Dr. Alaadin A. Bukhari

Centre for Environment and Water

Research Institute

KFUPM

Tertiary Treatment of Domestic Wastewater

By

PRESENTATION LAYOUT

• Introduction

• Tertiary Treatment Technologies

• Removal of Residual Constituents

– Suspended Solids Removal

– Nutrients Removal

– Removal of Toxic Compounds

– Removal of Dissolved Inorganic Compounds

• Tertiary Treatment of Wastewater in Saudi

Arabia

• Summary

• DefinitionFurther removal of suspended and dissolved contaminants, not normally removed by conventional treatment

InfluentIn fluent E ffluent

P rim arycla rifie r

A era tiontank

Secondaryclarifier

T ertia rytrea tm ent

un it

INTRODUCTION

• Need of Tertiary Treatment of Wastewater:

– Continued increase in population

– Limited water resources

– Contamination of both surface and groundwater

– Uneven distribution of water resources and

– periodic draughts

• Typical Constituents Present in Wastewater:

– Suspended solids

– Biodegradable organics compounds

– Volatile organic compounds

– Toxic contaminants

– Nutrients

– Other organics and inorganics

•Options for reuse of treated wastewater

TERTIARY TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

• Classification of Technologies

• Primary Treatment Systems

• Secondary Treatment Systems

• Tertiary Treatment Systems

• Factors affecting the selection of treatment processes:

– The potential use of the treated effluent

– The nature of the wastewater

– The compatibility of the various operations

and processes

– The available means to dispose of the

ultimate contaminants, and

– The environmental and economic feasibility

of the various systems

Typical performance data:

• What are the contaminants removed during tertiary treatment?

– Suspended solids

– Nutrients

– Toxic compounds

– Dissolved organics and inorganics

REMOVAL OF RESIDUAL CONSTITUNTS

• Suspended Solids Removal:

– Granular-medium filters

• the bed depth

• the type of filtering medium used

• whether the filtering medium is stratified or unstratified

• the type of operation

– Microstrainers

Fig. 12a. Types of shallow-bed filters (a) mono-medium downflow, (b) dual-medium downflow

Fig. 12b. Types of deep-bed filters (a) mono-medium downflow, (b) mono-medium upflow

• Sizing of a filter:– Principal design criteria of a filter design is water

flow rate and head loss

– Usually we know• flow rate of influent

• surface loading rate

Flow rate Surface area of filtering unit = --------------------------

Surface loading rate

• Head loss can be calculated using reference (MetCalf & Eddy, 1991)

• Removal of Suspended Solids by Microscreaning:

• (II) Nutrients Removal

Basic nutrients present in the domestic wastewater are

– Nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)

– Phosphorus (soluble and insoluble)

– Sulfate

– Other compounds of nitrogen & phosphorus

Problems associated with nutrients presence in wastewater are– accelerate the eutrophication

– stimulate the growth of algae & rooted aquatic plants

– aesthetic problems & nuisance

– depleting D.O. concentration in receiving waters

– Toxicity towards aquatic life

– increasing chlorine demand

– presenting a public health hazard

– affecting the suitability of wastewater for reuse

• Nutrient Control could be accomplished by:

– physical methods

– chemical methods, and

– biological methods

Control and Removal of Nitrogen (Biologically):

• Removal of Nitrogen by Nitrification/Denitrification Processes:– It is a two step processes

aerobicNH4

- —> NO3- (nitrification)

anoxicNO3

- —> N2 (denitrification)

• Removal of Nitrogen by Nitrification Processes:– 1) Single-stage process– 2) Separate-stage process

In fluent E ffluentP rim arycla rifie r

N itrifica tiontank

N itrifica tioncla rifie r

Prim ary s ludge

Returned s ludge

W aste s ludge

Fig. 8a. Typical carbon oxidation and nitrification processes (single-stage)

Secondaryc larifier

E ffluentN itrifica tiontank

N itrifica tionc larifier

R eturned s ludge

W aste s ludge

In fluent Prim aryc larifier

A erob ictank (B O D )

P rim ary s ludge

R eturned s ludge

W aste s ludge

Fig. 8b. Typical carbon oxidation and nitrification processes (separate-stage)

• Nitrification/Denitrification systems can be

classified as:

(a) Combined Nitrification/Denitrification Systems

1) Bardenpho process(four stage)

2) Oxidation Ditch process

(b) Separate-Stage Denitrification Systems

Fig. 9a. Combined-stage nitrification/denitrification system (four-stage Bardenpho)

E ffluentAerobiczone

Secondaryc larifier

W aste s ludge

In fluent Aerobic com binedoxidation n itrification

zone

R eturned s ludge

Anoxicdenitrification

zone

Anoxicdenitrification

zone

M ixed liquor re tu rn

Fig. 9b. Combined-stage nitrification/denitrification system (oxidation ditch)

A erator

Aerobic zone

Anoxic zone

In fluent

Secondaryclarifier

R eturn s ludge

W aste s ludge

Fig. 10. Separate-stage denitrification process using a separate carbon source

O 2

D enitrifica tioncla rifie r

R eturn s ludge

E ffluent

E ffluentM edia

C arbonsource

• Control and Removal of Nitrogen (Physical &

Chemical Methods):

– air Stripping

– breakpoint chlorination

– selective ion exchange

V ent

In flow

P acking m edia

E ffluentA ir

Fig. 11. Cross-section of a countercurrent ammonia-stripping tower

• Breakpoint chlorination:

– Oxidation of ammonia-nitrogen can be done by adding

excess chlorine

– Basic chemical equations:

Cl2 + H2O HOCl + H+ + Cl-

NH3 + HOCl N2 + N2O + NO2- + NO3

- + Cl-

• Ion exchange process

In itia l s tage F ina l stage

N H 3

N a +

C a ++

N a +

etc.

K +

N a +

C a ++

N H 3

N H 3

N H 3

N H 3

Ion exchangesites

In fluent

E ffluent

Phosphorus Removal Biologically:

Key to the biological phosphorus removal is the exposure of the microorganisms to alternating anaerobic & aerobic conditions

• Phosphorus Removal Processes

– (1) Mainstream process

– (2) Sidestream process

– (3) Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR)

C larifie r

R eturn s ludge W aste

In fluent

E ffluent

A naerob icstages

O xic stages

Fig. 12a. Biological phosphorus removal (mainstream process)

In fluent E ffluentA era tion basin cla rifie r

R eturned s ludge

W aste s ludge

A naerob icphosphorus

stripper

Fig. 12a. Biological phosphorus removal (sidestream process)

Removal of Phosphorus (Chemically)• Commonly used chemicals are

– alum, sodium aluminate, ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, lime, and etc.

• Factors affecting the choice of chemicals• Influent phosphorus level

• Wastewater suspended solids

• Alkalinity

• Chemical cost

• Reliability of chemical supply

• Sludge handling facilities

• Ultimate disposal method

• Compatibility with other treatment processes

(III) Removal of Toxic Compounds:

Special attention is given to priority pollutants &

refractory organic compounds in recent years, due to:

– carcinogenic

– mutagenic

– teratogenic

– they are resistant to microbial degradation

• Treatment methods

– Biological

– Chemical

• chemical oxidation

• coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration

– Physical

• carbon adsorption

• air stripping

• (1) Carbon Adsorption:

It is an advanced wastewater treatment method

used for the removal of refrectory organic

compounds as well as residual amount of

inorganic compounds

• Types of carbon contactors:

• Upflow columns

• Downflow columns

• Fixed beds

• Expanded beds

Fig. 17. Typical upflow countercurrent carbon column

B ack wash dra in

In fluent

U nderdra in system

C arbon filling port

E ffluent

Carbon colum n

W astewater flow

(2) Chemical Oxidation:

Chemical oxidation mainly done by

– chlorine

– chlorine dioxide, and

– ozone

Basic chemical equation:

Oxidant + Compound CO2 + H2O + other products

(IV) Removal of Dissolved Inorganic Compounds

– chemical precipitation

– ion exchange

– ultra-filtration

– reverse osmosis

– electrodialysis

S econdaryeffluen t

U ltra filtra tionM ultim edia

filtra tiontD ecarbon

ationR everseosm osis

P olym er

B ackwash

R eject R e ject

E ffluent

Fig. 19. Ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis for the removal of dissolved organics

Fig. 20. Processes of reverse osmosis (a) direct osmosis, (b) osmotic equilibrium, (c) reverse osmosis

Fresh water Saline water S em iperm eablem em brane

O sm otic p ressure

Tertiary Treatment of Wastewater in Saudi Arabia

• Large quantity of wastewater is being generated in

kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• Quantities of wastewater generated

– In 1994: Water Demand = 1.8 billion m3

– WW Generated = 1.0 billion m3

– WW Treated = 0.4 billion m3

– WW Recycled = 0.1 billion m3

– Water Demand in year 2000 = 2.8 billion m3

Table 21: Present and projected flow of wastewater, generated

(m3/d) in three cities of kingdom

YEAR DAMMAM AL-KHOBAR QATIF

2000 242,057 118,539 100,766

2005 291,324 137,419 120,735

2010 326,985 159,306 144,785

2015 375,794 187,100 173,627

Source Al-Elaiw, M. (1994).

• Secondary treatment is practiced in Dammam,

Khobar, Qatif and Khafji

• Tertiary treatment is practiced in Royal

Commission of Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY)

• In Jubail 100% of tertiary treated wastewater is

being reused

• Summary:– Growing demand and scarcity of water resources

necessitate the need for the tertiary treatment of

wastewater for reuse purposes

– Tertiary treatment of wastewater mainly depends on the

availability and practicality of technologies

– Selection of the processes depends on the requirement

– Residual contaminants to be removed during tertiary

treatment are suspended solids, nutrients, toxic

compounds, and dissolved inorganics