Assignment of Applied Chemistry-I

Topic: Sewage Treatment

Submitted to:
Ma’am Qudsia
Submitted by:
M. Quqan Tahir
(2015-BT-ELEC-9)
Introduction:
Sewage is a major carrier of disease (from human wastes)
and toxins (from industrial wastes).The safe treatment of sewage is thus
crucial to the health of any community. This article focuses on the
complex physical and biological treatments used to render sewage both
biologically and chemically harmless.
Sewage is a mixture of domestic and industrial wastes. It is
more than 99% water, but the remainder contains some ions, suspended
solids and harmful bacteria that must be removed before the water is
released into the sea.
The treatment of wastewater is divided into three phases:
1. Pretreatment
2. Primary Treatment
3. Secondary Treatment

( Schematic of a typical wastewater treatment plant)

Pretreatment
Large solids (i.e. those with a diameter of more than 2cm) and grit
(heavy solids) are removed by screening. These are disposed of in
landfills.
Primary treatment
The water is left to stand so that solids can sink to the bottom and oil and
grease can rise to the surface. The solids are scraped off the bottom and
the scum is washed off with water jets. These two substances are
combined to form sludge.
Secondary treatment
The sludge is further treated in 'sludge digesters': large heated tanks in
which its chemical decomposition is catalyzed by microorganisms. The
sludge is largely converted to 'biogas', a mixture of CH4 and CO2,
which is used to generate electricity for the plant.

The liquid is treated by bacteria which break down the organic matter
remaining in solution. It is then sent to oxidation ponds where
heterotrophic bacteria continue the breakdown of the organics and solar
UV light destroys the harmful bacteria.

(Wastewater treatment based on a trickling filter system)

Pretreatment:
Preliminary treatment of wastewater generally includes those
processes that remove debris and coarse biodegradable material from the
waste stream and/or stabilize the wastewater by equalization or chemical
addition. Primary treatment generally refers to a sedimentation process
ahead of the main system or secondary treatment.
In domestic wastewater treatment, preliminary and
primary processes will remove approximately 25 percent of the organic
load and virtually all of the nonorganic solids. In industrial waste
treatment, preliminary or primary treatment may include flow
equalization, pH adjustment or chemical addition that is extremely
important to the overall treatment process.
Bar Screen:
A grating of steel bars spaced about 2–4 cm on centres is
placed at an angle to the flow of sewage through an open channel The
raw influent first goes through a self-cleaning screen and then into one
end of a shallow and rather fast moving basin so that sand and gravel
can settle out. Often skimmers rotate around the surface of the basin to
remove oils that may have been flushed into the system. The screen
removes coarse and floating solids from the sewage.

(Bar Screen)
Grit Chamber:
A chamber in which the velocity of waste flow is reduced to
a point where the denser sand and other grit will settle out, but the
organic solids will remain in suspension (refer figure 2–4). The settled
material is buried or used for fill.

(Grit Chamber)
Primary Treatment:
Primary treatment involves:
1. Preaeration
2. Sedimentation

Preaeration:
Firstly the wastewater is aerated by air pumped through
perforated pipes near the floor of the tanks. This aeration makes the
water less dense, causing the grit to settle out. As the air jets are
Positioned such that the water is swirling as it moves down the tanks the
suspended solids are prevented from settling out. The air also provides
dissolved oxygen for the bacteria to use later in the process, but the
wastewater is not in these tanks long enough for bacterial action to occur
here. The grit is collected in hoppers and washed, after which it is used
for onsite land reclamation and landscaping.

Sedimentation:
The water then flows slowly and smoothly through the
sedimentation tanks, where the suspended solids fall to the bottom and
scum rises to the surface, while clarified effluent passes on. The solids
are removed from the bottom of the tanks by scrapers, and scum is
washed off with water jets. The scum and solids are brought to a
common collection point where they are combined to form 'sludge' and
sent off for secondary treatment.

(Primary settling tank schematic)

Secondary Treatment:
Secondary treatment typically utilizes biological
treatment processes, in which microorganisms convert non settleable
solids to settleable solids. Sedimentation typically follows, allowing the
settleable solids to settle out.
Activated Sludge System: The most common option uses
microorganisms in the treatment process to break down organic material
with aeration and agitation, then allows solids to settle out. Bacteria-
containing “activated sludge” is continually recirculated back to the
aeration basin to increase the rate of organic decomposition.

(Activated sludge system)

Trickling Filters: These are beds of coarse media (often stones or

plastic) 3-10 ft. deep. Wastewater is sprayed into the air (aeration), then
allowed to trickle through the media. Microorganisms attached to and
growing on the media, break down organic material in the wastewater.
Trickling filters drain at the bottom; the wastewater is collected and then
Undergoes sedimentation.
 (Trickling Filter)

Lagoons: These are slow, cheap, and relatively inefficient, but can be
used for various types of wastewater. They rely on the interaction of
sunlight, algae, microorganisms, and oxygen (sometimes aerated).

After primary and secondary treatment, municipal wastewater is usually

disinfected using chlorine (or other disinfecting compounds, or
occasionally ozone or ultraviolet light). An increasing number of
wastewater facilities also employ tertiary treatment, often using
advanced treatment methods. Tertiary treatment may include processes
to remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and carbon
adsorption to remove chemicals. These processes can be physical,
biological, or chemical. Settled solids (sludge) from primary treatment
and secondary treatment settling tanks are given further treatment and
undergo several options for disposal.