Reduction of Environmental Pollution Applying Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems in Small Communities
Absztrakt :
Small size wastewater treatment plants are widely used as a decentralised
treatment solution in regions, where the access to the sewer system is not
available or the connection to an existing system is not economically sound
like in small communities (e.g. schools, hospitals, army camps, etc.). The local
treatment of wastewater can be performed by small size units applying activated
sludge or attached growth biomass. In this paper the performance and operation
of a process unit applying conventional activated sludge is analysed. For this
purpose, a simulation tool with mass balance modelling was used. In the model,
various influent wastewater qualities were set in order to examine their effect on
each process. Operational parameters were fine-tuned to increase the capacity by
utilising additional aeration. As a result, it can be stated that the nominal capacity
of the treatment unit is overestimated; in the Central European region, due to
the wastewater characteristics, the examined treatment unit could handle 40%
of the nominal capacity.