Augmenting Canadian Lagoon-Based Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants Using Granular Sludge – Case Studies
Jonathan Lee1, Joo Hwa Tay2, Rania Ahmed Hamza2, Roya Pishgar2*
1 Hycura, Developer and Manufacture of EGMs, 188 Arbour Stone Close NW, Calgary, AB, Canada, T3G 4T1 2 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4
(free)
This study addressed the treatment performance of lagoon-based municipal wastewater treatment plants inoculated by a proprietary granular sludge. The treatments were performed over a summer/fall treatment season. The plants typically composed of multi-cell configurations with open-air anaerobic, aerobic, and facultative lagoons in series. Results of full-scale applications revealed the ability of the granular sludge in providing effluents which surpass the regulatory discharge limits. Very low 5-day biochemical oxygen (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), ammonium nitrogen (N-NH4), total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of 4.5, 5, 4, 1, and 1 mg/L were detected in the effluents on average, which corresponded to average reduction rates of 86, 74, 76, 92.7, and 71%, respectively. However, the effluent concentrations of BOD5, TN, and TP were dominantly below 10, 8, and 1.5 mg/L, respectively. In addition, the treatment proved its capability in destroying pathogens by 91 and 98% removal of total coliform and E. coli concentrations on average. Thus, inoculating lagoon plants by granular sludge proved as an effective technique for augmenting the rural municipal wastewater treatment plants
