Biological

wastewater
treatment
Ideas that discussed on these
topic
what is biological or secondary waste water
treatment
Purpose of biological wastewater treatment
role of microorganism in wastewater treatment
Microbial growth kinetics
Factors affecting growth of microorganisms in
wastewater treatment
Types of biological wastewater treatment
What is biological or secondary wastewater treatment?

 Is the second stage after primary treatment is done

In primary treatment
 Suspended solids,
 Colloidal particles,
 Oil, and grease are removed
In secondary wastetreatment
 remove the organic matter present
 The removal of organic mater is performed by indigenous and aquatic
micro-organisms like bacteria and protozoa which consume biodegradable
soluble contaminants like sugar, fat, detergent, and food waste.
 sensitive to temperature with increase in temperature increases biological
reaction.
• Purpose of secondary(biological) wastewater
treatment is that the reduction of biochemical
oxygen demand(BOD).
 Initially, wastewater enters treatment plant with BOD of more than
200mg/l.
 From this primary treatment only reduce 30-35% of the original
amount.
 But after biological treatment only 20-30 mg/l and less amount of BOD
is expected .
 After dilution by nearby receiving water body (river, lake) the BOD is
less than 2-3mg/l.
 Role of microorganism in wastewater treatment
 The most micro-organism paly an important role in biological wastewater
Treatments are:.
 Bacteria
 Protozoa
 Fungi(algae) and
 Crustaceans

 These micro-organisms are used for conversion of organic waste to more stable,
Less polluting substance.
 Micro-organism require cellular building blocks such as carbon(C),hydrogen(H),
Oxygen(O), nitrogen(N), phosphorus(p) and minerals for growth.
 They get minerals and elements by oxidizing organic matters in wastewater
which contain these elements.
 Also these tiny organisms consuming(digesting) organic waste to get
energy for survival.
 So indirect they reduce excess elements and minerals which harm
human health.
General overview of growth of microorganisms
MICROBIAL GROWTH KINETICS
 Growth of a microbial population is defined as an increase in numbers or an
increase in microbial mass.
 Growth rate is the increase in microbial cell numbers or mass per unit time.
 The time required for a microbial population to double in numbers is the
generation time or doubling time, which may vary from minutes to days.
 Microbial populations can grow as
 batch cultures (closed systems) or
 Continuous cultures (open systems).

1. batch cultures (closed systems)

 When a suitable medium is inoculated with cells, the growth of the microbial
population follows the growth curve.
 Microbial growth curve

i. Lag Phase iii. Stationary Phase

ii. Exponential Growth (Log) Phase iv. Death Phase
i. Lag Phase
 Is a period of cell adjustment to the new environment
 Cells are involved in the synthesis of bio-chemicals and undergo
enlargement.
 The duration of the lag phase depends on the cells prior history
 age,

 prior exposure to damaging physical or chemical agents,

 culture medium
 No lag phase is observed when an exponentially growing culture is
transferred to a similar medium with similar growth conditions
 A lag period is observed when damaged cells are introduced into the
culture medium.
ii. Exponential Growth Phase (Log Phase)

 The number of cells increases exponentially during the log phase

 The exponential growth varies with the
 type of microorganism and

growth conditions (e.g., temperature, medium composition)
 Under favorable conditions, the number of bacterial cells (e.g., Escherichia coli) double every 15 - 20
min.
 The growth follows a geometric progression(20→21→22→2n)

Xt=X0eµt
Where µ - specific growth rate (h-1)
Xt - cell biomass or numbers after time t, and
Xo - initial number or biomass of cells
Using the natural logarithms on both sides of Equation we obtain
ln Xt = ln X0 + µt
Where µ is given by µ= (ln Xt - ln X0)/t
  Cells in the exponential growth phase are more sensitive to physical and
chemical agents than those in the stationary phase.

iii. Stationary Phase

 The cell population reaches the stationary phase because microorganisms
cannot grow indefinitely, mainly because of
 lack of nutrients and
 electron acceptors, and
 the production and the accumulation of toxic
metabolites.
 Secondary metabolites (e.g., certain enzymes, antibiotics) are produced
during the stationary phase.
 There is no net growth (cell growth is balanced by cell death or lysis) of the
population during the stationary phase.
iv. Death Phase

 The death (decay) rate of the microbial population is higher than the growth
rate
 Cell death may be accompanied by cell lysis
 The viable count of microorganisms decreases
 The turbidity of the microbial suspension may remain constant
2. Continuous Culture of
Microorganisms
 So far, we have described the growth kinetics of batch cultures. Maintenance
of microbial cultures at the exponential growth phase over a long period of
time can be achieved by growing continuously the cells in a completely mixed
reactor in which a constant volume is maintained. The most commonly used
device is the chemo stat which is essentially a complete mix bioreactor
without recycle. In addition to the flow rate of growth-limiting substrate,
environmental parameters such as oxygen level, temperature, and pH are also
controlled. The substrate is added continuously at a flow rate Q to a reactor
with a volume V containing concentration X of microorganisms. The dilution
rate D, the reciprocal of the hydraulic retention time t, is given by:
D = Q/V = 1/t
Where D - dilution rate (time-1) Q - flow rate of substrate S (L/time), and
V - reactor volume (L) t – time
 Factors affecting growth of
microorganisms in wastewater treatment
 Temperature:-This is one of the most important factors
affecting microbial growth and survival
 PH:- Biological treatment of wastewater occurs generally at
neutral PH
 It affects the ionization of chemicals and thus plays a role in
the transport of nutrients and toxic chemicals into the cell
 Oxygen level:- Microorganisms can grow in the presence or in
the absence of oxygen
 TYPES OF BIOLOGICAL WATEWATER
TREATMENT
AEROBIC ANAEROBIC
High amount of excess sludge Low required space
High energy demand Low energy demand
High required space Energy generation by use of biogas
Fully biological degradation No fully biological degradation
Sensitive against high sulfate and
calcium concentrations