Activated sludge response to emulsified lipid loading

The possible adverse effects of natural fats and oils (lipids) upon biological wastewater treatment systems have been the subject of much speculation and some disagreement. This study addressed the specific question of possible effects of emulsified lipids upon activated sludge process performance. Lipid form and fatty acid composition were determined on wastewater samples. Experimental studies employing bench scale activated sludge units indicated that effluent quality is either not significantly different or occasionally is better than that from sucrose supplemented control plants receiving comparable organic loading (F/M > 0.80). Furthermore, emulsified lipids clearly do not exhibit an inhibitory effect on either the specific soluble substrate utilization rate or the mixed liquor oxygen consumption rate.However, effluent quality parameters were found to be dependent upon unit lipid loading to a highly significant degree. As well, unit lipid loading (g lipid g⁻¹ MLSS-day) provided a better explanation of effluent quality than either the food to microorganism ratio or the mixed liquor lipid burden (g lipid extracted from MLSS g⁻¹ MLSS). The findings of this study indicate the conditions where lipid overloading occurs. This data provides a basis for controlling emulsified lipid loading to the activated sludge process which should apply to plants which receive high lipid loading such as those encountered in industrial wastewater treatment applications.