Relevance of the sludge retention time (SRT) as design criteria for wastewater treatment plants for the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent a significant source for the input of micro pollutants as endocrine disruptors (EDs) or pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) into the aquatic environment. Treatment efficiency of WWTPs often is reported, taking into account only inflow and effluent concentrations without further specification of the WWTP investigated. In order to allow comparison and evaluation of the removal efficiency of different layouts and concepts in wastewater treatment, additional information like the sludge retention time (SRT) and sludge load (F/M ratio) are necessary. Presented results from different WWTPs show correlation of removal of EDs and PhACs to the SRT. Compared to WWTPs with high F/M ratio implementation of the nitrification process on WWTPs results in a significant increase of the removal efficiency for EDs and PhACs. This paper describes an approach to determine comparable removal rates for different activated sludge systems based on mass balance and SRT.     

Occurrence and reduction of pharmaceuticals in the water phase at Swedish wastewater treatment plants

During the last decade, several screening programs for pharmaceuticals at Swedish wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been conducted by research institutes, county councils, and wastewater treatment companies. In this study, influent and effluent concentrations compiled from these screening programs were used to assess the occurrence and reduction of non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals for human usage. The study is limited to full-scale WWTPs with biological treatment. Based on the data compiled, a total of 70 non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals have been detected, at concentrations ranging from a few ng/L to several μg/L, in the influent water. The influent concentrations were compared with the sale volumes and for many pharmaceuticals it was shown that only a small fraction of the amount sold reaches WWTPs as dissolved parent compounds. Pharmaceuticals with low reduction degrees at traditional WWTPs were identified. Further comparison based on the biological treatment showed lower reduction degrees for several pharmaceuticals in trickling filter plants compared with activated sludge plants with nitrogen removal.     

Occurrence of benzothiazoles in municipal wastewater and their fate in biological treatment.

A number of 2-substituted benzothiazoles that are known to be used as fungicides, corrosion inhibitors and vulcanization accelerators in industry have been analyzed in municipal wastewater and the effluents of activated sludge and membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment over a three month period. All six analytes were regularly detected in the municipal wastewater by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and amount to a total concentration of 3.4 microg/L. Of these compounds benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid (1,700 ng/L), benzothiazole (850 ng/L) and 2-hydroxybenzothiazole (500 ng/L) were most prominent. The source of the benzothiazole emission is yet unknown. Activated sludge treatment did not reduce total benzothiazole concentration significantly. Removals of the individual compounds ranged from 90% for 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and 70% for hydroxybenzothiazole to 40% for benzothiazole. The concentration of benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid increased by 20%, whereas 2-methylthiobenzothiazole increased by 160% during activated sludge treatment, likely due to the methylation of mercaptobenzothiazole. Total benzothiazole removal in two parallely operated MBRs was significantly better (43%) than in the conventional activated sludge treatment. Namely benzothiazole and benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid were more effectively removed. This first systematic study on the occurrence of benzothiazoles in municipal wastewater has shown that this is a relevant class of trace contaminants in municipal wastewater which is only incompletely removed in biological wastewater treatment. Emission from sewage treatment is dominated by the most polar benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid. MBR treatment may reduce but cannot avoid this emission.     

Potentials and limits of anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge: energy self-sufficient municipal wastewater treatment plant?

Anaerobic digestion is the only energy-positive technology widely used in wastewater treatment. Full-scale data prove that the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge can produce biogas that covers a substantial amount of the energy consumption of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). In this paper, we discuss possibilities for improving the digestion efficiency and biogas production from sewage sludge. Typical specific energy consumptions of municipal WWTPs per population equivalent are compared with the potential specific production of biogas to find the required/optimal digestion efficiency. Examples of technological measures to achieve such efficiency are presented. Our findings show that even a municipal WWTP with secondary biological treatment located in a moderate climate can come close to energy self-sufficiency. However, they also show that such self-sufficiency is dependent on: (i) the strict optimization of the total energy consumption of the plant, and (ii) an increase in the specific biogas production from sewage sludge to values around 600 L per kg of supplied volatile solids.     

Boosting nitrification by membrane-attached biofilm.

Nitrification is a key step for reliable biological nitrogen removal. In order to enhance nitrification in the activated sludge (AS) process, membrane-attached biofilm (MAB) was incorporated in a conventional activated sludge tank. Simultaneous organic carbon removal and nitrification of the MAB incorporated activated sludge (AS + MAB) process was investigated with continuous wastewater treatment. The effluent TOC concentration of AS and the AS + MAB processes were about 6.3 mg/L and 7.9 mg/L, respectively. The TOC removal efficiency of both AS and AS + MAB were above 95% during the wastewater treatment, indicating excellent organic carbon removal performance in both processes. Little nitrification occurred in the AS process. On the contrary, successful nitrification was obtained with the AS + MAB process with nitrification efficiency of about 90%. The volumetric and surface nitrification rates were about 0.14 g/Ld and 6.5 g/m2d, respectively. The results clearly demonstrated that nitrification in the conventional AS process was boosted by MAB. Furthermore, the microfaunal population in the AS + MAB process was different from that in the AS process. The high concentration of rotifers in the AS + MAB process was expected to decrease the generation of excess sludge in the process.     

城市污水处理厂剩余污泥热值估算方法研究

污水处理厂剩余污泥所具有的热值是衡量其能量利用价值的重要指标。目前的热值分析方法检测步骤繁琐、成本高,在污水处理厂的实际应用中有一定的困难。以北京市5座污水处理厂的剩余污泥为研究对象,通过测量污泥样品的挥发性固体(VS)与总固体(TS)含量和污泥的热值,发现污泥的VS/TS与污泥热值具有良好的线性关系,由此确定出估算污泥热值的计算公式。并采用多座污水处理厂的污泥数据对公式的适用性进行验证。对比分析表明,该公式能较准确地估算污泥热值,且其操作和所需仪器设备更为简单,能够根据污水处理厂日常对VS和TS的分析值快速估算污泥的热值。     

Anammox brings WWTP closer to energy autarky due to increased biogas production and reduced aeration energy for N-removal.

Fifty years ago when only BOD was removed at municipal WWTPs primary clarifiers were designed with 2-3 hours hydraulic retention time (HRT). This changed with the introduction of nitrogen removal in activated sludge treatment that needed more BOD for denitrification. The HRT of primary clarification was reduced to less than one hour for dry weather flow with the consequence that secondary sludge had to be separately thickened and biogas production was reduced. Only recently the ammonia rich digester liquid (15-20% of the inlet ammonia load) could be treated with the very economic autotrophic nitritation/anammox process requiring half of the aeration energy and no organic carbon source compared to nitrification and heterotrophic denitrification. With the introduction of this new innovative digester liquid treatment the situation reverts, allowing us to increase HRT of the primary clarifier to improve biogas production and reduce aeration energy for BOD removal and nitrification at similar overall N-removal.     

Interactions of inorganic oxide nanoparticles with sewage biosolids

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in manufacturing continues to increase despite the growing concern over their potential environmental and health effects. Understanding the interaction of NPs and sewage sludge is crucial for determining the ultimate fate of NPs released to municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as those interactions will determine whether the bulk of the material is retained in the sludge or released in the effluent stream. Analyzing the affinity of aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, and silicon oxide NPs, which are commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing processes, for biosolids used in municipal WWTPs provides a basis for estimating their removal efficiency. Batch studies were performed and the NPs were shown to partition onto the cellular surface. At the maximum equilibrium values tested (75-92 mg nanoparticles/L), the concentration of Al(2)O(3), CeO(2) and SiO(2) associated with the sludge was 137, 238, and 28 mg/g-sludge VSS, respectively. These results suggest that electrostatic interactions play a major role in determining NP association with biosolids.     

Removal efficiency of 66 pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment process in Japan.

Both biological treatment processes including conventional activated sludge (CAS) and biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes, and physico-chemical treatment processes including ozonation process and Title 22 process consisting of coagulation, sedimentation and filtration followed by UV or chlorination disinfection after the above biological processes, were compared from the viewpoint of removal efficiency. 66 pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, analgesics, psychoneurotic agents were measured with SPE-LC/MS/MS. 26 compounds out of 66 were detected in the influent ranging ng/L to microg/L order. Particularly, disopyramide, sulpiride, and dipyridamole that have been rarely detected before in the WWTP, occurred at concentration levels of more than 100 ng/L. The total concentration of the individual pharmaceuticals in the influent was efficiently removed by 80% during the biological treatment. But removal efficiencies of carbamazepine and crotamiton were less than 30%. The total concentration of the individual pharmaceuticals in the effluent from CAS process was 1.5 times higher than that from BNR process. Further, the total concentration of the individual pharmaceuticals in the discharge from WWTPs applying ozonation following activated sludge process was reduced to less than 20%. Physico-chemical treatment train called Title 22 treatment after CAS could not efficiently remove the pharmaceuticals. However, ozonation process followed by biological activated carbon process could efficiently reduce all the residual pharmaceuticals below their quantification limits.     

The Ruhrverband sewage sludge disposal concept in the conflict between European and German standards and regulations.

The Ruhrverband, acting as a water association responsible for integrated water resources management within the entire natural river basin of the Ruhr, operates a network of 83 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and connected sludge disposal facilities. According to German regulations, the disposal of sewage sludge containing more than 5% of organic dry solids will be prohibited as of 1 June 2005. In Germany, the only future alternative to incineration will be the agricultural utilization of sludge. However, this way of sludge disposal is presently the subject of critical discussions in Germany because of the organic and inorganic toxic substances, which may be contained in sewage sludge, despite the fact that very stringent standards are to be met by agricultural uses. On the other hand, application of sewage sludge to agricultural land is explicitly supported by the European Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC. In the face of this controversial situation the Ruhrverband has initiated, in 2000, the development of a comprehensive and sustainable sludge and waste disposal concept for all wastewater facilities it operates in the entire Ruhr River Basin. The concept includes de-central sludge digestion and dewatering and subsequent transport to two central sludge incineration plants. It is expected that in future not more than 5% of all sludges produced in Ruhrverband's WWTPs will be used in agriculture. That means, the major part of 95% will have to be incinerated.     

Performances of three R-AN-D-N wastewater treatment plants in the Czech Republic.

The evolution of Czech standards requires higher efficiency of nutrient removal from municipal wastewaters. At the beginning of the last decade of 20th century, a new activated sludge configuration called R-AN-D-N process has been described, successfully tested and now largely used at several wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in the Czech republic. The main feature of the R-AN-D-N process is the introduction of a regeneration zone in sludge recycle, which enables to increase sludge age in the system without any substantial increase in WWTP volume. Performances of three Czech large WWTP with R-AN-D-N configuration have been monitored and compared within a period of one and a half years. The results confirmed excellent nutrient removal efficiency for wastewaters with different proportion between sewage and industrial effluents. Two of three monitored WWTP received wastewaters from breweries (Budweiser and Pilsner Urquell). The settleability of activated sludge from all three WWTP was correct, with SVI values usually ranging from 50 to 150 ml/g. Monitoring of sludge composition indicated proliferation of several filamentous bacteria, particularly types 0581, 0092 and M. parvicella. No severe bulking events were observed. Finally, the operational costs expressed in CZK (Czech crown: 1 CZK = [see symbol in text]0.0322) per cubic metre of treated sewage or per capita amounts respectively from 2.24 to 6.52, and from 285 to 342.     

Hydrolysis of return sludge for production of easily biodegradable carbon: effect of pre-treatment, sludge age and temperature.

Return sludge from two Swedish and two Danish wastewater treatment plants were hydrolysed in laboratory reactors. Treatment plants with/without pre-sedimentation and with/without nitrification were represented. Soluble organic matter was produced from all types of sludge, but the yield was to a large extent dependent on what type of sludge was hydrolysed. Activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants without pre-treatment returned more soluble carbon after hydrolysis than sludge from treatment plants with pre-sedimentation. In addition, more soluble carbon was formed from non-nitrifying activated sludge than from nitrifying sludge. Moreover, the maximum yield of soluble COD at 10 degrees C was less than the yield at 20 degrees C. The initial hydrolysis rate was found to be between 0.35 and 1.8 mg soluble COD/(g VS x h). With the exception of one case, between 15 and 50% of the produced soluble COD was shown to be volatile fatty acids, a suitable carbon source for biological phosphorus removal. Nitrification rate measurements indicated that the viability of the activated sludge was not affected by the hydrolysis.     

Occurrence of levofloxacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin in wastewater treatment plant in Japan.

Residual pharmaceutical products in sewage and other water environments have recently become a serious social problem in advanced countries. Among these pharmaceutical products, antibiotics have attracted special attention due to their serious impact on the ecosystem and connections to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Our research intended to develop a new method to analyse the three antibiotics estimated to be released out of the body in large amounts in Japan; levofloxacin (LVFX), clarithromycin (CAM) and azithromycin (AZM), and survey the state of pollution in the sewerage. The concentrations of the water-phase antibiotics LVFX, CAM and AZM were measured in each process of activated sludge process in six wastewater treatment plants. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was used to analyse solutions of the antibiotics after pretreatment with a solid phase extraction. The limits of quantification and the average recoveries for these antibiotics in the influent were 1.2 to 29 ng/L and 46 to 93%, respectively. In the influent, LVFX, CAM and AZM were detected at concentrations of 552, 647 and 260 ng/L, respectively, while their removal efficiencies were 42, 43 and 49%, respectively. Although the CAM and AZM concentrations decreased as the treatment progressed, it was shown that the LVFX concentration increased in activated sludge reactors in some cases. Despite differences in octanol-water partition coefficients among LVFX, CAM and AZM, their removal efficiency showed no major difference. This indicates that this removal phenomenon cannot be explained by simple adsorption by the activated sludge.     

Successful solution for high nitrogen content wastewater treatment from rendering plants.

Specific composition of wastewater from rendering plants requires a sophisticated approach to treatment. COD content up to 10 g/l and nitrogen up to 2.5 g/l leads to many difficulties during treatment with activated sludge process. Performance of such wastewater treatment plants is generally very unstable: severe problems with filamentous and viscous sludge bulking occur due to macronutrient deficiency, nitrification is often inhibited by high ammonia and nitrite content, no sufficient carbon source for denitrification is available, and high temperatures up to 40 degree C negatively influence treatment processes. Appropriate control of pH, temperature, biocatalytic nutrient dosage, suitable external carbon source and restriction of inhibitory effects led to the successful operation of four wastewater treatment plants in the region reaching required effluent standards TIN = 60 mg/l and COD = 200 mg/l.     

The main wastewater treatment plant of Vienna: an example of cost effective wastewater treatment for large cities.

Two-stage activated sludge plants succeed in stable treatment efficiency concerning carbon removal and nitrification with far less reactor tank volume than conventional single stage systems. In case of large treatment plants this fact is of great economic relevance. Because of the very small specific volume of these two-stage treatment plants in comparison with low loaded single-stage plants, internal cycles have to be applied to ensure sufficient nitrogen removal. Due to these internal cycles two stage activated sludge plants offer many possibilities in terms of process management which results in new process optimisation procedures as compared to conventional single-stage nutrient removal treatment plants. The proposed extension concept for the Main Treatment Plant of Vienna was validated with pilot plant investigations especially with regard to nitrogen removal where it proved to comply with the legal requirements. The operation of the treatment plant can easily be adapted to changes in temperature and sludge volume index occurring in full scale practice. Sludge retention time and aerobic volume in the second stage are controlled in order to secure sufficient nitrification capacity and to optimise nitrogen removal by means of the variation of the loading conditions for the two stages. The investigations confirmed that the specific two-stage activated sludge concept applied in Vienna is an economically advantageous alternative for large wastewater treatment plants with stringent requirements for nitrification and nutrient removal.     

Simultaneous determination of several veterinary pharmaceuticals in effluents from urban, livestock and slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plants using a simple chromatographic method

Minocycline, oxytetracycline, tetracycline, enrofloxacin and ceftiofur, commonly used veterinary pharmaceuticals, were searched in four urban, two livestock and two slaughterhouse effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the north of Portugal. A simple method that includes solid-phase extraction followed with analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector was established and applied to the simultaneous determination of the five pharmaceuticals in WWTP effluents. This method, which is expeditious, inexpensive and available in most laboratories, showed to be useful for screening for problematic levels of drugs in WWTP effluents. It is known that several livestock and slaughterhouse effluents (pre-treated or treated) are discharged to the urban network before discharge into the environment. The presence of these drugs in such effluents can constitute a significant environmental problem that should be addressed, by the monitoring of these drugs and by implementation of methodologies that contribute to their decrease/elimination from wastewaters. Minocycline (≤6 μg L(-1)), oxytetracycline (≤7 μg L(-1)), tetracycline (≤6 μg L(-1)) and enrofloxacin (<2 μg L(-1)) could be detected and/or quantified in three urban effluents. Detectable levels of enrofloxacin (<2 μg L(-1)) and quantifiable levels of tetracycline (≤15 μg L(-1)) were found in the slaughterhouse effluents.     

Evaluating the stabilisation degree of digested sewage sludge: investigations at four municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Further reduction of volatile suspended solids (VSS) during a post-stabilisation step was applied to evaluate the stabilisation degree of digested sewage sludge. For this purpose digested sludge was collected at four municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and further stabilised in lab-scale chemostat reactors either under anaerobic or aerobic conditions. Experimental results showed that even in adequately digested sludge a consistent amount of VSS was degraded during aerobic post-stabilisation. It seems that aerobic conditions play a significant role during degradation of residual VSS. Additionally, specific VSS production (gVSS/peCOD110.d) as well as specific oxygen uptake rate were shown to be suitable parameters to assess the degree of sludge stabilisation at WWTPs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to reveal changes in the sludge composition. Spectra of treated and untreated sludge samples indicated that the major component of residual VSS in stabilised sludge for instance consisted of biomass, while cellulose was absent.     

Carbamazepine, diclofenac, ibuprofen and bezafibrate--investigations on the behaviour of selected pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment.

Numerous investigations in different European countries observed various pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in notable concentrations in the aquatic environment. Further determinations found the effluents of sewage treatment plants (STPs) to be significant sources for the entry of pharmaceutical residuals to rivers, streams and surface waters. Due to those pathways the knowledge about the elimination of these substances and their behaviour in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is elementary for protection of an intact aquatic environment. Since the sludge retention time (SRT) is the most important parameter for the design of STPs, its influence on the reduction rate of these PhACs in the wastewater treatment process was investigated. To study this influence of the SRT on the elimination of PhACs, lab scale plants have been operated with different sludge retention times. The results of the laboratory experiments have been validated analysing various STPs within a wide capacity range and operating at different SRTs. This report describes the determinations observed on the antiepileptic drug Carbamazepine, the two antiphlogistics and analgesics Diclofenac and Ibuprofen and the lipid regulator Bezafibrate.     

The use of immersed membranes for upgrading wastewater treatment plants

Membranes can be installed in the clarifier (or aeration tank) of an existing activated sludge plant to enhance the biomass separation function of the system, thereby effectively overcoming any operating constraints associated with sludge settleability. The resulting upgraded plant can be operated at high biomass concentrations (10–20 gMLSS/L), leading to an increase in its treatment capacity. The membranes also ensure a treated water consistently free of suspended solids and a superior disinfection performance. The system offers an enhanced operating flexibility, and allows to operate at high sludge ages leading to a low excess sludge production.Such an immersed membrane activated sludge process (BIOSEP^®) has been developed and applied to the treatment of raw sewage. When treating screened raw sewage with this process, with a sludge concentration of 15 gMLSS/L and a volumetric loading of 1.2 kgCOD/m³/d, a 96% COD reduction and a 95% Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) reduction have been obtained. The disinfection performance of the system was over 6 Log removal for fecal coliforms. The resulting production of sludge was 0.20 kgMLSS/kgCOD.Two desk case studies are given for 900 m³/day upgraded plants. In one case, the primary objective was to increase the treatment efficiency and develop nutrient removal for the original plant, while in the other case the primary objective was to increase the capacity of the original 460 m³/day plant.     

Emissions of perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) from point sources--identification of relevant branches

Effluents of wastewater treatment plants are relevant point sources for the emission of hazardous xenobiotic substances to the aquatic environment. One group of substances, which recently entered scientific and political discussions, is the group of the perfluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS). The most studied compounds from this group are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS), which are the most important degradation products of PFAS. These two substances are known to be persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT). In the present study, eleven PFAS were investigated in effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and in industrial wastewaters. PFOS and PFOA proved to be the dominant compounds in all sampled wastewaters. Concentrations of up to 340 ng/L of PFOS and up to 220 ng/L of PFOA were observed. Besides these two compounds, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) was also present in nearly all effluents and maximum concentrations of up to 280 ng/L were measured. Only N-ethylperfluorooctane sulphonamide (N-EtPFOSA) and its degradation/metabolisation product perfluorooctane sulphonamide (PFOSA) were either detected below the limit of quantification or were not even detected at all. Beside the effluents of the municipal WWTPs, nine industrial wastewaters from six different industrial branches were also investigated. Significantly, the highest emissions or PFOS were observed from metal industry whereas paper industry showed the highest PFOA emission. Several PFAS, especially perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA) and PFOS are predominantly emitted from industrial sources, with concentrations being a factor of 10 higher than those observed in the municipal WWTP effluents. Perfluorodecane sulphonate (PFDS), N-Et-PFOSA and PFOSA were not detected in any of the sampled industrial point sources.