A review of posttreatment technologies for anaerobic effluents for discharge and recycling of wastewater

Abstract

ABSTRACTWith an increasing interest in using anaerobic reactors for treating domestic/industrial wastewater, posttreatment processes to upgrade the anaerobic effluents produced have also been investigated, although in many cases in very little depth. A few reviews have discussed the posttreatment of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) effluents; these systems generally improve the removal of organic matter, nutrients and pathogens to attain discharge standards, or reuse in agriculture. However, with the recent developments in anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR), advanced posttreatment technology can produce higher quality effluents that can ultimately be used for recycling. Hence, this paper will discuss the posttreatment methods for all anaerobic reactor types, while focussing on the UASB and AnMBR, which aim to remove organic compounds as well as nitrogen and phosphorus. With regards to the advanced treatment of organic compounds in anaerobic effluents, the removal of micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals and soluble microbial products (SMPs) will also be addressed. Finally, the removal of dissolved methane as well as the potential resource recovery of compounds such as nitrogen, phosphorus or dissolved methane will also be highlighted.