Most issues that biological wastewater treatmentsystems have happen at the design and engineering stages. When studies are incomplete over sufficiently long periods and vast volumes of data, then it is common for the system to fall short in one way or the other. These issues can have a huge impact on your treatment system, so how can they be avoided? Experts recommend the following three steps.
- Characterization study
By getting samples and having them sent to the lab, you are ensuring that the correct parameters which are necessary for the development of your design, are analyzed. To get this done, measure flow repeatedly all through the day, along with key shifts of the plant – and keep doing that for a couple of days so all variations are covered. Then put together a report, and from the gotten data, your treatment experts should be able to form the basis of configuration choices and the system’s technology.
- Lab study
An appropriate lab or wastewater treatability study could take between three and five weeks, yet this step is quite crucial. It’s what illustrates whether there’s toxicity, whether bacteria could be used in treating the water right up to discharge limits, what quality of the BOD will have to be taken out, and if bacteria cannot be used to treat the water all the way, what steps are then necessary afterwards (post-treatment technologies) to attain the discharge limits? When it comes to biological wastewater treatment in Australia, these studies are exceedingly helpful in avoiding design issues when biological organisms are being grown inside the water. It will greatly help your facility in designing the pH, understanding where any potential odours are coming from, understanding whether there is any need for extra chemical and nutrients dosing of phosphorus or nitrogen, as well as everything else as regards bacterial growth on the pollutants in the wastewater.
- Pilot study
If, after the completion of the lab studies and characterization of the wastewater, it is decided that you are working with waste that is extremely complex and which features lots of variations, then you might have to run a pilot study at the facility which will last between two and five months. This will help to put the pretreatment, aeration, temperature control, biological technology, posttreatment, pH control, nutrient dosing, and so on, into practice. By getting a slipstream run into a tiny pilot at the flows, as well as loading rates which duplicate the full-scale design meant for commercial purposes, all variations from one day to the other could be analyzed properly. In addition to demonstrating how the technology will function, this step also generates engineering information, which will eventually help your treatment engineers to design an optimal system that could be used for the biological treatment of water.
In conclusion, an excellent working relationship must be maintained between your biological wastewater treatment specialists, and the manufacturer of your treatment system. This is because the manufacturer is the one who designed your system and will surely be the best possible consultant for taking care of varying issues even before they occur. This is all you should know.
