are fed electrically by a control starter
section, sewage is pumped up a rising main for up to several
kilometres into a gravity sewer where later the sewage is treated at
a water recycling centre. This process is energy intensive, and there
are several factors which impact the performance of the system
as a whole. Issues such as the material, length and topography all
pose challenges on how the rising main performs.
Anglian Water was looking for a solution for monitoring sewage
pumping stations that would be cost efficient, identify rising main
bursts and help to identify areas of opportunity to optimise the
system. Anglian Water worked with two suppliers to develop a
burst alert and then use the high sample data to understand the
performance of the rising mains. Being able to collaborate like this
has helped in understanding how the pipe work is performing, as
well as being able to have knowledge if there is a remote failure in
the system.
Anglian Water are also undertaking advanced monitoring and control
of their pumping stations. They are using signals from non-contact
level monitors alongside intelligent pump starters to detect blockages
on pumps and issue pump reversal command to prevent blockages.
During trials by Anglian, the automated control avoided 11 failures
within a 5 month period. Anglian Water are focusing on installing
this new solution at pumps at higher risk of failure. It can provide
early warning of pump failures and enable planned maintenance

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 energy savings of up to 18% of the total site energy. In addition,
the data generated from this technology can be used to detect
issues occurring on the plant by interpreting changes in data. For
example toxicity in the works can be detected by a decrease in the
usual oxygen uptake rate (OUR) by bacteria on a plant.
The OUR will be site specific based on the biodegradability of waste
present. In fact operators have found that measurement of oxygen
uptake can be the most powerful aspect of this technology, to
calculate the feed forward load and guarantee compliance within
discharge permits.
In comparison, a radically novel, simple and cost effective
approach has been developed for online monitoring of aeration
lanes in the activated sludge process. Colormetric analysers,
commonly used at the final effluent of waste water treatment
plants and in environmental monitoring, have been adjusted to
cope with the sampling difficulties found in areas of the waste
water treatment process. These have been installed in STW
in the US, with on-site adaptations like heat tracing lines to
keep the equipment functioning at lower temperatures. Online
monitoring of orthophosphate using colormetric analysers
showed a good correlation with data from grab samples, as did
online monitoring using an ammonia analyser (when used in a
membrane bioreactor). Design features for this online wastewater
Diagram 2: Monitoring of the sewage pumping network from wet well (left) to balancing reservoir (right) using pressure sensors (magnified) ©Syrinix monitoring system include large diameter sample lines to minimise
clogging, whilst microfluidic reagent tubes are used to minimise
use of reagent (typically 5-20 litres per year), use of a replaceable
Box 1: Criteria for Instrumentation selection, Installation and Commissioning (at United Utilities) 50 micron filter (typically lasts 2 months and costs $25 to replace),
• Compliance with engineering standards as a minimum requirement and use of an easy to use and low maintenance vacuum pump.
• Meet appropriate standards and approvals (BS, ISO, MCERTS, DSEAR) Another new method to monitor microbial processes in real time
makes use of a biological sensor, which is already in use in the
• Meet water company specific Asset standards (protocols)
US, Canada, China and around Europe. The biosensor reacts
• Help fulfil the company’s Outcome Delivery Incentives (ODIs) to changes in environmental conditions in real time to produce
• Score highly against the technical & commercial scoring carried out across the business changes in electrical current (Microbial Electron Transfer or MET);
• Whole life cost of the instrument is fundamental comprising aspects such as: enabling you to measure microbial activity in real time. The
biosensor has recently been trialled by United Utilities to help
o Calibration method & frequency
manage an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant. MET
o Reagent costs & capacity monitoring data was found to correlate with organic loading
o Built in auto-clean function very well, with rainfall events resulting in greatly reduced MET.
• Sample delivery system, auto clean and bracket framework – easy to lift, clean & maintain the instrument MET real time data correlates well with BOD and Total Organic
Carbon (TOC). MET also tracked blower use very well and could
• Installation & commissioning – knowledgeable installers
be used for optimisation of aeration. Therefore MET values could
• Training & support – not a printed manual, better tools available include media – videos, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality be combined with energy usage to calculate overall treatment
• Good feedback on instruments – through different forums is helpful: efficiency. The three month trial concluded that MET data
WRc Instrument User Group (IUG), working groups, technology, conferences etc provides a weekly pattern for understanding baseline loads moving
• Value added: through the system, and can assist in guiding the centrate loading
schedule. The biosensor can also be used to identify toxic events
o Maintenance strategies – agnostic over who does maintenance
hitting the plant. Over three months no maintenance was required.
o Condition based maintenance – consider instrument diagnostics, instrument health, software blocks/faceplates Possible next steps would be to combine MET data with flow data
o Honesty about the instrument - ALL instruments need cleaning & maintaining and Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) to make a weighted
estimate of organic loading to assist in aeration and sludge return.
rather than reacting and doing the maintenance after a pollution now available. Measurement of ‘tryptophan like’ fluorescence MET data could be used to monitor Activate Sludge Plant (ASP)
event. The controller also provided flow measurement through can be used to infer BOD using an algorithm which includes performance as a process tool, and understand which conditions
the means of rate of change and size of wet well. The accuracy is compensation for temperature and turbidity. A major UK water are resulting in more efficient treatment. MET monitoring could be
further increased by the monitoring of rising main back pressure company has used this probe to measure BOD in real time and used to quantify loading from the centrate used, and possibly to
and in putting the pump curve. to control their activated sludge processes. The correlation define the value of receiving centrate at the plant.

“The new solution developed is more appealing as it results in a
lower cost solution than traditional flow measurement solutions
which tend to cost more in terms of installation and distribution
interruptions,” explains Lorenzo Pompa, Asset Optimisation
Engineer at Anglian Water, “ there are limitations to this system
because it relies on data flows from various sensors – for pressure
and level, but overall we are happy with the outcome of this
project and it gives us the information we need to make the
appropriate intervention”.
Once wastewater actually reaches a plant (diagram 1), ammonia
and dissolved oxygen are usually measured across the wastewater
treatment plant to measure and control treatment processes.
Compliance levels for effluent discharges are set at approximately
a 70-80% reduction in Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). It can
be argued that BOD is a far more effective measure to assess
whether water is ‘safe’ for discharge compared to ammonia
alone, because it measures the natural oxidation and recovery
conditions in the receiving water. BOD measurement is broader
than measuring Disoolved Oxygen (DO) as it encompasses all
oxygen consuming constituents of the wastewater. Previously,
turnaround for BOD lab tests would take 5 days. However, a
multi-parameter probe that uses fluorescence to monitor BOD,
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total coliforms in real-time is
between grab samples tested in laboratories versus online BOD
measurements was very good. The trial found that aeration control
based on BOD was better than using ammonia values. There is a
potential cost saving for aeration compared to fixing the speed;
real time BOD measurement can be used to optimise treatment to
use consent limits more fully and ensure greater process stability.
The technology can be used for feed back or feed forward
approaches. The manufacturer claims that this system represents
a true early warning system based on direct measurement rather
than secondary parameters such as DO or ammonia. It can allow
users to identify potential problems long before the process or
ecosystem is out of control.
Another new combination technology has been developed, this
time for automated optimisation of the activated sludge process
(diagram 1), and is already in use in STW in Ireland, the Far East
and in Europe. An online sensor array of the usual parameters
(dissolved oxygen, ammonia, pH) [see diagram 1] provides real
time monitoring which is self-calibrated using automated grab
samples. The system is self-cleaning by having separate core and
shell components which move against each other to remove rags,
and wipers run every 30 minutes to clean the sensor array. This
combination technology can be installed on both the inlet and
outlet, and can provide real time control of activated sludge and
This is just a quick overview of a few new technologies available
for measuring challenging wastewater applications, based on
technologies discussed at two recent Sensors for Water Interest
Group (SWIG) events in January and March 2020 (www.swig.org.
uk ). It is also worth considering the criteria for adoption of new
technologies by water utilities. In the UK at least, bidding criteria
for suppliers has changed with the latest AMP7 cycle of investment.
Box 1 summarises the current criteria for instrumentation selection,
installation and commissioning as outlined by Richard Bragg,
Principal ICA Engineer at United Utilities.
“Ideally we are looking to reduce the cost of process data, also
lower power and better comms, better diagnostics, lower skilled
maintenance and use of the Ethernet” explains Richard Bragg,
“conversely it may come as a surprise that we don’t need ‘clouds’
as we have our own and we don’t need too much new technology
necessarily either.” Mr Bragg questions whether there is actually a
need for more instruments, as there is now more use of modelling,
digital twins, AI and machine learning to better gain insight from
monitoring data from existing instruments.
The final note about measurement in such a challenging
environment goes to Richard Bragg again “I would ask any supplier
of a new instrument to prove that it will actually work in wastewater
applications, and that maintenance models are realistic”.

Rosa Richards is an Independent Environmental Consultant specialising in water policy and monitoring.
She is Programme Manager of the Sensors for Water Interest Group (SWIG), and a freelance writer of science and technology.

Author Contact Details

Rosa Richards, Independent Environmental Consultant • Bristol • Tel: 01934 830658 • Email: rosapmrichards@gmail.com
• Web: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-richards-7a515936/

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