ASABE Technical Library - Abstract
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EFFLUENT QUALITY FROM ATUS AND PACKED BED FILTERS RECEIVING DOMESTIC WASTEWATER UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS
Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org
Citation: Paper number 701P0104, . (doi: 10.13031/2013.15815)Authors: James C. Converse
Keywords: Aeration, domestic wastes, ATUs, packed media filters
A total of nine different aeration units were field evaluated on a total of 139 sites consisting
mostly of homes but also two trailer parks and six commercial facilities with samples taken from
the pump chamber. The testing period ranged from about 1 yr to about 12 yrs. Data was
averaged per site and then the individual site means were averaged to give the overall
performance for each aeration unit. Geometric mean, median, mean, standard deviation,
maximum and minimum were calculated for each treatment unit. Parameters measured included
BOD5, TSS, nitrogen series, alkalinity, pH, TS, VS, COD, fecal coliform, E. coli and
enterococcus along with effluent temperature and dissolved oxygen. The aeration units were
divided into 9 types/brands including 3 suspended growth ATUs, 2 attached growth ATUs, single
pass sand filter and recirculating sand filters subdivided into 3 categories.
BOD5 means ranged from 4 to 42 mg/L and TSS means ranged from 4 to 31 mg/L. Performance
consistency ranged from 49 to 99% for BOD5 of = 25 mg/L and 57 to 100% for TSS of = 30
mg/L. TN means ranged from 34 to 46 mg N/L with TKN means ranging from 5 to 36 mg N/L.
Nitrification in some units was incomplete. One of the attached growth units, which claims
nitrogen reduction, and the RSF units did not provide the expected denitrification with the total
nitrogen means from these units being similar to those of other non-denitrification units.
Fecal coliforms, E. coli and enterococcus geometric means ranged from 233 to 211,000, 624 to
217,000 and 102 to 5770 col/100 mL, respectively. Performance consistency ranged from 43 to
97% for fecal coliforms and 52 to 97% for E. coli of = 10,000 col/100 mL.
The mean pH ranged from 7.0 to 7.7 and the dissolved oxygen ranged from 1.0 to 4.6 mg/L.