Influent Total Suspended Solids Research Articles

Fine‐solids removal by foam fractionation in a low‐salinity marine recirculating aquaculture system (RAS)

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to evaluate several methods of operation of a foam fractionator for fine‐solids removal (organic matter < 55 μm) in a commercial‐scale, low‐salinity (11–13‰) recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) for marine finfish production.MethodsThe total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations of the RAS microscreen drum filter inflow and outflow and the foam fractionator outflow were obtained under various foam fractionator operating conditions. The outflow TSS concentration of the drum filter also served as the inflow TSS concentration for the foam fractionator. Sample collection for TSS determination was divided into two categories: particles greater than 55 μm and particles less than 55 μm. The difference between inflow and outflow TSS concentrations was used to determine the removal percentage for each particle class of each unit. Additionally, the volume of foammate produced under operating conditions by the fractionator and the amount of solids contained within the foammate were quantified. Flow through the foam fractionator was also obtained to determine the amount of solids removed per volume of influent water treated.ResultThe influent TSS concentration for the seven different operating conditions evaluated ranged from 4.8 to 6.3 mg/L, with the percentage of particles less than 55 μm ranging from 69.75% to as high as 86.1%. The drum filter removed over 90% of the particles larger than 55 μm and removed 8–26% of the particles smaller than 55 μm. No difference was observed in the overall removal efficiency of the drum filter, which ranged from 19% to 44%. There was no significant difference in the foam fractionator overall removal efficiency, which ranged from 6.5% to 38.5%. Operating the foam fractionator at a high water head height (HHH) with the submersible aspirating impeller provided the greatest removal percentage of particles less than 55 μm (26.9%). However, at the HHH, only half the amount of solids was removed compared to using a Venturi injector with ozone, but energy use was roughly 26% greater.ConclusionThe foam fractionator was operated at the HHH, about 0.31 m higher than the low water head height, for production operation. Additionally, Venturi injection of ozone provided the greatest removal of solids for the volume of influent water treated over a 12‐h operational period. The submersible aspirating impeller showed potential for low‐cost use with reasonable solids removal and warrants further evaluation.

Primary filtration of municipal wastewater with sludge fermentation – Impacts on biological nutrient removal

Primary filtration is a compact pre-treatment process for municipal wastewater, which can lead to high removal of total suspended solids (TSS) if polymer is added prior to filtration. Extensive carbon removal with rotating belt filter (RBF) can be combined with filter primary sludge fermentation at ambient temperature, in order to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as carbon source for biological nutrient removal (BNR). This process was implemented at large pilot-scale and operated for more than a year. The results showed that the RBF efficiently removed particles >10 μm, and that the TSS removal had a strong linear correlation to the influent TSS concentration. Fermentation of the sludge at ambient temperature and five days retention time and addition of the fermentate to the wastewater could nearly double the VFA concentration in the wastewater by adding 31 ± 9 mg VFA-COD/L. Meanwhile, an increase of 2 mg/L of ammonium nitrogen, and 0.7 mg /L of phosphate phosphorus would be added to the wastewater with the fermentate. Adding the fermented sludge to the wastewater stream and removing the particles with RBF makes it possible to utilize nearly all the produced VFAs for BNR, and the feasibility of this configuration was shown at pilot-scale. According to simulations of subsequent BNR, the pre-treatment would lead to lower effluent total nitrogen concentrations. Alternatively, the required BNR volume could be reduced by 11–18 %. The estimated total biogas production was similar for pre-treatment with primary settler and RBF with fermentation. RBF without fermentation gave the most favourable energy balance, but did not reach the same low effluent value for total nitrogen as RBF with fermentation.

Physico-chemical characteristics and biodegradability of primary effluent and particulate matter removed by microscreens.

In this study, the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of raw wastewater were compared with the liquid and solid streams generated by a primary clarifier (PC), a rotating belt filter (RBF, 350 μm), and a drum filter (DF, 60 μm) and series (SER) combination of an RBF with a PC or a DF using pilot-scale primary treatment units. The RBF removed about 36% of the influent total suspended solids. The DF and PC yielded an influent total suspended solid removal of 47% to 55% in both individual (parallel) and SER configurations. The size fractionation and chemical characterizations of the liquid fractions indicated a significant change in the wastewater composition in both filter configurations with no variation in the biodegradability of liquid fractions. The solids recovered by RBF had a higher total solids (TS) concentration and a higher volatile solids (VS) content (0.92 g VS/g TS) than that of DF and PC treatments (0.58 to 0.84 g VS/g TS). DF and PC sludge demonstrated a higher biodegradability rate (k1 ; 0.11 d-1 < k1 < 0.20 d-1 ) than solids recovered by RBF (0.09 d-1 ). The retained solids in the SER configuration demonstrated a significantly lower theoretical biochemical methane potential than the parallel configuration, likely due to the presence of smaller particles with a significantly higher ratio of particulate chemical oxygen demand over volatile suspended solids (1.86 to 2.40 g chemical oxygen demand/g volatile suspended solids). These results indicated that the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of liquid and solids from different filter configurations are required to determine design criteria to upgrade or retrofit water resource recovery facilities using an RBF or a DF. PRACTITIONER POINTS: A rotating belt filter (RBF) removed less solids than a drum filter (DF) or a primary clarifier (PC). A series configuration of an RBF with either a DF or PC resulted in an effluent with a lower proportion of slowly biodegradable organic matter than in a parallel configuration. Solids from an RBF, a DF, or a PC had similar theoretical biochemical methane potential.

Influence of organic loading rates on treatment performance of membrane bioreactor treating tannery wastewater

Tannery wastewater contains high pollutants concentrations such as nitrogen, organic matter, salinity, toxic metals, etc. Membrane bioreactor has been widely recognized as potential technology for wastewater treatment and reuse. Finding proper operating conditions and a strategy for fouling mitigation in MBR process is essential to application to tannery wastewater treatment. Herein, this study investigated the effect of organic loading rate (OLR) on the performance and fouling behavior of membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating tannery wastewater during 280 days of operation. The MBR was operated under the low fluxes of 4.2 and 8.3 L m−2 h−1, corresponding to organic loading rates of 1.3 (OLR1) and 2.6 kg COD m−3d−1 (OLR2). The results show that the COD removal was obtained at 78 ± 19% and 89 ± 2% for OLR1 and OLR2, respectively. For the former condition the average removal of total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and NH4+-N reached 53%–68% and 58%–70%. TKN removal was mainly contributed by cell assimilation. Incomplete nitrification was due to high TDS (11,000–16,790 mg L−1) and the presence of free ammonia ( 6.77–31.11 mg L−1) concentrations under pH 8.7–8.8. Membrane fouling rate was strongly governed by operated flux. At flux of 4.2 LMH the fouling rate was as low as 0.19–0.4 kPa d−1 while the fouling rate accelerated (1.87–1.93 kPa d−1) as increased two times flux . These findings proposed a low flux of 4.2 LMH for MBR operation in treating real tannery wastewater. It was found that influent total suspended solids (TSS) played a crucial factor in spiking mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) into MBR. Thus, a pretreatment process is suggested to remove major suspended solids from raw tannery wastewater prior to biological treatment.

Experimental and simulation study of rectangular and circular primary clarifier for wastewater treatment

Clarification is an essential process in wastewater treatment which removes suspended solids using flocculants The efficiency of the primary clarifier is important as it affects the performance of the subsequent processes. The modeling of clarifiers are carried out using one-dimensional flux theory or two dimensional computational fluid dynamics. In this paper one-dimensional modeling of sedimentation process based on flux theory applied to lab-scale circular and rectangular primary clarifiers is reported. The experiments were carried out for three operating conditions i.e. low, medium and high solid concentrations using lab-scale setup. The one-dimensional sedimentation process model was implemented on MATLAB platform and simulation was carried out. The model simulation is able to predict effluent total suspended solids as well as TSS present along the height of the lab-scale primary clarifiers. The average R 2 value 0.97 was observed between measured and simulated total suspended solids present along the height of circular clarifier for the three operating conditions whereas average R 2 value 0.96 was found in the case of rectangular clarifier for identical conditions. Based on the simulation and experimental results the removal of suspended solids is found better in circular clarifier as compared to rectangular clarifier for the influent flow rate of 134 mL/min with influent total suspended solids from 300 to 600 mg/L. • One-dimensional sedimentation process model applied to the two primary clarifiers. • Experiments were performed using lab scale setup of the two primary clarifiers. • Simulation was carried out to generate profiles of the Total Suspended Solids (TSS). • TSS removal is found better in circular as compared to the rectangular design.

A high-rate and stable nitrogen removal from reject water in a full-scale two-stage AMX® system.

This paper reports long-term performance of a two-stage AMX® system with a capacity of 70 m3/d treating actual reject water. An air-lift granulation reactor performed partial nitritation (PN-AGR) at an average nitrogen loading rate (NLR) of 3.1 kgN/m3-d, producing an average effluent NO2--N/NH4+-N ratio of 1.04. The average nitrogen removal rate of the system was 3.91 kgN/m3-d following an anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) stage moving bed biofilm reactor (A-MBBR). Although the total nitrogen concentrations in the reject water fluctuated seasonally, overall nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) of the two-stage AMX® system was very stable at over 87%. The two-stage AMX® system, consisting of a PN-AGR followed by an A-MBBR, operated at a stable NLR of 1.86 kgN/m3-d (1.64 kgN/m3-d including the intermediate tank), which is 1.8 times higher (1.6 times including the intermediate tank) than other commercialized single-stage partial nitritation/Anammox (PN/A) processes (which operate at a NLR of about 1 kgN/m3-d). The PN-AGR was affected by high influent total suspended solids (TSS) loads, but was able to recover within a short period of 4 days, which confirmed that the two-stage PN/A process is resilient to TSS load fluctuations.

Laboratory Demonstration and Preliminary Techno-Economic Analysis of an Onsite Wastewater Treatment System.

Providing safe and reliable sanitation services to the billions of people currently lacking them will require a multiplicity of approaches. Improving onsite wastewater treatment to standards enabling water reuse would reduce the need to transport waste and fresh water over long distances. Here, we describe a compact, automated system designed to treat the liquid fraction of blackwater for onsite water reuse that combines cross-flow ultrafiltration, activated carbon, and electrochemical oxidation. In laboratory testing, the system consistently produces effluent with 6 ≤ pH ≤ 9, total suspended solids (TSS) < 30 mg L–1, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) < 150 mg L–1. These effluent parameters were achieved across a wide range of values for influent TSS (61–820 mg L–1) and COD (384–1505 mg L–1), demonstrating a robust system for treating wastewater of varying strengths. A preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) was conducted to elucidate primary cost drivers and prioritize research and development pathways toward commercial feasibility. The ultrafiltration system is the primary cost driver, contributing to >50% of both the energy and maintenance costs. Several scenario parameters showed an outsized impact on costs relative to technology parameters. Specific technological improvements for future prototype development are discussed.

A novel stochastic wastewater quality modeling based on fuzzy techniques.

Measurement and prediction of wastewater quality parameters are crucial for evaluating the risk to the receiving waters. This study presents new methods for the identification of outlier data and smoothing as an effective pre-processing technique prito to modelling. This new data processing method uses a combination of the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model and -the adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system with fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM) (ANFIS-FCM). These new pre-processing methodsare compared to previously employed non-linear approaches for modelling of wastewater influent/effluent 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS). Linear modelling of each parameter, 242 linear models, were investigated, and a linear model for each parameter was selected. The results of the non-linear models led to an acceptable prediction for qualitative parameters so that the high coefficient of determination (R 2 ) was observed for the influent and effluent BOD and TSS, respectively. The range of the R 2 for all models was recorded as 0.8-0.87 and 0.83-0.89, respectively. By a combination of the linear and non-linear mothods a hybrid model was introduced. The proposed hybrid model for the influent BOD with the highest correlation between the observed and predicted values, and limited scattering was identified as the optimal model (R2 = 0.95). The use of hybrid models to predict wastewater quality parameters improved the performance and efficiency of the models. In addition, a comparison of the hybrid model with the recently developed models in the literature indicates that the developed ARIMA-ANFIS-FCM outperformed other models.

Can phosphorus adsorption clog an alum sludge‐based biofiltration system? Evidence and insight

AbstractBACKGROUNDAluminium‐based drinking water treatment residual (Al‐DWTR) has been used as an emergent substrate in laboratory‐scale and pilot‐scale biofiltration systems (biofilters and constructed wetlands) for its good affinity for phosphorus (P) adsorption. However, there is a concern about whether the P adsorption process will contribute to substrate clogging. Two laboratory‐scale up‐flow biofiltration systems were set up to identify the contribution of the P adsorption process to clogging under various operation conditions.RESULTSContributions of individual processes to clogging from biosolids production (SBS), inert matter generated from the conversion of residual biomass (SIS), P adsorption (SP) and inert matter production from influent total suspended solids (SSS) during operation of the two systems were assessed. After 262 days of operation, results indicated that SBS contributed most (53.16 ± 7.73%) to the clogging, followed by SSS (41.48 ± 8.02%), SP (3.14 ± 0.06%) and SIS (2.20 ± 0.27%) when treating the influent with concentrations of 284–558 mg L−1 for COD, 54–197 mg L−1 for SS and 5–13 mg L−1 for P.CONCLUSIONSThe minor contribution of the P adsorption process to substrate clogging further suggests that dewatered Al‐DWTR with a high P removal capacity is a promising substrate for use in biofiltration systems. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)

Prediction of total suspended solids present in effluent of primary clarifier of industrial common effluent treatment plant: Mechanistic and fuzzy approach

Primary clarifier plays vital role in removal of pollutants present as total suspended solids (TSS) in wastewater. In this research work prediction of effluent TSS present in the sedimentation tank of clariflocculator is reported. The data of common effluent treatment plant (CETP), Ahmedabad, India has been used in the development of soft sensor. The mechanistic and fuzzy inference system (FIS) soft sensor models have been developed. The models predict the effluent total suspended solids (TSSe) of clariflocculator process based on the measurement of influent flow rate (Qf) and influent total suspended solids (TSSin). The root mean square error (RMSE) of mechanistic model and fuzzy inference system were 30 and 48 respectively for the data samples Qf ranging from 800 to 900 m3/h and TSSin from 300–600 mg/L. These ranges are typically observed throughout the year at CETP, Ahmedabad, India. The percentage mean accuracy for mechanistic model was 88 %. The difference between predicted and actual measured values of RMSE and percentage mean accuracy of mechanistic model is acceptable as system is highly sensitive. Mechanistic model gives information of total suspended solids present in retentate as well as TSS present at different height of the sedimentation tank in addition to TSS present in effluent.

Optimizing Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment Processes for Simultaneous Carbon Redirection and Phosphorus Removal

There has been increased interest towards maximizing wastewater energy recovery by enhancing the carbon captured through the primary treatment process such as chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT). This research was conducted to optimize the CEPT performance in terms of redirection of carbon and nutrients in both bench- and full-scale operations. In order to improve the CEPT process, the performance of ferric chloride and seven types of polymers were evaluated through jar testing. The optimal coagulant (15 mg/L ferric chloride) and flocculant (0.5 mg/L poly aluminum chloride (PACl)) combination achieved total COD, soluble COD, total suspended solids (TSS), and total phosphorus (TP) removal efficiencies of 76, 58, 89, and 84, respectively, in a full-scale primary clarifier operation. In doing so the organic matter and phosphorus were concentrated in CEPT sludge, making them available for recovery. Furthermore, the relationship between influent characteristics and removal rates under varying operating conditions was investigated. It was found that soluble COD removal appeared to be season-dependent, and TSS removals were independent of influent TSS concentrations in all scenarios. The removal of tCOD, sCOD, and TP had a positive relationship with their corresponding concentrations when the polymer Alcomer® 120L was used, whereas no correlation between removal and concentration was observed with PACl.

Removal of Nutrients, Sediment, and Heavy Metals by a Stormwater Treatment Train; a Medium-Density Residential Case Study in Southeast Queensland

Urban stormwater runoff from a medium-density residential development in southeast Queensland has been monitored in the field since November 2013. A treatment train installed on the site includes rainwater tanks collecting roofwater, 200-micron mesh baskets installed in grated gully pits, and two 850-mm-high media filtration cartridges installed in an underground 4-m3 vault. The site has been monitored over a 4.5-year period. Removal efficiencies were observed at this site for the regulated pollutants; the corresponding values for total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) for the pit baskets were 61%, 28%, and 45%, respectively. The cartridge filters removed 78% of TSS, 59% of TP, 42% of TN, 40% of total copper, and 51% of total zinc. As the measured influent TSS and TP concentrations to the cartridge filters were low when compared to industry guidelines, the U.S. field dataset was truncated to anticipated guideline levels, confirming results at 90% for TSS and 76% for TP. The total gross pollutant generation rate from the medium-density residential catchment was observed to be 0.24 m3/Ha/year, with a corresponding air-dried mass of 142.5 kg/Ha/year. Less than 2% of the gross pollutant mass was anthropogenic. This paper concludes that the treatment train, and in particular the media filter, provides good removal of total copper and total zinc as well as TSS, TP, and TN from urban stormwater runoff, with higher inlet concentrations producing better performance. Field test data from 58 months of operation and standard maintenance suggests that breakthrough of TSS and TP has not occurred yet.

Effects of different soil media, vegetation, and hydrologic treatments on nutrient and sediment removal in roadside bioretention systems

Water quality performance of eight roadside bioretention cells in their third and fourth years of implementation were evaluated in Burlington, Vermont. Bioretention cells received varying treatments: (1) vegetation with high-diversity (7 species) and low-diversity plant mix (2 species); (2) proprietary SorbtiveMedia™ (SM) containing iron and aluminum oxide granules to enhance sorption capacity for phosphorus; and (3) enhanced rainfall and runoff (RR) to certain cells (including one with SM treatment) at three levels (15%, 20%, 60% more than their control counterparts), mimicking anticipated precipitation increases associated with climate change. A total of 121 storms across all cells were evaluated in 2015 and 2016 for total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate/nitrite-nitrogen (NOx), ortho-phosphorus (Ortho-P), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP). Heavy metals were also measured for a few storms, but in 2014 and 2015 only. Simultaneous measurements of flow rates and volumes allowed for evaluation of the cells’ hydraulic performances and estimation of pollutant load removal efficiencies and EMC reductions. Significant average reductions in effluent stormwater volumes (75%; range: 48–96%) and peak flows (91%; range: 86–96%) was reported, with 31% of the storms events (all less than 25.4 mm (1 in.), and one 39.4 mm (1.55 in.)) depth completely captured by bioretention cells. Influent TSS concentrations and event mean concentrations (EMCs) was mostly significantly reduced, and TSS loads were well retained by all bioretention cells (94%; range: 89–99%) irrespective of treatments, storm characteristics or seasonality. In contrast, nutrient removal was treatment-dependent, where the SM treatments consistently removed P concentrations, loads and EMCs, and sometimes N as well. The vegetation and RR treatments mostly exported nutrients to the effluent for those three metrics with varying significance. We attribute observed nutrient exports to the presence of excess compost in the soil media. Rainfall depth and peak inflow rate had consistently negative effects on all nutrient removal efficiencies from the bioretention cells likely by increasing pollutant mobilization. Seasonality followed by soil media presence, and antecedent dry period were other predictors significantly influencing removal efficiencies for some nutrient types. Results from the analysis will be useful to make bioretention designers aware of the hydrologic and other design factors that will be the most critical to the performance of the bioretention systems in response to interactive effects of climate change.

Study on the Effect of Variation of Flow in Sequencing Batch Reactor Using PCA and ANOVA

Wastewater treatment using Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology is one of the state-of-the art wastewater management systems. In this technology equalization, biological treatment and secondary clarification are performed in a single reactor in a time control sequence. SBR system is idler for the areas where the available land is limited, since it operates in less space and very cost effective even on small scales. The control of the operational parameters during the process of biological wastewater treatment is often complicated due to the dynamic change in the composition and characteristics of the raw wastewater, flow rates and other parameters influencing the complex nature of the treatment process and the process in SBR has a unique cyclic batch operation. The performance of the SBR was studied using pilot and real plant at Puducherry. The parameters considered in this study are flow, Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS), pH, temperature, influent and effluent of Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). As a part of the study, the effect of constant flow and varying flow on the organic loading of the influent TSS, BOD and COD and their influence on the organic load of the effluent parameters were examined to identify the level of significance of the parameters in relation to the flow. The impact of flow on other parameters was also examined. The experimental data obtained from pilot and real plants were analyzed using multi variate statistical analyses like correlation analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA). The statistical analysis revealed that constant flow had no significant role and the influent parameters alone had the critical role, whereas varying flow as well as the influent parameters had the significant role on the performance of SBR.

Seasonal Variability in Stormwater Quality Treatment of Permeable Pavements Situated Over Heavy Clay and in a Cold Climate

Permeable pavements mitigate the impacts of urbanization on surface waters through pollutant load reduction, both by sequestration of pollutants and stormwater volume reduction through exfiltration. This study examined the non-winter water quality performance of two side-by-side permeable pavements in the Ohio snowbelt. The permeable interlocking concrete pavements were designed to drain impervious catchments 2.2 (large) and 7.2 (small) times larger than their surface area, were located over clay soils, and incorporated the internal water storage design feature. Nutrient reduction was similar to past studies—organic nitrogen and particulate phosphorus were removed through filtration and settling, while dissolved constituents received little treatment. Because of 16 and 32 % volume reductions in the small and large installations, respectively, nutrient loads were often significantly reduced but generally by less than 50 %. Aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium, lead, chloride, and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations and loads often increased after passing through the permeable pavements; effluent TSS loads were three- to five-fold higher than influent TSS loads. This was apparently due to seasonal release of clay- and silt-sized particles from the soils underlying the permeable pavement and inversely related to elapsed time since winter. The application of de-icing salt is thought to have caused deflocculation of the underlying soils, allowing particulates to exit with stormwater as it discharged from the underdrain of the permeable pavements. By autumn, both permeable pavements discharged metals and TSS concentrations similar to others in the literature, suggesting the de-icing effects lasted 3–6 months post-winter. Sodium may substantially affect the performance of permeable pavements following winter de-icing salt application, particularly when 2:1 clay minerals, such as vermiculites and smectites, predominate.

An integrated sewage treatment pond-wetland challenges conventional process treatment performance

This paper presents a case example showing how integrating a constructed free water surface (FWS) wetland with sewage treatment ponds system can deliver effluent quality results that rival conventional sewage treatment plants (STP). Treatment ponds, commonly used in regional and remote communities, provide low cost and operationally simple wastewater treatment. Despite the benefits of sewage ponds, many systems struggle to achieve modern environmental standards. This paper focuses on the treatment performance of a pond-wetland STP throughout the initial 15-month establishment period of a 2,000 sqm FWS wetland at Helidon Queensland, Australia. The pre-existing STP comprised a two-stage pond with chlorination. In 2013, a two-cell FWS wetland was built to achieve long-term licence compliance at the STP for biological oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS) and pH. Post establishment, the effluent quality out of the wetlands was BOD &amp;lt;10 mg/L; SS &amp;lt; 20 mg/L; pH of 7–8 despite the influent BOD and TSS levels being well above the values used for the system's design. This paper demonstrates that FWS wetlands can easily integrate into existing or new sewage pond systems to deliver high quality and reliable treatment outcomes.

Analysis of variables affecting mixed liquor volatile suspended solids and prediction of effluent quality parameters in a real wastewater treatment plant

This article was an effort to predict effluent quality parameters and analyze variables affecting mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) for Ekbatan wastewater treatment plant in Tehran, Iran. These parameters were predicted and analyzed using two of the most common classes of artificial neural networks (MLP and RBF) coupled with genetic algorithm. Temperature, pH, influent concentration of the parameters, sludge volume index (SVI), and sludge volume after 30 min of settling (V30) were inputs of the neural networks. These inputs were used to predict biochemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations as well as MLVSS concentration in the aeration tank. The introduced models for training and testing data sets indicated an almost perfect match between the experimental and the predicted values of COD, TN, TSS, and MLVSS. The models were verified by evaluating their performance in propitiously simulating the statistical features of the observed data. Furthermore, another criterion applied for judging the validity of the models was the assessment of the goodness of fit according to available criteria. The mean average error in prediction of all parameters for the train and test models did not exceed 6 and 4%, respectively. The results of sensitivity analyses for the models indicated that the variation of the MLVSS concentration in the aeration tank is influenced by V30, influent TSS, T (°C), SVI and pH, respectively. It was observed that the V30 and influent TSS significantly affect the MLVSS concentration in the aeration tank.

Comparison of physico-chemical, advanced oxidation and biological techniques for the textile wastewater treatment

Toxic organic dye removal from the textile wastewater is a serious concern. It is difficult to choose a single or a combination of treatment techniques between various available options; each with certain advantages and drawbacks. Six different techniques were applied on the same textile wastewater to evaluate the most effective in terms of treatment efficiency. The three most important textile wastewater quality parameters of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS) and color were made the basis of the comparison of different treatment techniques. Other critical parameters such as treatment time, ease of operation and chemical cost employed were also considered. No single biological or physico-chemical treatment technique was found capable of removing up to 80% of the influent COD, TSS and color simultaneously from the textile wastewater. The conventional activated sludge (CAS) treatment followed by effluent polishing with the sand filtration (SF) and activated carbon adsorption columns was proved to be the most promising with COD, TSS and color removal efficiencies of 81.6%, 88.5% and 94.5% respectively. Moreover this combination of techniques enjoys lower chemical cost, medium operation time and fewer difficulties in the process control. Hence, the combination is recommended for the treatment of the textile effluents.

Relationship between protozoan and metazoan communities and operation and performance parameters in a textile sewage activated sludge system

The present study aims at investigating the possibility of assessing performance and depuration conditions of an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant through an exploration of the microfauna. The plant, receiving textile industrial (70%) and domestic (30%) sewage, consists of a two-step biological depurating plant, with activated sludge followed by a percolating system. A total of 35 samples were analyzed during five months, and 30 taxa of protozoa and small metazoa were found. Epistylis rotans, Vorticella microstoma, Aspidisca cicada and Arcella sp. were the most frequent protozoa identified. Several significant correlations between biological, physical–chemical and operational parameters were determined, but no significant correlations could be established between biological parameters and removal efficiencies. The Sludge Biotic Index (SBI) reflected the overall state of the community but only presented statistically significant correlations with the influent total suspended solids (TSS), total suspended solids in mixed-liquor (MLTSS) and dissolved oxygen (DO). The determination of key groups and taxa along with general community parameters showed to have potential value as indicators of the depuration conditions. Despite the impossibility of correlating biological parameters and the removal efficiencies, the present study attests the value of the microfauna to assess the operation of the activated sludge systems even in the case of non-conventional plants and/or plants receiving industrial sewage.

Effects of Runoff Characteristics and Filter Type on Geotextile Storm Water Treatment

Urban storm water runoff carries particulate matter and other pollutants to water bodies, causing environmental problems. Removing suspended solids from runoff through geotextile filtration is a storm water control measure currently under investigation, which could help lessen the negative impacts of storm water on aquatic ecosystems. In this study, three geotextiles were tested in a laboratory setup with influent suspensions having hydraulic loading rates, total suspended solids (TSS) concentration, and particle-size distributions similar to those reported for urban highway storm water runoff. The results indicated that after a short priming period, all three geotextiles can effectively remove suspended solids to below a target concentration of 30 mg/L. The results also showed that influent hydraulic loading rate and TSS concentration have minimal effects on the total mass of solids captured by the filter, whereas particle-size distribution does affect the total mass of solids captured by the filters. The retention criteria for choosing the appropriate geotextile for storm water treatment established in recent literature were evaluated by using the laboratory results. The geotextiles and sand filters were directly compared by using the results of the laboratory column testing of sand filters performed for this study. The results indicate that a geotextile will outlast a sand filter in terms of total solids loading under similar conditions.