Optimizing Treatment of Cesspool Wastewater at an Activated Sludge Plant

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to determine the optimal percentage of wastewater from cesspool in the mixture of wastes subjected to treatment processes, which will not have a negative impact on the functioning of the collective treatment plant. The study was carried out over a period of two years, with 48 samples of wastewater flowing in from the sewage network and delivered with the slurry tanker collected and subjected to physical and chemical analysis. The analysis included: Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Nitrogen (TN). In addition, the study defined the daily balance of the amount of inflowing and transported wastewater. Based on the analysis carried out, it was found that the unit loads of BOD5, COD and TN in the mixture of wastewater subjected to the treatment process will be at the level of loads assumed in the project, when the share of supplied wastewater, i.e., from cesspool, will be at the level of 5% of the total amount of wastewater. Considering that in the analysed period the total average daily amount of wastewater subjected to the treatment process was 253.5 m3·d−1, the optimal amount of wastewater delivered should be 12.7 m3 in each day of the week.