Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Monitoring filamentous bulking in activated sludge systems fed by synthetic or municipal wastewater

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The stability with respect to filamentous bulking of two activated sludge fully-aerobic systems, one with a completely mixed tank and one with a channel reactor, fed either by a synthetic wastewater or by a primary-settled municipal wastewater, of variable composition and flow rate, has been investigated. The morphological characteristics of the biomass in terms of floc size and roughness and of filamentous bacteria abundance have been monitored by image analysis. Severe bulking was only observed in the well-mixed tank fed at a constant flow rate by synthetic substrate of constant concentration, when the channel reactor fed in a similar manner was fully stable. Variations of biomass characteristics as well as of settling properties were observed on both systems fed with the real wastewater, but these events were related to the characteristics of the wastewater, as similar changes were observed on the full-scale plant fed with the same substrate. In any case, automated image analysis was an efficient way to monitor in detail the fate of the activated sludge at pilot and full scale.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2a–d.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

BOD5 :

biological oxygen demand at 5 days (mgBOD/l)

COD:

chemical oxygen demand (mgCOD/l)

D eq :

floc equivalent diameter (µm)

D f :

floc fractal dimension

H 0 :

sludge blanket height at time zero (m)

H 30 :

sludge blanket height after 30 min settlement (m)

L f :

total filament length per image (µm)

MLSS:

mixed liquor suspended solids (g/l)

MLVSS:

mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (g/l)

%MLVSS:

percentage mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (%)

N/COD:

ratio nitrogen to chemical oxygen demand (mgN/mgCOD)

P/COD:

ratio phosphorus to chemical oxygen demand (mgP/mgCOD)

S :

floc projected area (µm2)

SVI:

sludge volume index (ml/g)

References

  1. Jenkins D, Richard MG, Daigger GT (1993) Manual on the causes and control of activated sludge bulking and foaming, 2nd edn. Lewis, Chelsea, Mich.

  2. Gerardi MH, Horsfall FL et al. (1990) Wastewater biology: the microlife. A special publication. Water Environment Federation, Alexandria, Va.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wanner J, Ruzickova I, Jetmarova P, Krhutkova O, Paraniakova J (1998) A national survey of sludge separation problems in the Czech Republic: filaments, floc characteristics and activated sludge metabolic properties. Water Sci Technol 37:271–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Madoni P, Davoli D, Gibin G (2000) Survey of filamentous microorganisms from bulking and foaming activated-sludge plants in Italy. Water Res 34:1767–1772

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Knoop S, Kunst S (1998) Influence of the temperature and sludge loading on activated sludge settling, specially on Microthrix parvicella. Water Sci Technol 37:27–35

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sezgin M, Jenkins D, Parker DS (1978) A unified theory of filamentous activated sludge bulking. J Water Pollut Cont Fed 50:362–381

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Roche N (1989) Influence de l'hydrodynamique du bassin d'aération sur la décantabilité des boues activées. PhD thesis INPL, Nancy, France

  8. Charmot ML, Roche N, Prost C (1997) Influence des cycles d'alimentation sur la décantabilité des boues activées. Rev Sci Eau 10:377–394

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rossetti S, Carucci A, Rolle E (1994) Survey on the occurrence of filamentous organisms in municipal wastewater treatment plants related to their operating conditions. Water Sci Technol 29:305–308

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Westlund A, Hagland E, Rothman M (1996) Bulking and foaming caused by Microthrix parvicella at three large sewage treatment plants in the Greater Stockholm area. Water Sci Technol 34:281–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Grijspeerdt K, Verstraete W (1997) Image analysis to estimate the settleability and concentration of activated sludge. Water Res 31:1126–1134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Da Motta M, Pons MN, Roche N, Vivier H (2001) Characterisation of activated sludge by automated image analysis. Biochem Eng J 9:165–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Russ JC (1995) The image processing handbook, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to CNPq (Brazil) for its sponsorship of M. da M.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M. da Motta

    Present address: Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Arthur de Sa s/n, Cidade Universitaria, 50.740-521, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Sciences du Génie Chimique, CNRS-ENSIC-INPL, 1 rue Grandville, BP 451, 54001 cedex, Nancy, France

    M. da Motta & M.-N. Pons

  2. Chemical and Process Engineering Department, IUT Marseille, University of Marseille, Traverse C. Susini, BP 157, 13388 cedex, Marseille, France

    N. Roche

Authors
  1. M. da Motta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M.-N. Pons
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. N. Roche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M.-N. Pons.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

da Motta, M., Pons, MN. & Roche, N. Monitoring filamentous bulking in activated sludge systems fed by synthetic or municipal wastewater. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 25, 387–393 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-003-0323-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-003-0323-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation