The use of methods for calculating biological wastewater treatment facilities (for discussion)

Summary

Current requirements to the quality of effluent of wastewater treatment facilities call for introducing nitrification, denitrification, and phosphorus removal processes into the biological wastewater treatment, in addition to aerobic oxidation of organic compounds. The impossibility of ensuring the quality of effluents to be discharged into fishery water bodies in terms of nutrients MPCs values is explained by the incorrect solutions designed for the introduction of biological wastewater treatment processes, and incorrect approaches to the design of facilities. The section «Wastewater disposal and treatment» of the Expert and Technological Council of the Russian Water Supply and Wastewater Association receives a lot of questions from water professionals interested in the methods of calculating wastewater treatment facilities and, primarily, biological treatment facilities. In this regard, the section «Wastewater disposal and treatment» of ETC RAWW develops Recommendations on the use of methods for calculating wastewater treatment facilities. This document, though not mandatory for execution, will contain information reflecting the viewpoints of the research workers, engineers, technologists, designers and experts in the operation of wastewater treatment facilities, members of the section. The Recommendations will include the results of calculations performed according to various methods and models, as well as conclusions indicating the possibility or impossibility of using certain calculation methods, as well as their limitations and correctness. It is planned to publish by parts the information on various calculation methods, techniques, approaches to calculations, as well as documents containing one or another approach to the design of wastewater treatment facilities is prescribed. After the analysis has been carried out, the consolidated material will be published in the form of Recommendations. This paper presents an analysis of the information contained in SP 32.13330.2018 on the calculation of biological wastewater treatment facilities as the most urgent problem presently.

Key words

wastewater , biological treatment , nutrients removal , regulatory requirements , method of calculating treatment facilities