The effect of varying several operational parameters on the dewatering characteristics of activated sludge

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate selective operational parameters and their effect on activated sludge settling and dewatering rates. Several laboratory scale reactors were used in this study and fed with various synthetic substrates. The sludges produced from these reactors were used to examine sludge settling and dewatering characteristics as the selected operational parameters were varied. This study intended to determine if: (1) qualitative shock loadings affect sludge dewatering and settling and will biological systems recover quickly under various conditions; (2) aeration basin dissolved oxygen concentration affects sludge settling and dewatering characteristics; (3) biopolymer content can be correlated with sludge dewatering rates such that biopolymer content can be used as a parameter to monitor sludge dewatering characteristics.

Results from this study indicated that the shock loadings considered here significantly alter the sludge settling and dewatering characteristics of an activated sludge population. Shock loadings may cause shifts in the bacterial population, allowing undesirable microorganisms to predominate but activated sludge systems can recover from shock loadings caused by the introduction of a different substrate. Also, it was seen that activated sludge dewatering is directly affected by the dissolved oxygen level in the aeration basin and the minimum level required is 2.0 mg/L in a completely-mixed system. A definite relationship was noted between biopolymer production and sludge dewatering with high biopolymer content correlating with poor sludge dewatering and low biopolymer content correlating with good sludge dewatering.