The objective of sewage treatment is to produce a disposable effluent without causing harm to
the surrounding environment and prevent pollution.[1]
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing
contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff (effluents) and domestic. It
includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and
biological contaminants. Its objective is to produce an environmentally-safe fluid waste stream
(or treated effluent) and a solid waste (or treated sludge) suitable for disposal or reuse (usually as
farm fertilizer). Using advanced technology it is now possible to re-use sewage effluent for
drinking water, although Singapore is the only country to implement such technology on a
production scale in its production of NEWater[2].
Contents
[hide]
• 1Origins of sewage
• 2Process overview
○ 2.1Pre-treatment
2.1.1Screening
2.1.2Grit removal
2.1.3Fat and grease removal
○ 2.2Primary treatment
○ 2.3Secondary treatment
2.3.1Activated sludge
2.3.2Surface-aerated basins (Lagoons)
2.3.3Constructed wetlands
2.3.4Filter beds (oxidizing beds)
2.3.5Soil Bio-Technology
2.3.6Biological aerated filters
2.3.7Rotating biological contactors
2.3.8Membrane bioreactors
2.3.9Secondary sedimentation
○ 2.4Tertiary treatment
2.4.1Filtration
2.4.2Lagooning
2.4.3Nutrient removal
2.4.3.1Nitrogen removal
2.4.3.2Phosphorus removal
○ 2.5Disinfection
○ 2.6Odour Control
• 3Package plants and batch reactors
• 4Sludge treatment and disposal
○ 4.1Anaerobic digestion
○ 4.2Aerobic digestion
○ 4.3Composting
○ 4.4Incineration
○ 4.5Sludge disposal
• 5Treatment in the receiving environment
○ 5.1Effects on Biology
• 6Sewage treatment in developing countries
• 7See also
• 8References
• 9External links
[edit] Incineration
Incineration of sludge is less common because of air emissions concerns and the supplemental
fuel (typically natural gases or fuel oil) required to burn the low calorific value sludge and
vaporize residual water. Stepped multiple hearth incinerators with high residence time and
fluidized bed incinerators are the most common systems used to combust wastewater sludge. Co-
firing in municipal waste-to-energy plants is occasionally done, this option being less expensive
assuming the facilities already exist for solid waste and there is no need for auxiliary fuel.[6]:20-21
[edit] Sludge disposal
When a liquid sludge is produced, further treatment may be required to make it suitable for final
disposal. Typically, sludges are thickened (dewatered) to reduce the volumes transported off-site
for disposal. There is no process which completely eliminates the need to dispose of biosolids.
There is, however, an additional step some cities are taking to superheat sludge and convert it
into small pelletized granules that are high in nitrogen and other organic materials. In New York
City, for example, several sewage treatment plants have dewatering facilities that use large
centrifuges along with the addition of chemicals such as polymer to further remove liquid from
the sludge. The removed fluid, called centrate, is typically reintroduced into the wastewater
process. The product which is left is called "cake" and that is picked up by companies which turn
it into fertilizer pellets. This product is then sold to local farmers and turf farms as a soil
amendment or fertilizer, reducing the amount of space required to dispose of sludge in landfills.
Much sludge originating from commercial or industrial areas is contaminated with toxic
materials that are released into the sewers from the industrial processes.[20] Elevated
concentrations of such materials may make the sludge unsuitable for agricultural use and it may
then have to be incinerated or disposed of to landfill.
[edit] Treatment in the receiving environment
Bottom of Form
Navigation
• Main page
• Contents
• Featured content
• Current events
• Random article
• Donate to Wikipedia
Interaction
• Help
• About Wikipedia
• Community portal
• Recent changes
• Contact Wikipedia
Toolbox
• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Special pages
• Permanent link
• Cite this page
Print/export
• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version
Languages
• العربية
• Català
• Česky
• Dansk
• Deutsch
• Ελληνικά
• Español
• Esperanto
• Français
• Galego
• Bahasa Indonesia
• Íslenska
• Italiano
• עברית
• Lëtzebuergesch
• Magyar
• Македонски
• Nederlands
• 日本語
• Norsk (bokmål)
• Polski
• Português
• Русский
• Slovenščina
• Српски / Srpski
• Suomi
• Svenska
• Türkçe
• Українська
• 中文
• This page was last modified on 26 January 2011 at 12:32.
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.
• Contact us
• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers
•