Treated Effluent Disposal
Treated Effluent Disposal
Treated Effluent Disposal
Natural Evaporation
Groundwater Recharge
Irrigation
Irrigation has been practiced primarily as a substitute for scarce natural waters or
sparse rainfall in arid areas. In most cases food chain crops (i.e. crops consumed by
humans and those animals whose products are consumed by humans) may not be
irrigated by effluent. However, field crops such as cotton, sugar beets, and crops
for seed production are grown with wastewater effluent.
Wastewater effluent has been used for watering parks, golf courses and highway
medians.
Recreational Lakes
The effluent from the secondary treatment facility is stored in a lagoon for
approximately 30 days. The effluent from the lagoon is chlorinated and then
percolated through an area of sand and gravel, through which it travels for
approximately 0.5 km and is collected in an interceptor trench. It is discharged into
a series of lakes used for swimming, boating and fishing.
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, or the production of aquatic organisms (both flora and fauna), has
been practiced for centuries primarily for production of food, fiber and fertilizer.
Lagoons are used for aquaculture, although artificial and natural wetlands are also
being considered. However, the uncontrolled spread of water hyacinths is itself a
great concern because the flora can clog waterways and ruin water bodies.
Municipal Uses
Technology is now available to treat wastewater to the extent that it will meet
drinking water quality standards. However, direct reuse of treated wastewater is
practicable only on an emergency basis. Many natural bodies of water that are used
for municipal water supply are also used for effluent disposal which is done to
supplement the natural water resources by reusing the effluent many times before it
finally flows to the sea.
Industrial Uses
Effluent has been successfully used as a cooling water or boiler feed water.
Deciding factors for effluent reuse by the industry include (1) availability of
natural water, (2) quality and quantity of effluent, and cost of processing, (3)
pumping and transport cost of effluent, and (4) industrial process water that does
not involve public health considerations.
Discharge into natural waters is the most common disposal practice. The self-
purification or assimilative capacity of natural waters is thus utilized to provide the
remaining treatment.
BIODEGRADATION AND BIOLOGICAL GROWTH
Heterotrophic organisms obtain the energy necessary for growth and maintenance
functions by breaking down some of the organic food supply. Autotrophic
organisms are able to obtain their energy requirements either by oxidizing
inorganic ions, in which case they are chemosynthetic, or by utilizing sunlight, the
photosynthetic organisms. Aerobic heterotrophic bacteria are organisms
responsible for the primary breakdown of organic matter in wastewater treatment.
Autotrophic organisms of importance in special cases include the bacteria
responsible for nitrification, and algae (and cyanobacteria), which fulfil an
important role in contributing oxygen in oxidation ponds.
Anaerobic and facultative heterotrophic bacteria are important in the stabilization
of the concentrated organic sludges produced in wastewater treatment and also in
the treatment of concentrated organic industrial wastes.
Figure 5.1 The batch biological growth curve showing typical operating points
One implication of the growth curve in Figure 5.1 is that, in the declining growth
phase, the rate of organism growth at any time is a function of the food
concentration. Practical biological wastewater treatment processes are continuous
rather than batch operations, however, they may be represented, on average, as a
single point on the batch growth curve. Each of these operating points is evidently
characterized by a particular value of both microorganism concentration and food
concentration, known as the food-to-microorganism ratio-F/M.