GONDAR UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND HYDRAULIC
ENGINEERING

SEWAGE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL (WWT)

SECONDARY/BIOLOGICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT

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SECONDARY/BIOLOGICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT

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Rotating Biological Contactors

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Rotating Biological Contactors

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 Rotating Biological Contactors

Rotating biological contactors (RBCs)

 consists of a series closely spaced circular disks of polystyrene or
polyvinyl chloride
 the cylindrical plastic disks are attached to a horizontal shaft and
are provided at standard unit sizes of approx. 3.5 m in diameter and
7.5 m in length
 The RBC unit is partially submerged (typically 40% of the diameter)
in a tank containing the wastewater
 Disc rotation slow (1-1.6 rpm)
 Under these conditions aerobic bacteria will soon develop a
microbial film which will carry out the biological degradation of
organic pollutants.
 While the lower half is in contact with the waste water (utilization
phase) the other half will access the ambient air (aeration phase)
 The rotation also helps to slough off excess solids.
 Can achieve BOD reductions of 80 to 90 %

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Rotating Biological Contactors

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 Rotating Biological Contactors
Advantages
 High contact time and high effluent quality (both BOD and nutrients)
 High process stability, resistant to shock hydraulic or organic loading
 Short contact periods are required because of the large active surface
 Low space requirement
 Well drainable excess sludge collected in clarifier
 Process is relatively silent compared to dosing pumps for aeration
 Low sludge production
Disadvantages
 Continuous electricity supply required (but uses less energy than
activated sludge processes for comparable degradation rates)
 Contact media not available at local market
 High investment costs
 Must be protected against sunlight, wind and rain (especially against
freezing in cold climates)
 Requires permanent skilled technical labor for operation and
maintenance
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 Rotating Biological Contactors
Design
The main design parameter is the wastewater flow rate
per surface area of the discs.
Is called the hydraulic loading (m3/day-m2)
−Indirectly represents the F/M ratio
– Wastewater flow rate is related to mass of substrate
 – Disc surface area is related to mass of microbes

For municipal wastewater, four (4) stages are used,

but if nitrification is required, five (5) stages are
employed.

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Rotating Biological Contactors

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Waste Stabilization Ponds

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Waste Stabilization Ponds

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Waste Stabilization Pond

• Is large shallow basins enclosed by earthen embankments in which

wastewater is biologically treated by natural processes involving pond
algae and bacteria. (TSS and BOD removal)

• Pond system requires some preliminary treatment of municipal WW.

• Usually coarse screening and grit chamber is applied

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds

Types of Pond
» Anaerobic Ponds: reduces the organic load in the
wastewater, remove up to 60% of the BOD
» Facultative: where further BOD is removed further
15% removed
» Maturation/aerobic pond: designed for pathogen
removal

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
 Anaerobic and facultative ponds are generally designed for removal
of BOD, and
 maturation ponds for pathogen removal,
 However, some BOD removal also occurs in maturation ponds and
some pathogen removal in anaerobic and facultative ponds
 WSP commonly comprise a single series of these anaerobic, facultative
and maturation ponds or several of such series in parallel.

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Pond Configurations: Configurations can include either series or
parallel operations
– the advantages of series operation is improved treatment

because of reduced short circuiting and

– the advantages of parallel configuration is that the loading

can be distributed more uniformly over a large area

– combinations of parallel & series operation can be
accomplished

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Waste Stabilization Ponds

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds

I. Anaerobic Ponds
 Anaerobic ponds receive such a heavy organic loading and
biodegradation in the absence of oxygen dominate.
 Pond depth is usually between 3 to 5 meters and

 In cold climates, anaerobic ponds mainly act as settling ponds,

whereas higher sewage temperatures enhance the anaerobic
degradation process.
 At higher temperatures BOD is therefore more effectively
removed.

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Treatment Mechanisms
• BOD removal is the combined effect of sedimentation and biological
degradation.
• Biological degradation is due to the anaerobic degradation of complex
organic material.
 Biochemical reactions in an anaerobic pond produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
and other odorous compounds.
 To reduce odors, the common practice is to recirculate water from a
downstream facultative or aerated pond. This provides a thin aerobic layer at
the surface of the anaerobic pond, which prevents odors from escaping into
the air.
 A cover may also be used to contain odors
 The effluent from anaerobic ponds usually requires further treatment prior to
discharge
 Typical TSS removal percentages range between 50 and 70%.

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds

II. Facultative Ponds

• Are the second treatment step in a pond system.
• In facultative ponds the anaerobic pond effluent is further treated, aimed at
further BOD, nutrient and pathogen removal.
• Facultative ponds are usually 1.5 - 2.5m deep.

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Processes In facultative ponds
• the top layer of facultative ponds is aerobic due to oxygen production by
algae and surface re-aeration; the bottom layer is anaerobic due to the
absence of oxygen.
• The three main mechanisms for BOD removal are aerobic digestion,
sedimentation and anaerobic digestion.
• Sedimentation results only in temporary storage of BOD in the sludge layer.
• This BOD (in sludge) is removed while the pond is desludged. Part of the
sludge BOD is however anaerobically transformed into methane gas.

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds

Figure of BOD removal mechanisms in a

facultative pond
Mutualistic relationship
between the algae and the
bacteria in facultative and
maturation ponds

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
III. Maturation Ponds
 Maturation ponds are shallow ponds (1 - 1.5m deep).
 An active algal biomass is maintained throughout the entire depth of the
system
 so that during daytime large amounts of oxygen are produced.
 BOD removal is much slower than in facultative ponds, since the most easily
degradable substances are consumed already.
 The major application of maturation ponds is to polish or upgrade
facultative pond effluents and achieve substantial microbial reductions to
allow safe use of the effluents in agriculture or aquaculture

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Removal of Pathogenic Microorganisms in maturation pond
 Pathogen removal occurs in anaerobic, facultative and maturation ponds, but
only maturation ponds are designed on the basis of required removal rates
for pathogens.
 Four groups of pathogenic micro-organism can be distinguished in WW:
bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminthes.
 Both helminthes eggs and protozoan cysts are removed by
sedimentation.
 Removal of bacteria (fecal coliform) and virus is due to a combination of
several processes:
• Adsorption to particles and subsequent sedimentation

• Grazing by other micro-organisms (protozoa)

• Natural decay

• UV disinfection

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds

Comparison of the treatment performance of different waste

stabilization ponds

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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Advantages of WSP
Can be built and repaired with locally available materials
No external energy required for operation
Low in construction and very low operating costs
High reduction in pathogens
Can treat high-strength wastewater to high quality effluent
Generally reliable and well-functioning
Effluent can be reused in aquaculture or for irrigation in
agriculture
 Advantages include:
 simplicity,
 low cost,
 low maintenance,
 low energy consumption,
 robustness, and sustainability.
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 Waste Stabilization Ponds
Disadvantages of WSP
Requires large open land surfaces far away from homes and
public spaces
May promote breeding of insects in the pond (e.g. flies,
mosquitoes)
De-sludging (normally every few years) and correct disposal
of the sludge needs to be guaranteed
Anaerobic ponds can cause bad odours if poorly designed
Not always appropriate for colder climates.

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 Tertiary Treatment Processes
 The purpose of tertiary treatment is to provide a final treatment
stage to raise the effluent quality before it is discharged to the
receiving environment (sea, river, lake, ground, etc.)
Filtration
Sand filtration removes much of the residual suspended matter
Filtration over activated carbon, also called carbon adsorption,
removes residual toxins.
Nutrient removal
 Wastewater may contain high levels of the nutrients nitrogen and
phosphorus.
 Different treatment processes are required to remove nitrogen and phosphorus.
Nitrogen removal
 The removal of nitrogen is effected through the biological
oxidation of nitrogen from ammonia to nitrate (nitrification),
followed by denitrification, the reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas.
 Nitrogen gas is released to the atmosphere and thus removed from the water
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 Tertiary Treatment Processes
Phosphorus removal
 Phosphorus removal is important as it is a limiting nutrient for algae growth in many
fresh water systems.
 Phosphorus can be removed biologically in a process called enhanced biological
phosphorus removal.
 In this process, specific bacteria, called polyphosphate accumulating organisms
(PAOs), are selectively enriched and accumulate large quantities of phosphorus within
their cells (up to 20 percent of their mass).
 Phosphorus removal can also be achieved by chemical precipitation.
Disinfection
 The purpose of disinfection in the treatment of waste water is to substantially reduce
the number of microorganisms in the water to be discharged back into the
environment.
 The effectiveness of disinfection depends on the quality of the water being treated.
 Ultraviolet (UV) light can be used instead of chlorine, iodine, or other chemicals.
Odour Control
 Odours emitted by sewage treatment are typically an indication of an anaerobic or
"septic“ condition.
 Large process plants in urban areas will often treat the odours with carbon reactors, a
contact media with bio-slimes, small doses of chlorine, or circulating fluids to
biologically capture and metabolize the obnoxious gases.
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