Secondary Treatment
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Secondary treatment (mostly biological wastewater treatment) is the removal of
biodegradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegrada ...
organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...
(in solution or suspension) from
sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...
or similar kinds of
wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
. The aim is to achieve a certain degree of
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pol ...
quality in a
sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...
suitable for the intended disposal or reuse option. A " primary treatment" step often precedes secondary treatment, whereby physical phase separation is used to remove settleable solids. During secondary treatment, biological processes are used to remove dissolved and suspended
organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...
measured as
biochemical oxygen demand Biochemical oxygen demand (also known as BOD or biological oxygen demand) is an analytical parameter representing the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) consumed by aerobic bacteria growing on the organic material present in a water sample at a s ...
(BOD). These processes are performed by
microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...
s in a managed aerobic or anaerobic process depending on the treatment technology.
Bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
and
protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...
consume biodegradable soluble organic contaminants (e.g.
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
s, fats, and organic short-chain
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
molecules from human waste,
food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...
, soaps and detergent) while reproducing to form cells of biological solids. Secondary treatment is widely used in sewage treatment and is also applicable to many agricultural and industrial wastewaters. Secondary treatment systems are classified as fixed-film or suspended-growth systems, and as aerobic versus anaerobic. Fixed-film or attached growth systems include trickling filters,
constructed wetlands A constructed wetland is an artificial wetland to treat sewage, greywater, stormwater runoff or industrial wastewater. It may also be designed for land reclamation after mining, or as a mitigation step for natural areas lost to land developme ...
, bio-towers, and rotating biological contactors, where the biomass grows on media and the sewage passes over its surface.EPA. Washington, DC (2004)
"Primer for Municipal Waste water Treatment Systems."
Document no. EPA 832-R-04-001.
The fixed-film principle has further developed into moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) and Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) processes. Suspended-growth systems include
activated sludge The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc (biofilm), floc composed of bacteria and protozoa ...
, which is an aerobic treatment system, based on the maintenance and recirculation of a complex biomass composed of micro-organisms (
bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
and
protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...
) able to absorb and
adsorb Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions or molecules from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This process creates a film of the ''adsorbate'' on the surface of the ''adsorbent''. This process differs from absorption, in which ...
the organic matter carried in the wastewater.
Constructed wetland A constructed wetland is an artificial wetland to treat sewage, greywater, stormwater runoff or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater. It may also be designed for land reclamation after mining, or as a Flood mitigation, mitigatio ...
s are also being used. An example for an anaerobic secondary treatment system is the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. Fixed-film systems are more able to cope with drastic changes in the amount of biological material and can provide higher removal rates for organic material and suspended solids than suspended growth systems. Most of the aerobic secondary treatment systems include a secondary
clarifier Clarifiers are settling tanks built with mechanical means for continuous removal of solids being deposited by Sedimentation (water treatment), sedimentation. A clarifier is generally used to remove solid particulates or suspended solids from li ...
to settle out and separate biological floc or filter material grown in the secondary treatment bioreactor.


Definitions


Primary treatment


Secondary treatment

Primary treatment settling removes about half of the solids and a third of the BOD from raw sewage. Secondary treatment is defined as the "removal of biodegradable organic matter (in solution or suspension) and suspended solids. Disinfection is also typically included in the definition of conventional secondary treatment." Biological nutrient removal is regarded by some sanitary engineers as secondary treatment and by others as tertiary treatment. After this kind of treatment, the wastewater may be called secondary-treated wastewater.


Tertiary treatment


Process types

Secondary treatment systems are classified as fixed-film or suspended-growth systems A great number of secondary treatment processes exist, see List of wastewater treatment technologies. The main ones are explained below.


Fixed film systems


Filter beds (oxidizing beds)

In older plants and those receiving variable loadings, trickling filter beds are used where the settled sewage liquor is spread onto the surface of a bed made up of coke (carbonized coal),
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
chips or specially fabricated plastic media. Such media must have large surface areas to support the biofilms that form. The liquor is typically distributed through perforated spray arms. The distributed liquor trickles through the bed and is collected in drains at the base. These drains also provide a source of air which percolates up through the bed, keeping it aerobic. Biofilms of bacteria, protozoa and fungi form on the media’s surfaces and eat or otherwise reduce the organic content.EPA (2004)
"Primer for Municipal Waste water Treatment Systems."
Document no. EPA 832-R-04-001.
The filter removes a small percentage of the suspended organic matter, while the majority of the organic matter supports microorganism reproduction and cell growth from the biological oxidation and nitrification taking place in the filter. With this aerobic oxidation and nitrification, the organic solids are converted into biofilm grazed by insect larvae, snails, and worms which help maintain an optimal thickness. Overloading of beds may increase biofilm thickness leading to anaerobic conditions and possible bioclogging of the filter media and ponding on the surface.


Rotating biological contactors


Constructed wetlands


Suspended growth systems


Activated sludge

Activated sludge is a common suspended-growth method of secondary treatment. Activated sludge plants encompass a variety of mechanisms and processes using dissolved
oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
to promote growth of biological floc that substantially removes organic material. Biological floc is an ecosystem of living biota subsisting on nutrients from the inflowing primary clarifier effluent. These mostly carbonaceous dissolved solids undergo aeration to be broken down and either biologically oxidized to carbon dioxide or converted to additional biological floc of reproducing micro-organisms. Nitrogenous dissolved solids (amino acids,
ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...
, etc.) are similarly converted to biological floc or oxidized by the floc to
nitrite The nitrite polyatomic ion, ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name ...
s,
nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...
s, and, in some processes, to
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
gas through
denitrification Denitrification is a microbially facilitated process where nitrate (NO3−) is reduced and ultimately produces molecular nitrogen (N2) through a series of intermediate gaseous nitrogen oxide products. Facultative anaerobic bacteria perform denitr ...
. While denitrification is encouraged in some treatment processes, denitrification often impairs the settling of the floc causing poor quality effluent in many suspended aeration plants. Overflow from the activated sludge mixing chamber is sent to a clarifier where the suspended biological floc settles out while the treated water moves into tertiary treatment or disinfection. Settled floc is returned to the mixing basin to continue growing in primary effluent. Like most ecosystems, population changes among activated sludge biota can reduce treatment efficiency.
Nocardia ''Nocardia'' is a genus of weakly staining Gram-positive, catalase, catalase-positive, rod-shaped bacteria. It forms partially acid-fast beaded branching filaments (appearing similar to fungi, but being truly bacteria). It contains a total of 8 ...
, a floating brown foam sometimes misidentified as ''sewage fungus'', is the best known of many different fungi and protists that can overpopulate the floc and cause process upsets. Elevated concentrations of toxic wastes including pesticides, industrial metal plating waste, or extreme pH, can kill the biota of an activated sludge reactor ecosystem.


=Sequencing batch reactors

= One type of system that combines secondary treatment and settlement is the cyclic activated sludge (CASSBR), or
sequencing batch reactor Sequencing batch reactors (SBR) or sequential batch reactors are a type of activated sludge process for the wastewater treatment, treatment of wastewater. SBRs treat wastewater such as sewage or output from anaerobic digesters or mechanical biolog ...
(SBR). Typically,
activated sludge The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc (biofilm), floc composed of bacteria and protozoa ...
is mixed with raw incoming sewage, and then mixed and aerated. The settled sludge is run off and re-aerated before a proportion is returned to the headworks. The disadvantage of the CASSBR process is that it requires a precise control of timing, mixing and aeration. This precision is typically achieved with computer controls linked to sensors. Such a complex, fragile system is unsuited to places where controls may be unreliable, poorly maintained, or where the power supply may be intermittent.


=Package plants

= Extended aeration package plants use separate basins for aeration and settling, and are somewhat larger than SBR plants with reduced timing sensitivity.


=Membrane bioreactors

= Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are activated sludge systems using a
membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...
liquid-solid phase separation process. The membrane component uses low pressure
microfiltration Microfiltration is a type of physical filtration process where a contaminated fluid is passed through a special porosity, pore-sized membrane filter to separate microorganisms and suspended particles from process fluid, liquid. It is commonly used ...
or
ultrafiltration Ultrafiltration (UF) is a variety of membrane filtration in which forces such as pressure or concentration gradients lead to a separation through a semipermeable membrane. Suspended solids and solutes of high molecular weight are retained in t ...
membranes and eliminates the need for a secondary clarifier or filtration. The membranes are typically immersed in the aeration tank; however, some applications utilize a separate membrane tank. One of the key benefits of an MBR system is that it effectively overcomes the limitations associated with poor settling of sludge in conventional
activated sludge The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc (biofilm), floc composed of bacteria and protozoa ...
(CAS) processes. The technology permits bioreactor operation with considerably higher mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration than CAS systems, which are limited by sludge settling. The process is typically operated at MLSS in the range of 8,000–12,000 mg/L, while CAS are operated in the range of 2,000–3,000 mg/L. The elevated biomass concentration in the MBR process allows for very effective removal of both soluble and particulate biodegradable materials at higher loading rates. Thus increased sludge retention times, usually exceeding 15 days, ensure complete nitrification even in extremely cold weather. The cost of building and operating an MBR is often higher than conventional methods of sewage treatment. Membrane filters can be blinded with grease or abraded by suspended grit and lack a clarifier's flexibility to pass peak flows. The technology has become increasingly popular for reliably pretreated waste streams and has gained wider acceptance where infiltration and inflow have been controlled, however, and the life-cycle costs have been steadily decreasing. The small footprint of MBR systems, and the high quality effluent produced, make them particularly useful for water reuse applications.


=Aerobic granulation

= Aerobic granular sludge can be formed by applying specific process conditions that favour slow growing organisms such as PAOs (polyphosphate accumulating organisms) and GAOs (glycogen accumulating organisms). Another key part of granulation is selective wasting whereby slow settling floc-like sludge is discharged as waste sludge and faster settling biomass is retained. This process has been commercialized as Nereda process.


Surface-aerated lagoons or ponds

Aerated lagoons are a
low technology Low technology (low tech; adjective forms: low-technology, low-tech, lo-tech) is simple technology, as opposed to ''high technology''. In addition, low tech is related to the concept of mid-tech, that is a balance between low-tech and high-tech ...
suspended-growth method of secondary treatment using motor-driven aerators floating on the water surface to increase atmospheric oxygen transfer to the lagoon and to mix the lagoon contents. The floating surface aerators are typically rated to deliver the amount of air equivalent to 1.8 to 2.7 kg O2/ kW·h. Aerated lagoons provide less effective mixing than conventional activated sludge systems and do not achieve the same performance level. The basins may range in depth from 1.5 to 5.0 metres. Surface-aerated basins achieve 80 to 90 percent removal of BOD with retention times of 1 to 10 days.Available at CSA Illumina website
Many small municipal sewage systems in the United States (1 million gal./day or less) use aerated lagoons.


Emerging technologies

* Biological Aerated (or Anoxic) Filter (BAF) or Biofilters combine filtration with biological carbon reduction,
nitrification ''Nitrification'' is the biological oxidation of ammonia to nitrate via the intermediary nitrite. Nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil. The process of complete nitrification may occur through separate organisms or ent ...
or denitrification. BAF usually includes a reactor filled with a filter media. The media is either in suspension or supported by a gravel layer at the foot of the filter. The dual purpose of this media is to support highly active biomass that is attached to it and to filter suspended solids. Carbon reduction and ammonia conversion occurs in aerobic mode and sometime achieved in a single reactor while nitrate conversion occurs in
anoxic Anoxia means a total depletion in the level of oxygen, an extreme form of hypoxia or "low oxygen". The terms anoxia and hypoxia are used in various contexts: * Anoxic waters, sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved ox ...
mode. BAF is operated either in upflow or downflow configuration depending on design specified by manufacturer. * Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge * Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors (MBBRs) typically requires smaller footprint than suspended-growth systems.


Design considerations

The
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
(EPA) defined secondary treatment based on the performance observed at late 20th-century bioreactors treating typical United States municipal sewage.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, D.C. "Secondary Treatment Regulation: Secondary treatment." ''Code of Federal Regulations.'' 1984-10-16. Secondary treated sewage is expected to produce effluent with a monthly average of less than 30 mg/L BOD and less than 30 mg/L
suspended solids Suspended solids refers to small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to motion of the water. Suspended solids can be removed by sedimentation if their size or density is comparatively large, or by filtration ...
. Weekly averages may be up to 50 percent higher. A sewage treatment plant providing both primary and secondary treatment is expected to remove at least 85 percent of the BOD and suspended solids from domestic sewage. The EPA regulations describe stabilization ponds as providing treatment equivalent to secondary treatment removing 65 percent of the BOD and suspended solids from incoming sewage and discharging approximately 50 percent higher effluent concentrations than modern bioreactors. The regulations also recognize the difficulty of meeting the specified removal percentages from
combined sewer A combined sewer is a type of gravity sewer with a system of pipes, tunnels, pump stations etc. to transport sewage and surface runoff, urban runoff together to a sewage treatment plant or disposal site. This means that during rain events, the se ...
s, dilute industrial wastewater, or Infiltration/Inflow.


Process upsets

Process upsets are temporary decreases in treatment plant performance caused by significant population change within the secondary treatment ecosystem. Conditions likely to create upsets include toxic chemicals and unusually high or low concentrations of organic waste BOD providing food for the bioreactor ecosystem. Measures creating uniform wastewater loadings tend to reduce the probability of upsets. Fixed-film or attached growth secondary treatment bioreactors are similar to a
plug flow reactor model The plug flow reactor model (PFR, sometimes called continuous tubular reactor, CTR, or piston flow reactors) is a model used to describe chemical reactions in continuous, flowing systems of cylindrical geometry. The PFR model is used to predict t ...
circulating water over surfaces colonized by
biofilm A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...
, while suspended-growth bioreactors resemble a
continuous stirred-tank reactor The continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR), also known as vat- or backmix reactor, mixed flow reactor (MFR), or a continuous-flow stirred-tank reactor (CFSTR), is a common model for a chemical reactor in chemical engineering and environmental en ...
keeping microorganisms suspended while water is being treated. Secondary treatment bioreactors may be followed by a physical phase separation to remove biological solids from the treated water. Upset duration of fixed film secondary treatment systems may be longer because of the time required to recolonize the treatment surfaces. Suspended growth ecosystems may be restored from a population reservoir. Activated sludge recycle systems provide an integrated reservoir if upset conditions are detected in time for corrective action. Sludge recycle may be temporarily turned off to prevent sludge washout during peak storm flows when dilution keeps BOD concentrations low. Suspended growth
activated sludge The activated sludge process is a type of biological wastewater treatment process for treating sewage or Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewaters using aeration and a biological floc (biofilm), floc composed of bacteria and protozoa ...
systems can be operated in a smaller space than fixed-film trickling filter systems that treat the same amount of water; but fixed-film systems are better able to cope with drastic changes in the amount of biological material and can provide higher removal rates for organic material and suspended solids than suspended growth systems. Wastewater flow variations may be reduced by limiting stormwater collection by the sewer system, and by requiring industrial facilities to discharge batch process wastes to the sewer over a time interval rather than immediately after creation. Discharge of appropriate organic industrial wastes may be timed to sustain the secondary treatment ecosystem through periods of low residential waste flow. Sewage treatment systems experiencing holiday waste load fluctuations may provide alternative food to sustain secondary treatment ecosystems through periods of reduced use. Small facilities may prepare a solution of soluble sugars. Others may find compatible agricultural wastes, or offer disposal incentives to
septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...
pumpers during low use periods.


Toxicity

Waste containing
biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a sli ...
concentrations exceeding the secondary treatment ecosystem tolerance level may kill a major fraction of one or more important ecosystem species. BOD reduction normally accomplished by that species temporarily ceases until other species reach a suitable population to utilize that food source, or the original population recovers as biocide concentrations decline.


Dilution

Waste containing unusually low BOD concentrations may fail to sustain the secondary treatment population required for normal waste concentrations. The reduced population surviving the starvation event may be unable to completely utilize available BOD when waste loads return to normal. Dilution may be caused by addition of large volumes of relatively uncontaminated water such as stormwater runoff into a combined sewer. Smaller sewage treatment plants may experience dilution from cooling water discharges, major plumbing leaks, firefighting, or draining large swimming pools. A similar problem occurs as BOD concentrations drop when low flow increases waste residence time within the secondary treatment bioreactor. Secondary treatment ecosystems of college communities acclimated to waste loading fluctuations from student work/sleep cycles may have difficulty surviving school vacations. Secondary treatment systems accustomed to routine production cycles of industrial facilities may have difficulty surviving industrial plant shutdown. Populations of species feeding on incoming waste initially decline as concentration of those food sources decrease. Population decline continues as ecosystem predator populations compete for a declining population of lower
trophic level The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web. Within a food web, a food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten themselves. The trophic level of an organism is the ...
organisms.Metcalf & Eddy, pp.386-395


Peak waste load

High BOD concentrations initially exceed the ability of the secondary treatment ecosystem to utilize available food. Ecosystem populations of aerobic organisms increase until oxygen transfer limitations of the secondary treatment bioreactor are reached. Secondary treatment ecosystem populations may shift toward species with lower oxygen requirements, but failure of those species to use some food sources may produce higher effluent BOD concentrations. More extreme increases in BOD concentrations may drop oxygen concentrations before the secondary treatment ecosystem population can adjust, and cause an abrupt population decrease among important species. Normal BOD removal efficiency will not be restored until populations of aerobic species recover after oxygen concentrations rise to normal.


Temperature

Biological oxidation processes are sensitive to temperature and, between 0 °C and 40 °C, the rate of biological reactions increase with temperature. Most surface aerated vessels operate at between 4 °C and 32 °C.


See also

* List of wastewater treatment technologies *
Sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * {{Wastewater Aquatic ecology Environmental engineering Pollution control technologies Sewerage Sanitation Sewerage infrastructure