Common Challenges in Sewage Treatment Plants and How to Overcome Them

Wastewater treatment methods, while important to people all around the world, come with their share of issues. With the increasing population and the high number of people living in rural communities, smaller towns and companies are installing decentralised sewage treatment plants (STPs) to solve water treatment problems. These systems make for a viable long-term alternative to centralised sewage treatment facilities.
Read on to learn about the five common problems with Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and how they can be fixed:

1. Downstream equipment is failing because of a build of large solids, hairs, and fibres
The first step in any wastewater treatment process is screening. Screens are used to remove large non-biodegradable, floating solids that frequently enter wastewater works. These include rags, paper, plastic, tin, containers, and wood.
Efficient removal of these materials is important to protect the downstream plant and equipment from any damage, unnecessary wear and tear, pipe blockages, and accumulation of unwanted material that could interfere with the treatment process.
Wastewater screening is of two types: coarse and fine screening. These screens can be manually or mechanically cleaned.

2. Your treated effluent is not meeting your total nitrogen targets
If the treated effluent is not meeting your total nitrogen requirements you need to identify where your problem is. Check your levels of Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate to get clarity on what area your efforts should be focused to make your plant compliant. It is often the high Ammonia or Nitrate levels that contribute to the high nitrogen targets.

3. Your treated effluent is not meeting your total phosphorus (TP) targets
The primary objectives for the treatment process relating to to total phosphorus are:
•    To achieve license limits for TP
•    To minimize total chemical usage
•    To realize lower operating costs
To reduce the total phosphorous amounts there are a number of chemical dosing options that can be pursued and should be considered once jar testing has been conducted.

4. Your treated effluent is not meeting your biochemical oxygen demand targets
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) measures how much oxygen is required to biologically decompose organic matter in the water. When BOD levels are high, it causes a fall in dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. This happens because the demand for oxygen by bacteria is high and they obtain that oxygen from the oxygen dissolved in the water. If no organic waste is present in water, there won’t be as many bacteria present to decompose it. Thus the biochemical oxygen demand will tend to be lower and the dissolved oxygen level will be higher.
In India the Thermax Group is renowned for their customised and standardised sewage treatment plants for municipal corporations, housing societies, commercial complexes, hotels and hospitals. Their systems are ideal, sustainable solutions for decentralised sewage treatment. Find out more at https://www.thermaxglobal.com/

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