Efficiency and Technological Reliability of Contaminant Removal in Household WWTPs with Activated Sludge

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 11; no. 4; p. 1889
• Main Authors: Micek, Agnieszka, Jóźwiakowski, Krzysztof, Marzec, Michał, Listosz, Agnieszka, Grabowski, Tadeusz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2021
• Subjects: Activated sludge; Biochemical oxygen demand; Chemical oxygen demand; Contaminants; Domestic wastewater; Efficiency; efficiency of contaminant removal; Flow rates; Flow velocity; Households; Hypotheses; Infrastructure; national park; National parks; Nitrogen; Parks & recreation areas; Phosphorus; Phosphorus removal; Pollutant removal; Pollutants; Protected areas; Reliability analysis; Sewer systems; Sludge; Solid suspensions; Surface water; Systems analysis; technological reliability; Total suspended solids; Wastewater facilities; Wastewater purification; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water treatment; Poland
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app11041889

The results of research on the efficiency and technological reliability of domestic wastewater purification in two household wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with activated sludge are presented in this paper. The studied facilities were located in the territory of the Roztocze National Park (Poland). The mean wastewater flow rate in the WWTPs was 1.0 and 1.6 m3/day. In 2017–2019, 20 series of analyses were done, and 40 wastewater samples were taken. On the basis of the received results, the efficiency of basic pollutant removal was determined. The technological reliability of the tested facilities was specified using the Weibull method. The average removal efficiencies for the biochemical oxygen demand in 5 days (BOD5) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were 66–83% and 62–65%, respectively. Much lower effects were obtained for total suspended solids (TSS) and amounted to 17–48%, while the efficiency of total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) removal did not exceed 34%. The analyzed systems were characterized by the reliability of TSS, BOD5, and COD removal at the level of 76–96%. However, the reliability of TN and TP elimination was less than 5%. Thus, in the case of biogenic compounds, the analyzed systems did not guarantee that the quality of treated wastewater would meet the requirements of the Polish law during any period of operation. This disqualifies the discussed technological solution in terms of its wide application in protected areas and near lakes, where the requirements for nitrogen and phosphorus removal are high.