Biology: November 5th, 2008 Objectives: Things to do: Due Dates: Develop and understand the importance of wastewater treatment Things to do: Pick up the worksheets Fill out Assessment sheet and turn it in Experience the waste of water Jeopardy Due Dates: Brochure 11/18/2008

How humans make use of nature Wastewater treatment How humans make use of nature Amr Safwat – STEP 2008-2009

Brochure Due Date: 11/18/2008 Definition of Wastewater Materials in Wastewater How can wastewater be cleaned What is a wastewater treatment plant How can we reduce our wastewater Lab results Future technlogies References Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria

Outline 1. What is wastewater? 2. Where does the wastewater go? 3. What is a wastewater treatment pant? 4. Wastewater treatment steps 5. Biological treatment & Bacteria 6. Who works at a treatment pant? 3. Cincinnati Wastewater Treatment Pants

What is Wastewater? Wastewater is a liquid waste, which consists of animal, vegetable, mineral or chemical matter in solution or in suspension with water It comes from residents and businesses who flush different matter + water down their toilets or pour it down their sinks and drains

Where does wastewater go? Wastewater drains into a network of pipes maintained by the local sewer service municipalities Sewer systems are built to collect and flow wastewater and rainwater using the natural slope of land, generally towards the sea front or to wastewater treatment plants

What is a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)? A WWTP is the place where wastewater is treated to prevent contamination and destruction of our waterways, and our natural water resources It includes physical, chemical and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants

Water Treatment Screening & Filtering Sedimentation Filtration 1 2 3 4 5 Screening & Filtering Sedimentation Filtration Aeration Chlorination

Water Treatment Screening Grit Chamber Primary Sedimentation 1 2 3 4 5 Screening Grit Chamber Primary Sedimentation Aeration Tank Secondary Sedimentation

Wastewater treatment steps Primary treatment: Includes romvoval of large objects some solid materials like debrit, gravel, sand or liquids like fats, oils and grese from the water Secondary Treament: Includes degradation of biological content of the sewage such as are derived from human waste, food waste, soaps and detergent Tertiary Treatment: Includes a final treatment to effluent (water) to increase the water quality, before the water is discharged to the natural waterways

Biological treatment? In the aeration tanks microorganisms and wastewater are mixed, aerated, and maintained in suspension (activated sludge) In the secondary clarifier solids are removed and the activated sludge is returned to the aeration tanks

Biological treatment? The effluent (out-flowing water) from the primary treatment stage is send to the secondary stage were the water is biologically treated Most treatment plants use an aerobic biological process, for which bateria are used Some bacteria (unicellular microorganisms) need oxygen and orbanic matter to live

Bacteria Bacteria are simple, colorless, one-celled plants that use soluble food and are capable of self-reprodcution without sunlight There are two main groups: aerobic and anaerobic. They can be found everywhere in soil, acidic hot springs, water, in animals, plants and in our body. There are one million bacterial cells in one mL of fresh water Bacteria are considered as decomposers due to their indispensable ecological role of decaying organic matter in nature Humans make use of this by using them in secondary treatment stage to decompose organic matter in wastewater Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria

Perfect Water Cycle – Eco-Boulevards * Source: pruned.blogspot.com

Who works at WWTP? Civil engineers plan and design many parts of a WWTP Chemical engineers design the primary and secondary stages and they also make sure that the cleaned water has a certain quality before it is discharged Microbiolologists make sure that enough bacteria and oxygen is provided Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria

WWTP in Cincinnati There are 10 wastewater treatment plants in the greater Cincinnati area. They collect 200 million gallons of wastewater every day The Sycamore Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant was originally built in 1957 with a design average treatment capacity of 1 million gallons per day (MGD). Since that time, the plant has been expanded three times (1966, 1970 and 1991) to increase treatment to its present capacity of ~20 MGD* Top picture is Sycamore plant in 1957 and bottom picture is the same plant in 2001 * Source: MSD website

Jeopardy 1 Answer d Why do we need to learn about wastewater? Wastewater is part of the water cycle Wastewater is water that cannot be treated Wastewater has to be treated because it is reused 1 and 3 Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria Answer d Click

Jeopardy 2 How do we use bacteria in a wastewater treatment plant? Bacteria are not used at all Bacteria are animals that eat organic matter Bacteria need organic matter and oxygin Bacteria need sunlight and CO2 Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria Click Answer c

Jeopardy 3 How is water cleaned in the secondary treatment stage? With filters and screens With michanical and physical methods Bacteria and oxygin All of the above Bacteria comes from the green word bakterion and means “small staff“. We will only talk about aerobic bacteria Click Answer c