The Role Of Clarifiers In Wastewater Treatment Plants

Wastewater treatment plants have been in existence in one form or another for quite a long time. The main purpose of these plants is to treat tons of solid and liquid waste generated from homes, industries, and other common places.

Clarifiers in wastewater treatment plants have been an integral part from the beginning too. Whenever the concentration of suspended solids is high in the wastewater, clarifiers are a necessary component to remove it.

Now, the process of sedimentation is the part of wastewater treatment where contaminants are settled down due to gravity, and the clean liquid or clarified water is separated.

The same principle of gravity settling is used by clarifiers in wastewater treatment to remove suspended solids or solid particulates from the liquid.

The concentrated impurities are known as sludge, whereas those that float to the surface of the liquid are called scum.

The large settling tanks with in-built mechanical means like scraper blades act continuously to remove solids towards the pipe or place where sludge and scum collection takes place.

Additionally, certain coagulants and poly-electrolytes are used to enhance the performance of the natural settling of solids by turning them into floc.

Types of Clarifier

There are several clarifier designs used in a wastewater treatment plant which vary depending on the application and use.

It ranges from primary, secondary, circular, rectangular, lamella, and solids contact clarifiers.

In this blog, we aim to discuss briefly the primary and secondary clarifiers in wastewater treatment and elaborate more about the secondary clarifier.

Primary and Secondary Clarifier

As wastewater treatment plants involve two stages, namely primary and secondary, clarifiers to are of two types: primary and secondary. The primary clarifiers are used to separate settleable solids from the raw incoming wastewater.

These are located on the downstream of the plant. The major function of the primary clarifier is the removal of all settleable and floating solid waste that has a high oxygen demand – BOD.

The secondary clarifiers, on the other hand, are located near the biological treatment facility, aeration basins, or filters. Here, the clarifier is used to remove treated wastewater from the primary treatment stage.

The major task of the secondary clarifier is clarification and thickening. The performance of a wastewater treatment plant depends on the functioning of primary and secondary clarifiers.

• See Also: Hydraulic Loading in Wastewater Treatment Plants

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Impact Of Microorganism On Secondary Clarifier Performance

The secondary treatment of wastewater is known as a biological treatment since living microorganisms are used to break down the organic waste and nutrients and purify the polluted wastewater.

It is necessary to treat wastewater to prevent it from harming the environment, affecting human health, and eutrophication of water resources.

Microorganisms are grown in large quantities for aerobic, anaerobic, and anoxic processes.

The secondary clarifier in wastewater treatment is known to handle mixed liquor-suspended solids, commonly known as MLSS, which are found in large quantities generated in the activated sludge process.

This puts a heavy burden on the secondary clarifiers in the form of floating solids on the surface, overloading the system and reducing dissolved oxygen levels.

With the excessive amount of waste reaching wastewater treatment plants and ineffective biological treatment solutions, the secondary clarifier under-performs and leads to system malfunction.

This puts stress on the wastewater treatment output, and bad effluent is the result.

As mentioned in the beginning, clarifiers are important components of wastewater treatment plants. It performs the important function of the removal of biomass generated in the secondary treatment stage.

It is necessary to treat organic waste with the best solutions which makes it easier for clarifier to perform at its best. There are various biological treatment solutions specifically made to maximize wastewater treatment plant productivity.

Organic Biotech is one of the leading companies with excellent sewage treatment solutions like Cleanmaxx STP. Specifically formulated for sewage treatment plants, it consists of powerful and highly adaptable microbes able to degrade high organic loads efficiently and minimize sludge production.

Furthermore, Cleanmaxx STP makes it easy for the secondary clarifier in wastewater treatment to perform its function at its best.

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