WASTE WATER TREATMENT BY Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP)

What is an ETP?

• ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) is a process design for treating the industrial waste water for its
reuse or safe disposal to the environment.

• Influent: Untreated industrial waste water.

• Effluent: Treated industrial waste water.

• Sludge: Solid part separated from waste water by ETP

TREATMENT

INFLUENT ETP EFFLUENT

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Need of ETP

• To clean industry effluent and recycle it for further use.

• To reduce the usage of fresh/potable water in Industries.

• To cut expenditure on water procurement.

• To meet the Standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various
Industries set by the Government and avoid hefty penalties.

• To safeguard environment against pollution and contribute in sustainable development.

Design of ETP

The design and size of the ETP depends upon:

• Quantity and quality of the industries discharge effluent.

• Land availability.

• Monetary considerations for construction, operation & maintenance.

• Area dimension depends on:

 Quality of wastewater to be treated,

 Flow rate

 Type of biological treatment to be used .

• In case of less available land, CETP (Common Effluent Treatment Plant) is preferred over ETP

Treatment Levels & Mechanisms of ETP

• Treatment levels:

 Preliminary

 Primary

 Secondary

 Tertiary (or advanced)

• Treatment mechanisms:

 Physical

 Chemical

 Biological

Preliminary Treatment level

Purpose: Physical separation of big sized impurities like cloth, plastics, wood logs, paper, etc.

Common physical unit operations at Preliminary level are:

 Screening: A screen with openings of uniform size is used to remove large solids such as plastics,
cloth etc. Generally maximum 10mm is used.
 Sedimentation: Physical water treatment process using gravity to remove suspended solids from
water.

 Clarification: Used for separation of solids from fluids.

Primary Treatment Level

• Purpose: Removal of floating and settleable materials such as suspended solids and organic
matter.

• Methods: Both physical and chemical methods are used in this treatment level.

• Chemical unit processes:

 Chemical unit processes are always used with physical operations and may also be used with
biological treatment processes.

 Chemical processes use the addition of chemicals to the wastewater to bring about changes in its
quality.

 Example: pH control, coagulation, chemical precipitation and oxidation.

pH Control:

 To adjust the pH in the treatment process to make wastewater pH neutral.

 For acidic wastes (low pH): NaOH, Na2CO3 , CaCO3or Ca(OH)2.

 For alkali wastes (high pH): H2SO4 , HCl.

Chemical coagulation and Flocculation:

• Coagulation refers to collecting the minute solid particles dispersed in a liquid into a larger mass.

• Chemical coagulants like Al2 (SO4)3 {also called alum} or Fe2 (SO4)3 are added to wastewater to
improve the attraction among fine particles so that they come together and form larger particles
called flocs.

• A chemical flocculent (usually a polyelectrolyte) enhances the flocculation process by bringing

together particles to form larger flocs , which settle out more quickly.

• Flocculation is aided by gentle mixing which causes the particles to collide.

Secondary Treatment Level

Methods: Biological and chemical processes are involved in this level.

Biological unit process

 To remove, or reduce the concentration of organic and inorganic compounds.

 Biological treatment process can take many forms but all are based around microorganisms,
mainly bacteria.

Aerobic Processes

 Aerobic treatment processes take place in the presence of air (oxygen).

 Utilizes those microorganisms (aerobes), which use molecular/free oxygen to assimilate organic
impurities i.e. convert them in to carbon dioxide, water and biomass.

Anaerobic Processes

 The anaerobic treatment processes take place in the absence of air (oxygen).

 Utilizes microorganisms (anaerobes) which do not require air (molecular/free oxygen) to

assimilate organic impurities.

 The final products are methane and biomass

Tertiary / Advanced Treatment

Purpose: Final cleaning process that improves wastewater quality before it is reused, recycled or
discharged to the environment.

Mechanism: Removes remaining inorganic compounds, and substances, such as the nitrogen and
phosphorus. Bacteria, viruses and parasites, which are harmful to public health, are also removed at
this stage.
Methods:

 Alum: Used to help remove additional phosphorus particles and group the remaining solids
together for easy removal in the filters.

 Chlorine contact tank disinfects the tertiary treated wastewater by removing microorganisms in
treated wastewater including bacteria, viruses and parasites.

 Remaining chlorine is removed by adding sodium bisulphate just before it's discharged.
Case Study
ETP Process Design for a typical Textile factory

Textile industry Share

Country Valuein ($ billion) Share (%)
China 94.4 32.1
EU27 76.6 26.1
India 15.0 5.1
United States of America 13.8 4.7
Korea Republic 12.4 4.2
Turkey 10.8 3.7
Pakistan 9.1 3.1
Indonesia 4.8 1.6
Vietnam 3.8 1.3
Bangladesh 1.6 0.5
Rest of the World 51.7 17.5
Total 294 99.9

Source: Ghaly A. E, Ananthashankar R., Alhattab M., and Ramakrishnan V. V., Production,
Characterization and Treatment of Textile Effluents: A Critical Review, J Chem Eng Process
Technol 2014, 5:1, http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7048.1000182
Water consumption in textile industries
Fabric Water consumption (kg/kg)
Cotton 250-350
Wool 200-300
Nylon 125-150
Rayon 125-150
Polyester 100-200
Acrylic 100-200
Process Water consumption (%)
Bleaching, finishing 38
Dyeing 16
Printing 8
Boiler house 14
Humidification (Spinning) 6
Humidification (weaving) 9
Sanitary, Domestic 9

Emission and waste generation from textile industry

Effluent characteristics from typical textile industry
Process Composition Nature
Sizing Starch, waxes, High in BOD & COD
carboxymethylcellulose,
polyvinyl alcohol.
Desizing Starch, waxes, High in BOD, COD,
carboxymethylcellulose, suspended solids,
polyvinyl alcohol. dissolved solids.

Scouring Caustic soda, waxes, Dark colored, High pH,

grease, soda ash, sodium COD, dissolved solids
silicate, fibres,
sulfactants, sodium
phosphate
Bleaching Hypochlorite,Caustic Alkaline suspended
soda, sodium silicate, solids
hydrogen peroxide,
sulfactants, sodium
phosphate
Mercerizing Caustic soda. High pH, low COD, high
dissolved solids.
Dyeing Various dyes, mordants, Strongly colored, High
reducing agents, acetiv COD, dissolved solids,
acid soap low SS

Printing Pastes, starch, gums, oil, Highly-colored, High

mordants, acids, soaps. COD, oily appearance, SS
finishing Inorganic salts. Slightly Alkaline, low
BOD.
Waste water characteristics: Process-wise

Human carcinogenic compund

Important Characteristics of Wastewater from Textile Industry
ETP Plant Operation
1. Screen chamber: Remove relatively large solids to
avoid abrasion of mechanical equipments and clogging
of hydraulic system.
2. Collection tank: The collection tank collects the
effluent water from the screening chamber, stores and
then pumps it to the equalization tank.
3. Equalization tank:
➢ The effluents do not have similar concentrations at
all the time; the pH will vary time to time.
➢ Effluents are stored from 8 to 12 hours in the
equalization tank resulting in a homogenous
mixing of effluents and helping in neutralization.
➢ It eliminates shock loading on the subsequent
treatment system.
➢ Continuous mixing also eliminates settling of
solids within the equalization tank.
➢ Reduces SS, TSS.
4. Flash mixer: Coagulants were added to the
effluents:
1. Lime:(800-1000 ppm) To correct the pH upto8-9
2. Alum: (200-300 ppm) To remove colour
3. Poly electrolyte:(0.2 ppm) To settle the
suspended matters & reduce SS, TSS.
The addition of the above chemicals by efficient
rapid mixing facilitates homogeneous combination
of flocculates to produce microflocs.
 5. Clarriflocculator:
➢ In the clarriflocculator the water is circulated
continuously by the stirrer.
➢ Overflowed water is taken out to the aeration
tank.
➢ The solid particles are settled down, and collected
separately and dried; this reduces SS, TSS.
➢ Flocculation provides slow mixing that leads to the
formation of macro flocs, which then settles out in
the clarifier zone.
➢ The settled solids i.e. primary sludge are pumped
into sludge drying beds.

6. Aeration tank:
➢ The water is passed like a thin film over the
different arrangements like staircase shape.
➢ Dosing of Urea and DAP is done.
➢ Water gets direct contact with the air to dissolve
the oxygen into water.
➢ BOD & COD values of water is reduced up to 90%.

7. Clarifier:
➢ The clarifier collects the biological sludge.
➢ The overflowed water is called as treated effluent
and disposed out.
➢ The outlet water quality is checked to be within
the accepted limit as delineated in the norms of
the Bureau of Indian standards.
➢ Through pipelines, the treated water is disposed
into the environment river water, barren land, etc.
8. Sludge thickener:
➢ The inlet water consists of 60% water + 40%
solids.
➢ The effluent is passed through the centrifuge.
➢ Due to centrifugal action, the solids and liquids
are separated.
➢ The sludge thickener reduces the water content
in the effluent to 40% water + 60% solids.
➢ The effluent is then reprocessed and the sludge
collected at the bottom.

9. Drying beds:

Primary and secondary sludge is dried on the drying

beds.
SCREENING
➢ Screening is the filtration process for the separation of coarse particles
from influent.
➢ Stainless steel net with varying pore size can be utilized.
➢ Screens are cleaned regularly to avoid clogging.
EQUALIZATION TANK
➢ Equalization makes the waste water homogenous.
➢ Retention time depends upon the capacity of treatment plant.
(Generally 8-16 hours)

PH CORRECTION
➢ In this tank pH of the influent is corrected to meet the
standard.
➢ Acid or alkali is added to the effluent to increase or
decrease the pH.
DISPERSE UNIT
Disperse tank mixes the sludge coming from recycle
tank with waste water for to proper aeration.

AERATION
➢ Function of aeration is oxidation by blowing air.
➢ Aerobic bacteria are used to stabilize and remove organic material
presents in waste.
SEDIMENTATIONTANK
➢ In this tank sludge is settled down.
➢ Effluent is discharged from plant through a fish pond.
➢ Sludge is passed to the sludge thickening unit.
EFFLUENT DISCHARGE
SLUDGE THICKENING UNIT
➢ Here sludge is dried and discharged.
➢ Partial amount of sludge is returned back to the aeration tank
from thickening unit through recycle tank called return sludge
tank and disperse tank.
DRIED SLUDGE

RETURN SLUDGE TANK

Function of return tank or recycle tank is to mix water with sludge

This mixture is then passed to aeration tank through disperse tank.

ADVANTAGE OF RECYCLE SLUDGE TO AERATION TANK

➢ Sludge again oxidized to minimize the pollution from sludge.

➢ Alive bacteria of sludge is again used in aeration to utilize this
bacteria.