CEE Oct-Dec 2012

The plant was taken up in September 2004 and it took four months to stabi lize the plant and obtain the result since, we had to carry out certain process changes after conducting trials for one month. Since then, the plant has been operating satisfactorily. We observed that whenever there was stoppage of addition of Probiotic solution, within a day the treated water gave out bad odour. The colour of the Aeration tank turned from brown to black and the solids would escape from clarifier after two days. The sludge volume also started reducing slowly. , The Advantages and Benefits of application of GRG Probiotic Solution Odour control in the Treated Water and from the Aeration Tanks. Control of forming Suspended solids carry over from clarifier. The clarity of the Treated Water improved drastically. The colour of the Aeration Tank change from blackish to Brown The Treated Water COD/BOD brought down from 1500/600 to 90/10 ppm . We had primarily converted the two stage treatment of chemical precipitation and biological treatment into a three stage biological treatment. This had simplified the treatment since the number of chemicals required for dosing had come down from 14 to 3. All the new chemicals are biological in nature and not having any inorganic chemical. Process description The Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) is used to treat the process and domestic effluent. It is located at the southern corner of the main pharmaceutical plant. It has a collection channel with bar and grit chamber, Collection Tank (CT) with pump, Aeration Tanks (AT 1,2 and 3) with Fixed Aerator and Disk types Membrane Diffusers connected by a Blower, Circular Clarifier and Sludge re-circulation pump, treated water tank, Pressure Sand Filter( PSF) and Activated Carbon Filters (ACF) and Filter Feed Pump, Clear Water Collection Tank for garden with garden pump, sludge drying beds. The process washings are allowed to flow by gravity to the Collection Channel. The Suspend Solids are retained in the screen, which are cleaned every day, in case of blockage . The influent will be pumped by float operated Submersible Pump (SP1 ) to Collection Tank/ Aeration Tank 1 after closing the bottom pipe connection and raising the partition wall. The water in the Collection Tank is equalized by mean of pump re-circulation. Any floating matter in the Collection Tank is removed daily. This should not be allowed to flow to Aeration Tank. The pH of the effluent in the Collection Tank is checked to ensure it is between 4 and 10. Only if it is above these ranges, sulfuric acid or lime is added, but after proper equalization, pH never exceeds the above range and there is no need to dose any inorganic chemicals in the Collection Tank. The Effluent Pump (EP1 ) will feed the effluent from Collection Tank to the Aeration Tank 1 continuously at an average flow rate of 4 - 5 m 3 /hr. There is also a provision to allow the effluent to flow by gravity after reaching the full tank level, since this Aeration Tank 1 is in the ground level. EP2 will pump the effluent from Aeration Tank 1 to Aeration Tank 2. AT2 is at a higher elevation. It will further flow by gravity to Aeration Tank 3. The Membrane Diffusers are provided in AT1 , AT2 and AT3. In addition to this, there is a Fixed Aerator in AT3 to supply air in case of emergency. The blower supplying air to the Aeration Tank should run 24 hours. The Domestic wastewater will flow to the septic tank by gravity from the plant. The overflow from this tank will then flow to Sewage Collection Tank. Sewage Pump (SP2) will feed the domestic effluent by an automatic level control system to Conical Tank (Co T) attached to the AT2, where bacteria will be cultured using Probiotic solution . The bacteria culture with domestic wastewater will flow to AT1 by gravity. Daily 800 ml of Biooxidator and 400 ml each of Nutracomplex and Detox have to be added to CoT and AT1. The Dosage has to split and added equally in these two tanks at 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm and 3 am. 100 ml each of Biooxidator and 50 ml each of Nutracomplex and Detox should be added per tank on each time. In case of excessive foaming, Detox dosage has to be doubled in AT1 . Therefore, the domestic wastewater and process effluent will get mixed in the AT1. The performance of the Aeration Tank 1, 2 and 3 are monitored by daily measurement of MLSS and Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels. Since lab facility is not available, Sludge Volume is measured in each AT to correlate the MLSS value. 1000 ml of Aerated water is taken in a measuring cylinder and it is allowed to settle for 30 to 60 minutes. The sludge volume level is measured and reported . Cost comparison : Conventional chemicals Vs Probiotic solution Consumption of Chemicals in The Effluent Treatment Plant before Introduction of Probiotics and Dosage of Probiotics for better performance and reduction of Cost and reduction of Chemical Sludge Generation. 7