Technology Tuesdays: Anaerobic Treatment of Effluents and Wastes

Greetings Partners!

Anaerobic wastewater treatment is both an energy efficient process as well as a low-odor method of treating wastewater.  So, what is anaerobic wastewater treatment and why is it important?

Anaerobic wastewater treatment is a biological process where organic materials are broken down by anaerobic microorganisms called anaerobes.  This simply means they use very little oxygen in their process of degrading the material.  They are used to break down substances in such effluent waste streams as agricultural, food and beverage, dairy, pulp and paper, textile industry waste, and municipal sewage sludge and wastewater.  These streams are introduced to the anaerobes in a bioreactor containing a thick, nearly solid substance known as sludge.  This sludge contains the anaerobes needed to make this process work.

I am sure this is all beginning to sound like an episode of Bill Nye, the Science Guy.  However, to put it most simply, it is an energy-efficient process in which microorganisms transform organic matter in the wastewater into biogas in the absence of oxygen.  It is important to understand in order to see how this process makes wastewater treatment energy efficient.

Broadly speaking, the other type of wastewater treatment is aerobic wastewater treatment which uses more energy because of the need for oxygen for this process.  Aerobic wastewater treatment process consists of microorganisms that convert organics into carbon dioxide and new biomass in the presence of oxygen.  Because this process requires oxygen, it must be forced through the material using large fans which requires the use of additional energy.

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Sources:
https://www.samcotech.com/anaerobic-wastewater-treatment-how-it-works/
https://www.evoqua.com/en/brands/adi-systems/Pages/Anaerobic-vs-Aerobic-Treatment.aspx