Will. Sci. Tech. Vol. 25, No.6, pp. 1-15, 1992.

Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved.

0273-1223192 $15'00
Copyright @ 1992 IAWPRC

CHARACTERIZATION OF WASTEWATER
FOR MODELLING OF ACTIVATED
SLUDGE PROCESSES
Mogens Henze
Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark Bldg.,

115 DK-2860, Lyngby, Denmark

ABSTRACT
The fractionation of organic matter in the various parts which are used for mathematical modelling is
discussed.

The fractions include inert soluble, readily biodegradable, rapidly hydrolysable, slowly
biomass and inert suspended material. Methods for measuring are also discussed.

hydrolysable,

Fractionation of biomass in wastewater and in activated sludge is difficult at present, as methods are only
partly developed. Nitrogen fractions in wastewater are mainly inorganic. The organic nitrogen fractions are
coupled to the organic

COD fractions. The fractions of COD, biomass and nitrogen found in a specific

wastewater seem to be constant even when concentrations vary. Wastewater input to sewers and the sewer
transport system significantly influences the raw wastewater composition at treabIlent plants.

KEYWORDS

Wastewater characterization, COD fractionation, nitrogen, biomass, activated sludge, sewers, mathematical
modelling.
INTRODUCTION

Characterization of wastewater and activated sludge is a tool which can be used for control, optimization of
existing procesSes and development of new processes.
Complicated plant layouts including biosorption, nitrification-denitrification, biological and chemical
phosphorus removal, and hydrolysis, create a need for new specialized methods for characterization. The
methods needed depend basically on the processes. However, the driving force in developing new methods
of characterization is the models used for plant design, operation and control. The modelling approaches
during the last ten years (Dold et

ai, 1980, Henze et ai, 1987), have introduced a new characterization of

wastewater and activated sludge. The methods

are

not yet fully developed and we still lack a significant

amount of basic understanding for the magnitude of the various parameters.

COD as a basis for organic

matter measurements is replacing BOD as the primary parameter in wastewater.

biomass measures

are

Similarly structured

replacing VSS and SS.

This paper attempts to give an overview of the present status of characterization of wastewater and activated
sludge in relation to modelling of the activated sludge processes.
ORGANIC MATTER IN WASTEWATER

The important aspect of organic matter characterization is the fractionation due to its rate of degradation.
Specific compounds

are

not of primary interest except for the volatile fatty acids, plus ethanol, methanol and

2
glucose.

M.HENZE
These simple organic molecules can, in most cases, be metabolized directly, at least when fed

continuously to an activated sludge plant.

The fractionation of organic matter has its origin in the bi-substrate model of Dold et ai, (1980). It has later
been developed in more detail. The present degree of complexity - which is something like a tri-substrate
model - is shown in Figure l.

Also shown is the fractionation used in the Activated Sludge Model No.1,

where the influence of heterotrophic biomass was still unknown, and not generally taken into account.
The fractions shown in Figure

relate to the modelling of the activated sludge processes.

The major

difference between the 3 substrates is the rate with which they are degraded. These rates can be determined
by the various methods discussed later.
Wastewater can be characterized by more or less separate methods, which is the main objective for
discussion in this paper. Characterization can also be made in combination with modelling and estimation of
model constants (Siegrist and Tschui, 1992).
Inert Soluble OJ:eanjcs
Raw wastewater contains inert soluble organics, Si,l' as shown in Figure l.

During an activated sludge

process. inert soluble organics, SI. prod' are produced (Orhon et aI. 1989, Germirli et aI. 1991. and Sollfrank
et aI. 1992). Thus the effluent concentration, SI,3' is higher than the influent.

(I)
This is also shown in Figure 2 where the effluent from a low-loaded activated sludge plant is shown.
Compared to the influent the concentration of inert soluble organics has been more than doubled.
Ac:I.ol
No.1

coo
10

InoII

80

=radeIbIe

Inon
-.
bIocI.

ao/ubIe

:::..

-=

100

S,

So

X.

.-----

110

==:outOl...."..

nIrIIyIng
InoII
40
..____

Tolal 400 9

..__... L.---

COO/m"

Fig;1. Fractions of organic matter in raw wastewater expressed as COD. with total COD equal to 400 gtm3.

Modelling of activated sludge processes

The correct modelling approach would be to include the production of soluble inerts during decay or
hydrolysis. A simplified approach is to use a fictive influent concentration which includes the produced
inerts as well as the inerts in the influent. This approach was used in the Activated Sludge Model No.1
(Henze et aI, 1987, Sollfrank and Gujer, 1991). Inert soluble organics are measured as COD.

It can be

estimated from the soluble COD after a long-term BOD measurement. Ekama et aI,(l986) and Sollfrank et
aI,(l992), suggest that inert soluble organics can be measured as the soluble effluent COD from a low
loaded activated sludge plant. This is not a bad estimate as seen in Figure 2. A more correct method would
be the soluble COD minus soluble BOD in the effluent from a low-loaded activated sludge plant.
(2)
The BOD measurement must be done with suppressed nitrification. The use of batch test methods is easy,
but may lead to erroneous results (Sollfrank et ai, 1992). Table 1 gives a listing of the various methods in
the literature.
COD

Inert

22
Soluble

readilY biOdegradable

rapid hydrolysis
slow hydrolysis

3
9
6
0.6
2.39
0.01

heterotrophs
non-denHrlfylng

""l

heterotrophs
denHrlfylng

Suspended

autotrophs J
nHrlfylng

Inert

Total 45 gCODlm3
Fig. 2. Fractions of organic matter, expressed as COD, in the effluent from a low-loaded activated sludge plant
treating the raw wastewater shown in Figure I.

M.HENZE

TABLE 1. Methods for estimating organic fractions in wastewater.

Organic

Test

Fraction

methods

Soluble

Batch

Henze et al, 1987

inert

Batch/Continuous

Germirli et aI, 1991

Readily

Reference

Batch/Continuous

Sollfrank et al, 1992

Batch

Boero et al, 1991

Batch

Chudoba, 1985

Continuous

Ekama et al, 1986

Batch

Lesouf et aI, 1992

Dynamic continuous OUR

Ekama and Marais, 1977

biodegradable Continuous OUR

Sollfrank and Gujer, 1991

BatchNUR

Ekama et aI, 1986

Batch OUR, NUR

Specific compounds

Kristensen et al, 1992

+

MW

Batch OUR

Henze et al, 1992

Kappeler and Gujer, 1992

Rapidly

Continuous OUR

Sollfrank and Gujer, 1991

hydrolysable

Batch NUR

Henze et al, 1992

Soluble-inert soluble

Lesouef et aI, 1992

Slowly

Dynamic continuous OUR

Ekama et aI, 1986

hydrolysable

Batch OUR

Kappeler and Gujer, 1992

BatchNUR

Henze et aI, 1992

Calculation from
mass balance

Henze et aI, 1987

Suspended

Calibrated with sludge

Henze et al, 1987

inert

prod.
Batch
Continuous

Kappeler and Gujer, 1992

+

model

calculation

Ekama et al, 1986

Batch

Lesouef et aI, 1992

Readily bioderadable Q[anic matter

This soluble fraction constitutes 10-15% of raw wastewater total COD. Organic compounds that
directly metabolized

are

can

be

limited to small molecules of volatile fatty acids, carbohydrates, alcohols, peptones

and amino acids. The volatile fatty acids, especially acetic acid, are responsible for the major part of this
fraction. Table 2 gives an estimate of the typical content of these compounds in raw municipal wastewater
with a total COD of 400 glm3.

Modelling of activated sludge processes

TABLE

2. Example of the sub-fractions in the readily biodegradableCOD in raw wastewater. (Henze et al,
1992).
N content
gN/gCOD

gCOD/m3

Acetic acid

25

Higher VFAs

10

Alcohols (ethanol, methanol)

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.14
0.00

Lower amino acids

10
10

Simple carbohydrates

This fraction of the organic matter is metabolized at a high rate under aerobic as well as anoxic conditions
(Henze et aI,

1992). This also implies that aerobic transport in sewers can reduce this fraction (Sollfrank and
1991). A major part of it can also be stored as PHBIPHV under anaerobic conditions in activated
sludge plants with biological phosphorus uptake (Siebritz et al, 1983, Wentzel et al, 1991).

Gujer,

The measurement can be made indirectly through the oxygen uptake rate (OUR) as originally done by
Ekama and Marais, (1977) and further developed by Sollfrank and Gujer, (1991) and Kappeler and Gujer,
(1992). Similarly, nitrate uptake rate (NUR) can be used to estimate readily biodegradable organic matter
(Ekama et al, 1986, Kristensen et al, 1992).
Direct measurement of the specific compounds like VFAs, ethanol and glucose can account for

50-70% of

the readily biodegradable COD in raw municipal wastewater. For internal waste streams like hydrolyzed
sludge or digester supernatant,

90-95% can be accounted for by direct measurement

The use of

ultramembranes or gelfiltration to separate COD in a small molecular weight fraction (e.g. MV

<

1000)

seems to be a good estimate of readily biodegradable organic material in the internal waste streams. In raw
wastewater, ultrafiltration can be used also (Dold et al,

1986), however it seems that a fraction of the COD

1000 is not readily biodegradable but belongs to organic matter that can be
rapidly hydrolyzed (Henze et al, 1992).

with molecular weight below

A summary of the various methods which

organic matter is shown in Figure

are

3.

more or (in most cases) less specific for readily biodegradable

ss vs vss BOO5 BOD3O

COD

TOe

COD COD
lIN
lIN
VFA
<1000 <10.000

OUR

NUR

PAR

I i ----- ----l----i-----r--------]II-----[::::::::::f ::: ::: ::::- :::::: ::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::- i:::- :::::::

------------------ ------

--;;:;;----rapid hydrolysis

__

_____________

inert

-------- -------------

Fig.

---

---- ----- ------

-------

----

---- ----

---- ------------

_ __

---

..

---_

..

------

________________

_____

_________________________

1-

____

_____ _

- -- ----- ----------- ---- - -------- -------------------------- -----

3. The fractions of organic mauter in wastewater, which are measured by various analytical procedures, as
indicated by the vertical lines.

Rapidly hydrolysable O[l:anic matter

This fraction, which belongs to the soluble part of the organic matter, can account for 15-25% of raw
municipal wastewater, as shown in Figure

1. The hydrolysis under aerobic conditions is rapid and will be

finished within a few hours. Hence, the sewer transport system may influence this fraction considerably.

M.HENZE

During transport in sewers the suspended biomass and the biofilm on the walls act on the degradable
fractions of the wastewater.

For gravity sewers, the aerobic conditions will favour both hydrolysis and

biological oxidation of readily biodegradable material.

The net result with regard to the raw wastewater

1992) - as also seen in

1991) - and a raw wastewater containing mainly slowly biodegradable
material (Sollfrank and Gujer, 1991). The changes of wastewater composition in pressure mains seem to be
slower due to anaerobic conditions (Nielsen et al, 1992). However, the biofilm on the inner surface of the
composition can be a significant overall reduction of COD (Siegrist and Tschui,
Figure 4

(Henze

and Lindgreen,

sewer plays a relatively bigger role in pressure mains than in gravity sewers, and this can increase the overall
conversion rates.
Rapidly hydrolysable organics

are

primarily found in the soluble fraction of the wastewater. The numerous

compounds in wastewater have varying hydrolysis rates.

some suspended compounds hydrolyze rapidly.

Some soluble compounds hydrolyze slowly and

Present experience indicates that defming rapidly

hydrolysable organics, Sb' as

(3)
seems to be a reasonable approximation when dealing with municipal wastewaters.
wastewaters the definition in equation

3 could be markedly erroneous.

For industrial

Wm3

COD
400

300

_____-=-e

200

Total

100

Soluble

Transport time
o
Fig. 4.

12

16

20

24 hours

Change in COD during simulated gravity sewer transport of freshly produced wastewater (Henze and
Lindgreen, 1991).

Measurement of rapidly hydrolysable organic matter can be done using OUR in continuous tests (Sollfrank
and Gujer,

1991). Nitrate utilization rate (NUR) in batch or continuous tests might also be used (Kristensen

Modelling of acti vated sludge processes

et al, 1992). In all cases the calculations must be done in order to convert the electron acceptor utilization

rate to a substrate utilization rate.

Rapidly hydrcilysable organics

are

not used as a separate fraction in the Activated Sludge Model No.1.

There it is included in the slowly biodegradable fraction - see Figure 1.

Slowly bydrolysable ore;anjc matter
In the original bi-substrate model (Dold et aI, 1980) and in the Activated Sludge Model No.1 (Henze et al,
1987) the major part of degradable organic matter was to be found in this fraction - see Figure 1. 40-60% of
the total COD in raw wastewater belongs to this fraction when modelling according to the Activated Sludge
Model No.1 is used. In this case biomass as well as rapidly hydrolysed organics is included in the slowly
hydrolysable organic matter.
The rate of biological aerobic as well as anoxic degradation of slowly hydrolysable organic matter is limited
by hydrolysis. As hydrolysis rates for various substances in wastewater vary considerably from rapid to slow
to very slow (for biomass decay) this can be one argumen for dividing this fraction into two or three new
fractions.

The other important argument is the influence of biomass in wastewater upon biomass

composition in the activated sludge. A problem which has not been solved yet is the variation in hydrolysis
rate due to the electron acceptor present
conditions.

Dold et aI, (1980), found hydrolysis to be slow under anoxic

This fits with the results by Henze and Mladenovski, (1991), who also found the anaerobic

hydrolysis fast compared to anoxic and aerobic conditions.

The measurement of this fraction follows the pattern from the other fractions of the substrate. The dynamic
OUR experiments by Ekarna et ai, (1986) can be used for determination of this fraction through curve fitting
using an activated sludge model. Batch OUR tests can also be used (Kappeler and Gujer, 1992).
The slowly hydrolysable fraction can also be calculated by a COD mass balance, supposing the other
organic fractions have been estimated (Henze et al, 1987).
Inert suspended ore;anics
This organic fraction exhibits a similar pattern to its soluble counterpart. Some inert material is present in
raw wastewater (as shown in Figure 1) and some inert suspended organics are produced during activated
sludge metabolism.

The suspended inerts produced were dealt with as a separate fraction (endogenous

residue) in the Activated Sludge Model No.1, and thus the amount of raw wastewater inert suspended
material is unchanged by the treatment.

The inert suspended organics produced during activated sludge

metabolism are modelled as a fraction of the net biomass decay - typically 20% as originally found by
McCarty and Brodersen, (1962). For models using the death-regeneration concept of Dold et al, (1980), the
actual value must be smaller due to the cycling of organic matter.
Thus the fraction is closely related to the modelling approach used.
The measurement of this fraction can be done through a batch test (Kappeler and Gujer, 1992), by
calibration of the model with respect to observed sludge production (Henze et al, 1987) or by the tedious
continuous technique described by Ekama et al, (1986).
For the wastewater shown in Figure I, the production of suspended inert organics in a low-loaded activated
sludge plant will be 30-40 g COD/m3.

Thus a model without inert suspended production would need to

operate with an initial inert suspended concentration of 70-80 g COD/m3 in order to fit observed sludge
production to the calculated one.

JllST 25:6-8

M.HENZE
BIOMASS IN WASTEWATER AND ACTIVATED SLUDGE

Most activated sludge models have until recently operated with a structural biomass in the activated sludge
but have not taken into consideration the structure of biomass in wastewater and the inoculation of biomass
from the wastewater into the activated sludge.
Municipal wastewater contains a significant amount of biomass that influences the composition of the
activated sludge biomass (Henze, 1989). The biomass may account for 10-20% of the total organic matter in
raw wastewater (Kappeler and Gujer, 1992) and 10-80% of the suspended volatile solids (Henze, 1986).
For wastewater characterization models without biomass present, the biomass fraction is included in the
slowly hydrolysable organic fraction. This will not affect the general modelling considerably, but the yield
constant must be increased by some 10%.

The main influence of wastewater biomass seems to be on the

fraction of denitrifying organisms in the activated sludge (Henze, 1987, 1989).

Figure I gives an example of the three biomass fractios
. that

are

of particular interest for nitrogen removal

or nitrifying treatment plants:

- heterotrophs which cannot denitrify

- heterotrophs which can denitrify
- . autotrophic nitrifiers.
These three groups can be used separately, even when there is some overlap between the groups. The
overlap becomes more pronounced when biological phosphorus accumulation organisms

are

included,

as

shown in Figure 5.
As a result of the overlaps it is complicated to model the various heterotrophs as separate biomasses. This
can be done for nitrifiers as they do not interfere with other processes. In the Activated Sludge Model No.1
dealing with nitrogen removal only, the heterotrophs
organisms, a fraction of which can denitrify.

are

regarded as one group of oxygen respiring

This does not suffice when biological phosphorus uptake is

considered. Here one or two separate groups of bio-P bacteria have to be dealt with: one that can denitrify
and another that cannot. Other aspects of biomass that could be important

are

fermenting heterotrophs and

bulking/foaming bacteria (Jenkins, 1992, Gujer and Kappeler, 1992).

Hetero
trophs

Bio-P
OenHri
fyers
NO;-NO;

non
denitr.
denitr.

[J

ermen
ters

Fig. 5. Biomass fraction overlaps in wastewater and activated sludge of importance for modelling.

Modelling of activated sludge processes

The major problem with biomass and modelling is the lack of reliable and easy methods of measurement.
Not that there is a lack of potential methods. Some of the numerous possibilities
problem is to obtain a result that is meaningful in the modelling context.

are

listed in Table 3. The

As the models

are

based on

substrate and dectron-acceptor utilization rates, measurements of these rates can be directly utilized in a
modelling context.

It means that OUR, NUR and AOR measurements have primary interest.

release rate (PRR) and phosphate utilization rate (PUR)

are

Phosphate

still under development with regard to method

and interpretation. Bacterial counts need to be converted to a biomass or a respiration capacity. Both these
transformations have a great deal of uncertainty involved. Another problem with bacterial counts is that it is
almost impossible to achieve reasonably high counts because the activated sludge flocs

are

difficult to

disperse. Enzyme tests look promising on paper,but again the transformation to actual activity is not easy.
TABLE 3. Methods for estimating biomass in wastewater and activated sludge. Methods which can be used
are

Wastewater

Total count
CPU
Denitrifiers
Nitrifiers
Immunoassays
DHA(INT)

+
+
+
+
(+)
+

Poly-P kinase
OUR
NUR
AOR

+
+
(+)

PRR,PUR
SS,VSS
DNA,ATP,RNA
PHB,PVB

+
+

marked with

+.

Activated Sludge

Biomass fraction

Het.
Het.
Den.

(+)
(+)

Nitr.

+
(+)

Het.

All?

Bio-P
Het.

+
+
+
(+)

Den.
Nitr.
Bio-P
Het.

+
+
+

Het.
Bio-P.

Immunoassays can be used for specific bacterial species, mainly nitrifiers.

It is difficult to get model

relevant information as most of the model groups of bacteria each include numerous species.
Thus for the time being,the respiration rate measurements seem to be the most reliable approach to separate
biomass estimation in relation to activated sludge modelling.
calibration. (See Table

The alternative approach is to use model

4.)

For heterotrophs the oxygen consumption can be measured in batch or in continuous culture. The fraction of
denitrifying bacteria,,,,can be determined by parallel oxygen and nitrate respiration experiments.
Nitrate (or nitrite) respiration can be measured either as removed nitrogen or as accumulated N20 by the
acetylene-inhibition technique.
The number of denitrifiers and nitrifiers in wastewater may be measured with plate count or the MPN
technique,but these

are

not established in connection with modelling.

10

M.HENZE

TABLE 4. Methods which can be used for estimating biomass fractions in wastewater and activated sludge
for modelling purposes.
Biomass fraction

Heterotrophs

Test method

References

Model calibrated

Ekama et ai, 1986

OUR

Henze, 1986

Model calibration

Lesouef et ai, 1992

Model calibration

Lama et ai, 1992

OUR
OUR

Kappeler and Gujer, 1992

Kristensen et ai, 1992

NUR

Denitrifiers

Nitrifters

Henze, 1986

NUR

Kristensen et ai, 1992

NURJAcetylene inhibition

Tiedje et ai, 1989

AOR

Kristensen et ai, 1992

NITROGEN FRACTIONS IN WASTEWATER

A typical composition of nitrogen in raw wastewater is shown in Figure 6.
Act ....
modal
No.1

N
o

Nitride

Ammo-

nla

Ammonia

30

Soluble
Inorg,

--- - ---- - U,.. or ammonia

0.02
0.6
3

Inert soIubIe __
Readily bIodagredebIe J
RapId hydrolyals
Slow hydrolysis

5.6

Inert euapendad

Fig.

../

NJCOD
o
0.02---- -----0.01
Soluble
0.01- 0.07

II NJrn"

E!!1.-

- -f -

organic

0.03

810m..

0.4
Total 40

SNH

-----

Suependad

___

_____

6. Fractions of nitrogen in raw wastewater witb a total nitrogen rontent of 40 gJm.3.

11

Modelling of activated sludge processes

The sources for nitrogen in raw municipal wastewater are primarily human excretion of which some
excreted as urea while the rest is organic nitrogen.

75% is

This ratio can be recognized in the nitrogen fractions

shown in Fgure 6. The organic part of the nitrogen is coupled to the organic matter in the wastewater and
this does often create trouble during modelling, due to mass balance problems. The N/COD-ratios shown in
Figure 6 are, except for biomass, smaller than normally used, but they seem to fit parallel observations of

COD and N better than the higher ratios in general use (Henze et al, 1987, 1992). The generation of inert
soluble nitrogen during biological treatment seems to result in a higher N/COD-ratio in the effluent inert
soluble nitrogen than in the influent

(0.04 vs. 0.01). An example of the composition of effluent nitrogen

7.

from a nitrifying-denitrifying plant is shown in Figure

nitrate

soluble

0.1

nitrite

ammonia
1

0.9
0.006
0.08
0.01
0.40
0.004

Total
Fig.

soluble inert
readily biodegradable ..
biomass

Ip-ig Jly-dlQlyi
slow hydrolysis s
_

pended

sus pended inert J

7.5 gN/m3

7. Fractions of nitrogen, expressed as N, in the effluent from a nitrifying-denitrifying activated sludge plant
tteating the raw wastewater shown in Figures 1 and 6.
V ARIATIONS IN W ASTEW ATER COMPOSITION

The complicated characterization needed for modelling of activated sludge plants opens up a serious
question. How constant are the fractions in a given wastewater with time? There are very few investigations
of this at present.

The results indicate that specific wastewater has a fingerprint which does not change

considerably from day to day. The concentrations may vary but the fractions seem reasonably stable. This

12

M.HENZE

is illustrated in Figure 8 for suspended solids in wastewater, in Figure

for soluble COD in wastewater, and

in Figure IO for enzyme activities in wastewater.

The composition of the wastewater that reaches the treatment plant depends on the input to the sewer and on
the processes occurring during transport. These primarily biological processes are temperature-dependent
and oxygen-dependent and are significant even during short transport time in sewers (Henze and Lindgreen,

1991).

Sollfrank et al,

temperature

and sewer

(1992)

and Kappeler and Gujer,

conditions

have clearly demonstrated the effect of

(1992)

on the wastewater

composition.

Thus

variations

in

wastewater

composition due to temperature variations in the wastewater must be taken into account

ml particles in each size

interval par m 3 wastewater

20.0

"
,
,
15.0

10.0

'

/\
,
,
,
,
,
,
\
\
\
\
\
\

29/5 - - - - 1500
1000
16/5
-t
25/5
.

5.0
.
.

'

1.0

2.0

8.0

4.0

Particle
diameter
JUIl

Fig. 8. Suspended solids fractionation in grab samples from Lundtofte treabnent plant (Gillberg et ai, 1990).

;:; * .001
C
8 500 .,..----,

amount of filtrate: 400 mg COD

o
Temperature: 20C
.21400
w

300

200

Q.
:::l
Z
w

IW
Z

100

10

20

30

40

50

60

DEGRADABLE ORGANIC MATERIAL (gCOD/m

Fig. 9. Illustration of soluble Zilricb wastewater COD fmgerprint Various amounts of wastewater were added but
the same amount of COD (400 mg) in each experiment (Sollfrank and Gujer, 1991).

Fig. 10. Enzyme activities and VSS variations in

wastewater

(Nybroe et al, 1992).

TABLE 5. Wastewater COD fractions in per cent.

SI

soluble inert. Ss

soluble readily biodegradable. Xs = slowly degradable. X H

XI = suspended inert.

SI

Raw wastewater:
South Africa
Switzerland
Hungary

Denmark
Switzerland,Flawil

(22'C)
- "- Tuffenwies (13'C )
- "- Dietikon (15'C)
Denmark, Lundtofte

5
11
9
8
20
10
12
2

Ss

Xs

XH

20

- 62
45

32

29
24
11
7
8
20

13

7
15
15
20

14
25

11
9

- 43

- 49
53
60
55
40

heterotrophs.

XI

11
20
19
9
8
10
18

Ekama et al, 1986

Henze et al, 1987

Kappeler and Gujer,1992

Henze et al,1992

Primary wastewater:
Denmark, Lundtofte
Switzerland,Zurich
France, Pilot
France, Valenton

S.Africa

10
10
6
8

Preprecipitated wastewater:
5
Denmark,Lundtofte

29
16

43

33

44

13

25
28

41
- 60

56

26

40

1992
1988
Lesouef et al, 1992
Henze et al,
Sollfrank,

Ekama et al, 1986

Henze et al, 1992

14

M.HENZE

The investigations made on different wastewaters show that there are important variations in the various
fractions. This is seen from Table 5. One must remember that the estimation of the fractions has been done
with many different methods. most of them including elements of estimation. Still there is a pattern. The
total inert COD seems to be 20-25% of the total COD. Readily degradable organics are typically 20% of
total COD. but long gravity sewers can decrease it and long pressure mains can increase it. The heterophic
biomass is typically 15-20% of the total COD.
Manipulation of the wastewater through primary settling or preprecipitation can dramatically change the
organic profile of a wastewater with subsequent significant influence upon the wastewater treatment process
as shown by Kristensen et al. (1992).
CONCLUSIONS
There are still many problems to be solved with regard to wastewater characterization for modelling
purposes. The models are ahead of the characterization.
For the organic fractions many techniques are available. Oxygen or nitrate utilization rate methods are the
most developed. The present problem is lack of experience with respect to the results obtained.
Biomass fractions are difficult to measure directly.

Respiration measurements can be used for indirect

estimation of aerobic. anoxic and autotrophic fractions. Direct measurements by cell counts cannot be used
in activated sludge with any accuracy. Indirect measurements by enzymes or cell components seem difficult
to use at present.

A specific wastewater exhibits a rather stable fingerprint of various fractions even when overall
concentrations in the wastewater vary. The sewer system and temperature variations seem to influence the
composition significantly.
The typical ranges in municipal raw wastewater for fractions of total inert COD are 20-25%, for readily
biodegradable COD 20% and, for heterotrophic biomass 15-20%.
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