Technology / Wastewater Osmosis
Measuring the Effectiveness of a Wastewater Treatment Plant
The effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants is measured on several different scales.
You may also refer to the National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) guidelines.
Please click here.
Here are some of the most common scales:
* pH
This is the measure of the water's acidity once it leaves the plant. Ideally, the water's pH would match the pH of the river or lake that receives the plant's output.
* BOD (biological oxygen demand)
BOD is a measure of how much oxygen in the water will be required to finish digesting the organic material left in the effluent. Ideally, the BOD would be zero.
* Dissolved oxygen
This is the amount of oxygen in the water as it leaves the plant. If the water contains no oxygen, it will kill any aquatic life that comes into contact with it. Dissolved oxygen should be as high as possible and needs to cover the BOD.
* Suspended solids
This is the measure of the solids remaining in the water after treatment. Ideally, suspended solids would be zero.
* Total phosphorous and nitrogen - This is the measure of the nutrients remaining in the water.
* Chlorine
The chlorine used to kill harmful bacteria needs to be removed so it does not kill
beneficial bacteria in the environment. Ideally, chlorine should not be detectable.
* Coliform bacteria count
This is the measure of fecal bacteria remaining in the water. Ideally, this number would be zero. Note that water in the environment is not totally free of fecal bacteria -- birds and other wildlife do introduces some.
The main reason why these indicators need to be watched so closely is because any community produces a huge quantity of wastewater. Discharge levels ranging from 10 million to 100 million gallons per day (38 million to 380 million liters) are common for a wastewater treatment plant.
Please do send us an email or fax incase you have a specific query on Wastewater Treatment Process.
Emails may please be sent to [email protected]
Or address your query to the Director Technical and fax us on +92-21-825-8398
