Description
The cholera epidemics in London in 1839 and 1849 together killed over 100,000 people. The cause of the outbreaks was shown to be contamination of the River Thames with human sewage. The microorganism involved was identified in the early 1880’s as being Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium that is excreted in the faeces of humans. Infection resulted from the unintentional ingestion of faeces in the water, the so-called faecal oral route.
This Practical Guide provides a foundation to the operation and optimisation of continuous and intermittent activated sludge plants. Activated sludge is fundamentally a biological process and as such shows much of the variation typical of biological systems.
The Practical Guide to the Operation and Optimisation of Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment Plants has an introduction into the importance of wastewater treatment processes and the predominant forms of treatment used. Following on from this there is a chapter on hazards, risks and control measures for wastewater processes.
The microbiology of activated sludge systems is explained, along with the mechanisms of biological and chemical nutrient removal for nitrogen and phosphorous.
The various configurations and operational philosophy of activated sludge plants are described, along with considerations for process monitoring, optimisation, modelling and troubleshooting. Specific operational characteristics are covered in detail, such as aeration, prefermentation, intermittent systems and secondary clarification.
