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The effect of the feeding pattern of complex industrial wastewater on activated sludge characteristics and the chemical and ecotoxicological effluent quality

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Abstract

Research has demonstrated that the feeding pattern of synthetic wastewater plays an important role in sludge characteristics during biological wastewater treatment. Although considerable research has been devoted to synthetic wastewater, less attention has been paid to industrial wastewater. In this research, three different feeding strategies were applied during the treatment of tank truck cleaning (TTC) water. This industry produces highly variable wastewaters that are often loaded with hazardous chemicals, which makes them challenging to treat with activated sludge (AS). In this study, it is shown that the feeding pattern has a significant influence on the settling characteristics. Pulse feeding resulted in AS with a sludge volume index (SVI) of 68 ± 15 mL gMLSS−1. Slowly and continuously fed AS had to contend with unstable SVI values that fluctuated between 100 and 600 mL gMLSS−1. These fluctuations were clearly caused by the feeding solution. The obtained settling characteristics are being supported by the microscopic analysis, which revealed a clear floc structure for the pulse fed AS. Ecotoxicological effluent assessment with bacteria, Crustacea and algae identified algae as the most sensitive organism for all effluents from all different reactors. Variable algae growth inhibitions were measured between the different reactors. The chemical and ecotoxicological effluent quality was comparable between the reactors.

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Acknowledgement

Support by the Belgian tank truck cleaning commission (CTC) was greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research group BioGEM, Bio-Chemical Green Engineering & Materials, Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, Salesianenlaan 90, 2660, Antwerp, Belgium

    Michel Caluwé, Thomas Dobbeleers, Dominique Daens, Luc Geuens & Jan Dries

  2. SPHERE, Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerp, Belgium

    Michel Caluwé & Ronny Blust

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  1. Michel Caluwé
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Correspondence to Jan Dries.

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Caluwé, M., Dobbeleers, T., Daens, D. et al. The effect of the feeding pattern of complex industrial wastewater on activated sludge characteristics and the chemical and ecotoxicological effluent quality. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 10796–10807 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8712-3

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