ANAEROBIC PONDS

P f Professor Mara M

ANAEROBIC PONDS
high organic (BOD) loading devoid of dissolved oxygen depth range 15 m; depends on ground conditions diti usually ll 2 24 4m no (or very few) algae surface area not important

ALGAE: occasional surface film of sulphidesulphidetolerant Chlamydomonas

ALGAE: occasional surface film of sulphidesulphidetolerant Chlamydomonas OPERATION OF ANAEROBIC PONDS sedimentation of settleable solids and i intense anaerobic bi di digestion i ( (>15 15oC) and d copious biogas g ( (CH4 & CO2) production high BOD & SS removal functions much like an open septic tank

Biogas: Biogas : CH4, CO2

scum layer

sludge layer

About 30% of influent BOD leaves as biogas same groups of anaerobic bacteria involved as in septic tanks and anaerobic digesters require same environmental conditions diti ( (eg, pH H >6.5) 6 5)

DESIGN OF ANAEROBIC PONDS

based on volumetric BOD5 loading, g, v
V = Li Q/V g/m3d = Li/a Li Q

Li = influent BOD5 mg/l (= g/m3) Q = flow, m3/d V = volume, l m3 a 1 d

V/Q = (retention ( i time, i d days) )

 Design range for normal domestic wastewater: t t

100 V 400
if <100, then not fully anaerobic (?) if >400, then risk of odour release

ODOUR
caused mainly by hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S) sulphates (SO42) reduced in anaerobic ponds by obligately anaerobic sulphatereducing bacteria (eg, Desulfovibrio spp) to sulphides (H2S, S HS, S2) proportion of sulphide existing as H2S depends on pH:

HS-

S=

H2S

Effect of p pH on hydrogen y g sulphide p bisulphidesulphide equilibrium

Odour, continued
odour not usually a problem if sulphate concentration <500 mg/l as SO42 check h k th the sulphate l h t conc. of f th the l local l drinking g water (max ( = 250 mg/l) g ) control therefore not normally necessary, but can be achieved by adding lime or soda ash to keep pH >7 (or by recirculating maturation pond effluent, but expensive and pump needs maintenance)

Recommended Design Procedure for Anaerobic Ponds

Performance should increase with temperature, but insufficient reliable field d t available data il bl t to d develop l good dd design i equation Design temperature: mean air temp. in coldest month (slightly conservative as pond temp. some 2 23oC warmer) Minimum retention time of 1 day

DESIGN VALUES Temp (oC) 10 1020 2025 >25 BOD5 loading ( / 3 day) (g/m d ) 100 20T 100* 10T + 100* 350 Percentage BOD removal l 40 2T + 20* 2T + 20* 70

* Linear interpolation (T = temperature, oC)

PERFORMANCE OF ANAEROBIC PONDS

Raw wastewater 306 g/m3d

A2 A2
A4 129 g/m3d

A3

Northeast Brazil, ~25 C

Retention BOD5 SS time (mg/l) (mg/l) (days) Raw ww 08 0.8 0.4 1.9 245 59* 59 * 45 49 310 82** 82 ** 64 57

FC (per 100 ml) 4.7 107 8 1 106 8.1 5.0 106 4.7 106

A2
A3 A4

* 76 percent removal

** 74 percent removal

Not worth having (at least for domestic ww)

Pond Code A2/1 A6 A4/1 A1/3 A1/2 A1/1

Performance of Anaerobic Ponds Northeast Brazil 25oC Retention Volumetric Percentage time BOD load BOD (days) (g/m3 day) removal 08 0.8 306 76 1.0 215 76 1.9 129 80 2.0 116 75 4.0 72 68 68 6.8 35 74

Anaerobic ponds
very good removal of BOD & SS this has effect of reducing land area requirement i tf for overall ll pond d system, system t so anaerobic p ponds should always y be used (except at small works serving only a few thousand people)

Operation and maintenance

1. fly breeding in scum layer may be a problem: use a suitable larvicide 2 desludge when full of sludge this 2. occurs every n years: (Pond volume, m3) n= Sludge accumulation (Population) 3 rate m /caput year rate,
~0.04 0.04 m3/cap.yr in tropics ~0.08 m3/cap.yr in Europe

Central C t l slaughterhouse CYPRUS

Average BOD = 15002000 mg/l

Anaerobic pond, Cyprus