1. BioE 411 and AE/CE/BRT 511
Wastewater treatment

2. Attached growth systems: sewage farms

3. Morestead sewage farm

4. Berlin sewage farm layout

5. Sewage farm

6. Overland flow designs

7. Improved attached growth: early biobed

8. Large-scale wastewater treatment

9. Rotating disc arrangement

10. Simple treatment: septic tank

11. Leach field after septic tank

12. Suspended growth systems
So far, we have studied systems where treatment is effected by bacteria, and other organisms, which are attached to a solid medium, i.e. soil, rocks, etc. There are also systems where the microbial growth occurs in suspension. The bacteria then aggregate into flocs, which are barely visible to the naked eye, but each consists of millions of bacteria and often protozoa attached to the floc.
Systems range from the simple facultative lagoon or pond, with no aeration, to aerated ponds and to sophisticated activated sludge systems, where the biomass is separated from the effluent and recycled to treatment and excess production treated separately.
The simple lagoon or pond systems purify the water quite well, but since there is no provision to separate the biomass production, the effluent is quite turbid and still contains much organic material, but stabilized to a non-smelling and not rapidly degrading form.

13. Facultative lagoons
Facultative lagoons or stabilization ponds use only natural phenomena and almost no mechanical action. Oxygenation for bacterial oxidation of organics comes from photosynthesis by algae and a bit from wind.
CO2 released by bacteria is used by the algae. Excess biomass and other settleables are treated by anaerobic bacteria at the bottom.

14. Facultative lagoon interactions

15. Design approaches to pond treatment systems
Ponds usually require lengthy treatment periods, weeks for facultative systems and days for aerated systems. Although facultative systems have very little mixing other than inflow, gas bubbles and wind effects, the long retention periods ensures some homogeneity except with respect to depth, as there is much stratification.
As in any mixed system, the contents have the same concentration as the overflow. This means that the organisms in the pond continuously experience a low level of substrate to feed on, which slows down the treatment considerably, as the typical first-order reactions are directly proportional to the BOD. Therefore, significant improvement in treatment rate can be achieved by approaching a channel (tube) flow, or using multiple ponds.
Multiple pond system analysis can be performed by assuming that each is a completely mixed system, operating on a first-order degradation and a mass balance around each provides one equation. Intermediate values can be eliminated as of no interest, so the solution will provide final effluent quality for given retention times, or more importantly, retention times to achieve a necessary effluent quality.

16. Activated sludge process

17. Activated sludge flocs
Note filamentous bacteria
Note Vorticella and other protozoa

18. Activated sludge model

19. Activated sludge plants
Hyperion, Playa del Rey, CA)

20. Primary aeration tank

21. Oxygenated systems
Cryogenic air separation facility, Hyperion, Playa del Rey, CA)

22. Settling tanks
Secondary settling tank, Hyperion, Playa del Rey, CA)

23. Aerobic suspended systems – activated sludge
Volumetric loading = QL0/V
QL0

24. Nitrogen removal Nitrification (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter)
NH3 + O2  NO2-  NO3-
Denitrification
NO organics  CO2 + N2
Process adaptations
Air
Anoxic
Aerobic

25. Phosphate removal BNR plants Discarding phosphate anaerobically
Luxury aerobic uptake of P in aerobic stage
Process adaptations for N and P removal
Air
Wastewater
Anaerobic
Anoxic
Aerobic

26. Excess biomass disposal
Production
Separation
Further biological treatment – (an)aerobic
Dewatering
Drying – solar or gas heated
Disposal/ beneficial use – soil amender/fertilizer
or fuel
The cost of biomass disposal amount to about half the cost of wastewater treatment. Aeration, if used, almost up to half of the rest of the cost. If no aeration, the capital cost , including the cost of land, could be very high.

27. Typical steps in modern wastewater treatment

28. How are living beings classified?
Historic development of classification
Linnaeus (1735) 2 kingdoms
Haeckel (1866) 3 kingdoms
Chatton (1925) 2 groups
Copeland (1938) 4 kingdoms
Whittaker (1969) 5 kingdoms
Woese (1977,1990) 3 domains
Animalia
Eukaryote
Eukarya
Vegetabilia
Plantae
Protoctista
Fungi
Protista
(not treated)
Procaryote
Monera
Archaea
Bacteria

29. How are living beings classified?
Two super- .kingdoms
Three domains
Six kingdoms
Mineralia non-life
Biota/
Vitae life
Acytota / Aphanobionta
(Viruses, Viroids, Prions?, ...)
non-cellular life
Cytota cellular life
Prokaryota / Procarya (Monera)
Bacteria
Eubacteria
Archaea
Archaebacteria
Eukaryota / Eucarya
Protista
Fungi
Plantae
Animalia

30. Carl Woese’s Tree of Life