TERTIARY

TREATMENT
 Tertiary treatment is an advance level of treatment to remove constituents of concern
including nutrients, toxic compounds, and increased amounts of organic matter and
suspended solids .

This level of treatment is utilized when the effluent is discharged to a sensitive receiving
environment or in water reuse applications.

The process can be accomplished using a variety of physical, chemical, or biological

treatment processes to remove targeted pollutants.

Industrial wastes is part of the waste streams and are not removed in primary and
secondary treatment

- Some are not biodegradable

- Some are toxic or hazardous
Coagulation
sedimentation
 Coagulation Sedimentation

Process is similar to that used in water treatment

Increase the removal of solids from effluent after
primary and secondary treatment
Coagulation is the method to alter the colloids so
that they will be able to approach and adhere to
each other to form larger floc particles
The larger the floc particle then will settle down as a
sludge
 Coagulation Process

Positive ion is added to the water to reduce the surface

charge to the point where the colloids are not repelled from
each other

Colloidal particles
(0.001 - 1 m)
floc
(1 - 100 m)
 Coagulants

Colloids are commonly negatively charged and hence a cation is required to

neutralize
Non-toxic and relatively inexpensive
Example of coagulants :
1) alum
2) lime
3) ferric sulfate
4) ferric chloride
FILTRATION
PROCESS
 Granular media filter are widely used in waste
water treatment for the removal of both
organic and inorganic suspended solids
Can operate either by gravity flow (gravity
filters) or by pressure (pressure filters)
Two media : bed of 0.5 mm sand layer below
0.9 mm anthracite layer.
Three media : 30-40 mesh garnet layer below
the sand layer
 If activated carbon is used as a filter medium,
the dominating process is adsorption.
Activated carbon absorbers not only remove
a variety of organic and inorganic compounds,
they also eliminate taste and odour.
Surface filtration involves the removal of
particulate material by mechanical sieving as
the liquid passes through a thin septum (i.e.,
filter layer).
Membrane
process
fluid is passed through a barrier
To remove dissolved irons
Expensive
Example reverse osmosis &
electrodialysis
 The Reverse Osmosis process uses a semipermeable
membrane to separate and remove dissolved solids,
organics, pyrogens, submicron colloidal matter, viruses,
and bacteria from water
The process is called "reverse" osmosis since it requires
pressure to force pure water across a membrane, leaving
the impurities behind
capable of removing 95%-99% of the total dissolved
solids (TDS) and 99% of all bacteria
REVERSE
OSMOSIS (RO)
What is RO?

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology

that uses a semipermeable membrane to
remove ions, molecules, and larger particles
not remove all contaminants from water as dissolved
gases such as dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide
very effective at removing other products such as
trihalomethanes (THM's), some pesticides, solvents and
other volatile organic compounds (VOC's).
Process of RO

reverse osmosis process cellophane-like

membranes separate purified water from
contaminated water.
when a pressure is applied to the concentrated
side of the membrane forcing purified water into
the dilute side, the rejected impurities from the
concentrated side being washed away in the
reject water.
RO Membranes

polyamide thin film composites (TFC)

cellulose acetate (CA)
cellulose triacetate (CTA)
 In 1977 Cape Coral, Florida became the first municipality
in the United States to use the RO process on a large
scale with an initial operating capacity of 11,356 cubic
metres
In Israel at Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast, the
world's largest reverse osmosis plant is producing
396,000 [3] cubic metres of water a day at around possibly
$0.50 USD per cubic metre
In western Saudi Arabia at Yanbu, production started in
1999 at 106,904 cubic metres of water a day. Later in
2009 with some expansion the production reached to
132,000 cubic metres of water a day.
NITRIFICATION
 Nitrification is the biological process by which ammonia is first converted to nitrite and then to nitrate.

1st step NH4+ + 3/2 O2 Nitrosomonas NO2+ + 2H+ +H2O (Nitrite)

2nd step NO2+ + 1/2 O2 Nitrobactor NO3+ (Nitrate)

Overall reaction NH4+ + 2 O2 NO3+ + 2H+ +H2O

can be achieved in any aerobic-biological process

low organic loadings
suitable environmental conditions
Nitrifying bacteria are slower growing than the heterotrophic bacteria.
comprises the greater proportion of the biomass in both fixed film and suspended growth systems.
 The key requirement for nitrification to occur
The process should be controlled that the net rate of accumulation
of biomass
The net rate of withdrawal of biomass from the system. Less than
the growth of nitrifying bacteria.

The processes used in the treatment of wastewater for nitrification

Trickling filters
Rotating biological contractor (RBC)
Fixed bed reactor
Conventional activated sludge processes at low loadings
Two-stage activated sludge systems with separate carbonaceous
oxidation and nitrification systems
Nitrification
 Nutrient Removal (Nitrogen
Control)
To help control the growth
of algae in the ponds.
Nitrogen in form of
ammonia (NH3) exerts
oxygen demand which is
toxic for fish.
Nutrient Removal (Nitrogen Control)

Biological Process
1. Nitrification
2. Denitrification
Chemical Process
1. . Ammonia Stripping
Biological Process
1) Nitrification
Convert of Ammonia Nitrate
NH4+ + 2 O2 * NO3- + 2
H + + H 2O
* = bacteria
2) Denitrification
Convert of Ammonia N2
Gas
2NO3- + Organic Matter
* N2 + H2O + HCO3-
(Organic matter = raw, settled
sewage / CH3OH)
Chemical Process

1) Ammonia Stripping
Convert Ammonium ion Ammonia (by
raising pH)
NH4+ + OH- NH3 + H2O
Hydroxide (OH-) supplied by lime.
END