AERATION & TYPES OF

AERATORS
 What Is Aeration ?
● Water aeration is the process of increasing or maintaining the oxygen saturation of
water in both natural and artificial environments.

● Aeration techniques are commonly

used in pond, lake, and reservoir
management to address low
oxygen levels or algal blooms
 Need for Aeration

❖Oxidation of organic matter

❖To increase dissolved oxygen content
❖To reduce the concentration of taste and odor causing
substances , such as hydrogen sulfide and various
organic compounds, by volatilization / stripping or
oxidation
❖Flocculation of colloids in sewage influent
❖To remove those compounds that may in some way
interfere with or add to the cost of subsequent water
treatment
There are many ways to aerate water, but these
all fall into two broad areas –
 surface aeration  and subsurface aeration.
A variety of techniques and technologies
are available for both approaches
Gravity ( Cascade ) Aerators
● In gravity aerators, water is allowed to fall by gravity such
that a large area of water is exposed to atmosphere,
sometimes aided by turbulence.
● A cascade aerator (one of the oldest and most common
aerators) consists of a series of steps that the water flows
over . In all cascade aerators,
aeration is accomplished in the
splash zones
 MECHANICAL AERATOR
● The use of machinery to mix air and water so that oxygen
can be absorbed into the water.
Some examples are –
paddle wheels, mixers, or rotating brushes to agitate the
surface of an aeration tank; pumps to create fountains; and
pumps to discharge water down a series of steps forming
falls or cascades.
 Centrifugal Aerators
● Centrifugal aerators create enhanced conditions for
dissolving gas into liquid phase
● Centrifugal aerators combine several elements:
1. High turbulence swirling flow of liquid;
2. Orthogonal flow of liquid and gas;
3. Constant pressure inside the vessel;
4. Optimum flow velocity generating centrifugal forces
thereby extending diffusion rate within the vessel
5. Very small pores, through which gas permeates into the
liquid and is sheered off into liquid phase, thereby
forming small bubbles.
 DIFFUSED AERATOR
● In these systems air is pumped through some sort of
diffuser to generate small bubbles. These diffusers are
porous ceramics, cloth or plastic.
● Types of diffused aeration
(i)Fine bubble (ii)Coarse bubble
● Efficiency of fine bubble aeration is 10 to 20 times
greater than that of coarse bubble diffused aeration
system
ADVANTAGES OF DIFFUSED
AERATION TECHNOLOGY
• High oxygen transfer rate.
• Simple installation.
• Lowers energy costs.
• Capable of bring connected to both round &
square pipes.
• Fully flooded pipes made with eco-friendly
poly-propylene.
• Available in usable length of up to 2 meters.
 Spray /fountain AERATOR
● These are also known as spray aerators with special nozzles to
produce a fine spray. Each nozzle is 2.5 to 4 cm diameter
discharging about 18 to 36 l/h. Nozzle spacing should be such
that each m3 of water has aerator area of 0.03 to 0.09 m2 for
one hour.
 Pressure Aerators
● There are two basic types of pressure
aerators. One uses a pressure vessel;
where water to be treated is sprayed
into high-pressure air, allowing the
water to quickly pick up dissolved oxygen.

● The other is a pressure aerator

commonly used in pressure filtration
Air is injected into the raw water
piping and allowed to stream into the
water as a fine bubble.

● Common example : A faucet.

 HOW AERATION REMOVES OR MODIFIES
CONSTITUENTS
✔Sweeping or scrubbing action caused by the turbulence of
water and air mixing together.

✔ Oxidizing certain metals and gases .

✔Aeration brings water and air in close contact in order to

remove dissolved gases (such as carbon dioxide) and oxidizes
dissolved metals such as iron, hydrogen sulfide, and volatile
organic chemicals (VOCs). During aeration, constituents are
removed or modified before they can interfere with the
treatment processes
THANK YOU