Showing papers on "Wastewater published in 1973"

Removal of Arsenic (V) From Water by Adsorption on Aluminum and Ferric Hydroxides

Abstract: Small water supply with arsenic removal Bibliography l. Blackwell, R. Q. Nutritional and Environmental Conditions in the Endemic Blackfoot Area. Form. Sci. (Aug. 1961). 2. Clark, B. M. Arsenical Poisoning of Humans Resulting from Cattle-Dipping Tanks. S. Afr. Med. Jour., 20:518 (1946). 3. Kao, T. M. Studies on the So-Called Endemic Blackfoot Disease in Taiwan. Jour. Form. Med. Assn., 57 (1957). 4. Report of Experiments of Drinking Water Sanitation, Taiwan Inst. of Environmental Sanitation (Jun. 1966). 5. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. APHA, AWWA & WPCF, Washington, D.C. (12 ed. 1965).

Plutonium in the Environment

Abstract: During the years of World War II and the development by the Manhattan District of the US Corps of Engineers, the possibility of loss of radionuclides to the environment was constantly in mind Each major installation developed an environmental surveillance capability and made regular measurements of air and water, and sometimes soil or other media both on and to a lesser extent, off-site In the volume summarizing the Industrial Medicine of the Plutonium Project, Cantril and Parker (1951) had the following to say about the Columbia River: There may be some concern that radioactive water released from the plant to the Columbia River will so contaminate the river that its water will be dangerous to man, fish, or fowl It is true that the water which passes through the units to act as a coolant does become radioactive But it is also true that the greatest part of this radioactivity is lost before the waste water is ever put back into the river A continuous record is maintained of all water which flows from the plants to the river, and at no time has the combined waste water been in excess of that which would cause an overtolerance radiation exposure to any living thing immersed in it The voluminous further dilution that occurs in the river brings the quantity down to one which cannot be measured below the plants But in spite of this, the river water is periodically analyzed, with a negative result As for the addition of heat to the river by the dumping of large quantities of coolant waters into it—there is heat added, but the dilution factor of the river itself is so vast that it requires the most delicate thermometers to register this small increase in temperature This too is dissipated before the river flows through the limits of the reservation

Oxygenation of waste water

Abstract: Sewage or other waste water is passed together with oxygen-containing gas upwardly through a turbulent mass of solid contact particles. The randomly moving contact particles such as coarse sand collide with the pollution solids and effect a fine dispersion of the oxygenating gas throughout the liquid suspension. The pollution solids are thus subjected to attrition by the turbulent mass of contact particles. The fine dispersion of oxygenating gas makes intimate contact with the suspended solids and dissolved solids of the sewage or waste water with the result that its oxygenation is accelerated.

Inorganic nitrogen removal from wastewater: effect on phytoplankton growth in coastal marine waters.

Abstract: Algal bioassays were used to demonstrate the high efficiency of a comnbined tertiary wastewater treatment and marine aquaculture system in removing inorganic nitrogen, and to show that the coastal waters off Woods Hole, Massachusetts, are limited in nitrogen for marine phytoplankton growth. When nutrients were removed from secondarily treated domestic wastewater through assimilation by phytoplankton in an outdoor growth pond, the pond effluent, in varying dilutions with seawater, could not support more phytoplankton growth than the seawater alone. However, when nitrogen was added back to the mixtures of pond effluent and seawater, the phytoplankton growth response was similar to that with a mixture of wastewater and seawater. This is similar to the findings of other researchers, and suggests that nitrogen may be the key growth-limiting nutrient in many coastal marine waters. The combined tertiary treatment-marine aquaculture system appears to be an effective means of removing nitrogen from secondarily treated wastewater and controlling eutrophication of coastal marine waters.

Biological treatment of wastewater by yeasts.

Abstract: The use of yeasts in biological treat ment of industrial wastes has been studied widely in recent years. One rea son for interest in researching this area is the possible recovery of a biomass that could have an economic value. Wiley et al.1 have discussed the operation for mak ing food yeast from spent sulfite liquor in Rhinelander, Wis. The treatment of po tato processing wastes by the symbiotic cultivation of yeasts has also been re searched.2 Another agricultural waste product, protein wastewater from a potato starch plant, was investigated for its suit ability to support Candida utilis growth.3 The production of yeast from cheese whey wastes was studied by Wasserman et al.4 and Peppier.5 Wood hydrolyzate has been used as a substrate for yeast growth and for industrial alcohol production.6 Veld huis T studied growth of C. utilis on citrus press liquor. Yeast production using con ventional activated sludge methods for treatment of corn processing industrial wastes has also been reported.8 Champagnat et al.9 advocated growing yeast on the paraffin that exists in fuel oil. However, the idea of using yeasts in bio logical treatment of domestic wastewater seems to have been ignored.10 This pres ent work discusses the treatment of waste water with yeasts. Different strains of yeasts were screened to select those capable of efficiently con verting domestic wastewater to a high pro tein biomass while producing a high reduc tion of phosphates, ammonia-nitrogen, and organic matter.

Making active carbon from sewage sludge

Abstract: The process of removing solids from sewage, subjecting these solids to pyrolysis, thereby producing active carbon and char, and using both of these materials as adsorbent agents in the treatment of the sewage or other waste water.

Luxury uptake of phosphate by activated sludge.

Abstract: Phosphate's role in the eutrophication roc ss has been well documented, whether it is the limiting nutrient or not. Substantial efforts have been made re cently by the federal government and municipalities to limit the amount of phosphate ion that is released in effluents from waste water treatment plants. Under ordinary operating conditions the two most commonly used heterotrophic biological treatment processes, trickling filter instal lations and activated sludge aeration facili ties, have been reported to be capable of removing an average of only 20 and 40 percent, respectively, of the soluble phos phate concentrations normally found in municipal wastewaters.1 Clearly, addi tional treatment of phosphate ion is needed to reduce its effluent concentration in modern phosphate-rich waters. Under normal operating conditions, the biomass of the heterotrophic biological treatment plants removes organic carbon and phos phorus from the wastewater in a 106:1 ratio,2 and the sludges from such processes contain approximately 2 to 3 percent of their dry weight as phosphate.3 Current efforts to modify biological treatment systems, which have been in vestigated in the laboratory and to a limited extent in the field, involve the addition of chemicals containing cations that form insoluble phosphate precipitates, which are then removed from the waste water by conventional separation tech niques. Chemicals such as lime and ferric and aluminum salts are being used for this purpose. The chemicals conven tionally are added in a separate third stage process, but in some cases they have been successfully added directly to the secondary aeration tanks. A number of activated sludge waste water treatment plants, however, have reported phosphate removals of appreciably greater than 40 percent.4-7 These removals far exceed any typical 106:1 stoichiometric carbon : phosphorus ratio. At times, these treatment plants reportedly achieve a 90 to 95 percent phosphate removal, even in phosphate-rich wastewaters. Such excessive phosphate removal by an activated sludge process has been termed "luxurious uptake of phosphate," and much controversy has arisen over the mechanism by which this removal takes place. In 1965, Levin and Shapiro8 reported that this uptake was a biological one that was dependent on oxygen transfer into the cell and relatively independent of carbon con centration. In 1970, Menar and Jenkins9 reported that, in their opinion, such luxuri ous removals were a result of a chemical precipitation phenomenon, and, although the extent of removal was a direct function of the aeration rate, the removal was oxygen-transfer independent. In their scheme, the aeration process allegedly served to strip the metabolically-produced carbon dioxide (C02) from the sludge suspension. The resultant increase in pH induced the precipitation of some form of calcium phosphate, which then was re moved with the biomass during sludge separation. Two such divergent hypoth eses are contradictory and mutually ex clusive because both mechanisms cannot

Air and water pollution control

Abstract: Waste gas purification system using water scrubbers, wet filters and the like are combined with a multiple reuse of water system wherein suspended solids, absorbed volatiles and dissolved solids are economically and substantially completely removed from the waste water effluent and pure water is recovered for reuse in the gas purification process and for other purposes.

Effects of pesticides onEuglena gracilis. I. growth studies

Abstract: The herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T were the most harmful to the photosynthetic microorganism Euglenagracilis. All of the test pesticides were harmful when concentrations of 50 to 100 ppra were used but the longer term effects, even at the high concentrations, were slight.

Land treatment of wastewater

Abstract: LAND TREATMENT IS ONE TECHNOLOGICAL METHOD WHICH CAN PROVIDE POLLUTION CONTROL WHILE ACHIEVING RECYCLING AND CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED SIMPLY THROUGH THE ACTION OF IN SITU PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF THE TERRESTRIAL SYSTEM. THE ACTIVE RENOVATION MECHANISMS OF THE SOIL/PLANT SYSTEM SUCH AS FILTRATION, PRECIPITATION, ADSORPTION, AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE EMPLOYED IN THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT PROCESSES; HENCE, FEWER NATURAL RESOURCES HAVE TO BE MINED TO PRODUCE CHEMICALS TO TREAT WASTEWATER. THE GREATEST OBSTACLE NOW IS ADVERSE PUBLIC OPINION DUE TO MISPERCEPTIONS. TWO MAJOR DESIGN FACTORS CONSIDERED ARE THE INFILTRATION AND PERMEABILITY OF THE SOIL, AND THE OVERALL NUTRIENT BALANCE OF THE SYSTEM. EXISTING SYSTEMS ARE DISCUSSED AS WELL AS PROGRAMS OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

Method of and an apparatus for saving water used in toilets

Abstract: The water used for flushing toilets is the effluent from kitchen sinks, bath tubs, showers and wash basins A basin which receives excreta is so mounted that it pivots automatically when sufficient waste water has collected sending the collected excreta on toward the sewer A toilet which envelopes solid excreta in foam is described The foam prevents escape of odor prior to dumping

Method for processing sludge

Abstract: The pH of the sludge resulting from coagulation-separation treatment of wastewater utilizing a coagulant substantially consisting of a water soluble aluminum compound is adjusted before subjecting the sludge to a wet air oxidation treatment so that the pH of the sludge obtained after said wet air oxidation treatment is either below 1.5 or above 9.0, whereby the coagulant substantially consisting of an aluminum compound can be recovered in the form of a soluble aluminum compound.

Waste water purification system

Abstract: A highly efficient and compact biological waste treatment system for use in conjunction with an anaerobic holding tank to provide a high degree of purification for use in areas where municipal sewer systems are unavailable. A pump conveys anaerobically treated sewage from the septic tank to a biological oxidation tank which employs a plurality of partially submerged discs providing a surface for the growth of bacterial slimes. A motor rotates the discs so that the bacteria can oxidize the sewage thereby removing substantially all of the biochemical oxygen demand. After dropping to a settling tank, from the bottom of which sludge is returned to the septic tank, the clarified supernatant is passed through a filter to a high efficiency sterilizer which utilizes a heat exchanger. An artificial feed system is provided to supply nutrients to keep bacteria in the biological oxidation tank alive during extended periods of nonuse of the system.

Sludge Handling and Disposal

Abstract: Failure to consider the large amounts of waste from livestock production as pollution may defeat the anticipated purpose of treating municipal wastewater. The amount of waste produced by livestock in the US is much more than that produced by the population. Farm animals in Missouri produce twenty times as much waste as the 4.7 million people.1 It is also appropriate to discuss solid waste, the garbage and refuse that accumulate in the municipalities. Each person contributes 5.3 lb of solid waste per day. A city with a population of 10,000 requires an annual volume of 15 acre-ft using the sanitary fill for final disposal. Sanitary engineers often state that sludge handling and disposal is the most difficult part of wastewater treatment. The primary purpose of sludge handling and disposal is the protection of the public health from waterborne disease, and the secondary purpose is prevention of pollution. The amount of solids in average medium-strength wastewater averages a total of 4,000 lb/mil gal. One million gallons of wastewater is equal to 8,340,000 lb or 4,200 tons, which contains 2 tons of solids. When broken down, the solids consist of 2,000 lb of dissolved solids, 1,000 lb of settleable solids, 1,000 lb of suspended solids, and a gain of 800 lb by synthesis. These solids, in a semiliquid state that has the consistency of buttermilk and a total solids of from 3 to 4 per cent, will average about 1 per cent of the flow or 10,000 gal/mil gal wastewater.

Multiple cycle process for wastewater purification

Abstract: A wastewater purification process wherein wastewater and activated sludge are mixed within a receiving well from which the mixture is withdrawn, then mixed with oxygen and directed through a series of contained reaction stages, the mixed liquor then being withdrawn and divided into two streams, one main stream being recycled directly to the receiving well and the other stream of lesser volume going to a clarifier from which activated sludge is recycled to the well.

Public Health Aspects of Organics in Water

Abstract: Conservationists in California have adopted two goals relating to the water environment: first, they are opposed to new water-resource development; second, they are opposed to discharging wastewaters into the water environment. In pursuit of both goals, the conservationists are strongly advocating wastewater reuse. With relation to the second goal, their position, not explicitly stated, is "don't discharge sewage into receiving waters and possibly damage the environment, drink it!" The Resources Agency of California in a preliminary statement of environmental goals and policy, not yet officially adopted, commits the state to wastewater reuse "as part of a comprehensive water supply and management program." Currently a number of specific project proposals' are being developed for major ground-water replenishment with reclaimed wastewater. In some instances, the ground-water basins at equilibrium would be almost 100 per cent reclaimed water. Other proposals, still in very preliminary form, would introduce reclaimed sewage into existing domestic-water impoundments and even (in the extreme) utilize treated sewage directly as a portion of the raw-water supply with or without dilution. Four factors appear relevant in connection with the utilization of reclaimed wastewaters as a significant portion of community domestic water supply. They are microorganisms, total minerals, mineral toxicants, and stable organics. The focus of this article is on the stable organic fraction. Two questions arise: what is known of the characteristics of these organics, and how significant are they to man's health?

Method of wastewater treatment

Abstract: Method and apparatus for substantially upgrading the operating efficiency of wastewater treatment plants is disclosed. The invention utilizes forcibly rotating bodies that are partially submerged in the wastewater to provide surface area on which biological slimes develop and remove pollutants from the wastewater. The rotating, partially submerged bodies are located in the upper portion of the treatment tanks, to provide a biological treatment zone. A subjacent settling zone, physically separated from the biological treatment zone by a ''''false bottom'''' or longitudinal baffle is provided in the lower portion of the treatment tank. Wastewater introduced in the tank is first biologically treated and then circulated through the subjacent settling zone to remove settleable solids.

Method for the primary and secondary treatment of wastewater in a unitary apparatus

Abstract: A method utilizing a composite apparatus for the treatment of wastewater to remove settleable and floatable solids and to remove and oxidize organic matter including a treatment tank having at least two horizontally adjacent bays, each of the bays having an upper biological treatment zone separated by a horizontally disposed baffle from a lower settling zone. Raw wastewater enters the lower settling zone of one of the bays wherein settleable and floatable solids are removed, and then turns vertically to flow in a reverse direction through the upper biological treatment zone of each bay. From the upper treatment zones the wastewater is directed into and through the lower settling zone of the second bay from which the treated fluid is removed.

Recovering proteins from waste water

Abstract: Treatment of proteinaceous waste waters which provides recovery of valuable proteins and formation of effluents acceptable for disposal into municipal sewage systems or into waterways. Feature of invention is that waste water is treated with a molecularlydehydrated phosphate and a polyvalent metal salt at pH 7 to precipitate a polyvalent metal-protein-phosphate complex.

Proteins in wastewater and wastewater sludges.

Abstract: Although there is some information on the total amounts of proteins in wastewater and sludges1"3 and on the amino acids in them,4-11 especially in activated sludge,12 there is almost no evidence on the nature of the proteins in these materials. A knowledge of the nature of proteins in wastewater, sludges, and similar substances would be useful not only for determining the pollutional effects on the environment and the changes in the protein structures during decomposition or treatment, but also for determining the possible usage of the resulting materials in agriculture,13 includ ing animal nutrition.

Method of purification of waste water produced from the packing of meat and aquatic animals

Abstract: A method of purifying the contaminated waste water that is produced in the slaughter and processing of livestock and aquatic animals, said method comprising adding to said waste water at least one electrolyte selected from the group consisting of the halides, halogen acid salts and nitrates of the alkali metals, alkaline earth metals and ammonium in an amount such that the concentration of said electrolyte in the waste water is 0.03-1.7% by weight, passing a direct-current electricity through the electrolyte-added waste water to effect its electrolysis, and thereafter separating the precipitated solid matter from the waste water.