Abstract

One of the major problems in wastewater treatment is that of sludge disposal. Large volumes of putrescible organic sludge with high water content are produced from primary and secondary sedimentation tanks, and their dewatering and ultimate disposal may account for as much as 40% of the cost of treatment. Volumes of sludge from water treatment operations are much lower and their relatively inert nature means that disposal is normally less of a problem. The types of sludges produced in treatment processes include primary sludge from wastewater sedimentation; secondary sludge from biological wastewater treatment; and hydroxide sludge from coagulation and sedimentation of waters and industrial wastes. All of these sludges have low solids contents (1-6%) and thus large volumes of sludge must be handled to dispose of even a relatively small mass of solids. The main objective in treatment of sludge is therefore to concentrate the solids by removing as much water as possible. The density and nature of the solid particles have a considerable influence on the thickness of the sludge produced.

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