• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.25 no.11
• /
• pp.1467-1474
• /
• 2016

In response to the water shortage problem, continued attempts are being made to secure consistent and reliable water sources. Among various solutions to this problem, wastewater effluent is an easy way to secure the necessary supply, since its annual output is consistent. Furthermore, wastewater effluent has the advantage of being able to serve various purposes, such as cleaning, sprinkling, landscaping, river management, irrigation, and industrial applications. Therefore, this study presents the possible use of reclaimed industrial wastewater treated with Birm filters and a UF membrane, along with an analysis on membrane fouling. The preprocessing stage, part of the reclamation process, used Birm filters to minimize membrane fouling. Since this study did not consider heavy metal levels in the treated water, the analyses did not include the criterion for irrigation water quality. However, the wastewater reclaimed by using Birm filters and a UF membrane met every other requirement for reclaimed water quality standards. This indicated that the treated water could be used for cleaning, channel flow for maintenance, recreational purposes, and industrial applications. The analysis on the fouling of the Birm filter and UF membrane required the study of the composition and recovery rate of the membrane. According to SEM and EDX analyses of the UF membrane, carbon and oxygen ion composition amounted to approximately 57%, whereas inorganic matter was not detected. Furthermore, the difference in the recovery rates of the distressed membrane between acidic and alkaline cleaning was more than ~78%, which indicated that organic rather than inorganic matter contributed to membrane fouling.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.674-681
• /
• 2009

Characteristics of organic matters (OM) in wastewater and the removal efficiencies were investigated using the influent and the effluent samples collected from 21 wastewater treatment plants. The OM characteristics investigated included biodegradability, humic content, specific UV absorbance (SUVA), the distribution percentage of refractory OM (R-OM), and synchronous fluorescence spectra. The types of wastewater (sewage, livestock waste/night soils, industrial waste) were easily distinguished by comparing the synchronous fluorescence spectra of the influent wastewater. The prominent peak of protein-like fluorescence (PLF) was observed for livestock waste/night soils whereas sewage exhibited a unique fluorescence peak at a wavelength of 370 nm. Irrespective of the wastewater types, the distribution percentage of R-OM increased from the influent to the effluent. Livestock waste/night soils showed the highest removal efficiency among all the three types of wastewater. There was no statistical difference of the removal efficiency between a traditional activated sludge and biological advanced treatment processes. Removal efficiency based on dissolved organic carbon DOC presented good correlations with the distribution percentage of R-OM and fulvic-like fluorescence (FLF) of the influent. The prediction for DOC removal efficiency was improved by using multiple regression analyses based on some selected OM characteristics and mixed liquid suspended solid (MLSS).

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.161-168
• /
• 2017

Microfiltration (MF) and Ultrafiltration (UF) membrane processes capable of producing highly purified water have been extensively applied as a pretreatment process in the wastewater reuse field with the improvement of membrane properties and resistance, development of operating protocols, and improvement of technologies of backwashing and physicochemical cleaning, and improvement of scale and antifoulants. However, despite of the development of membrane production and process technologies, fouling still remains unresolved. This study confirmed that foulants such as polysaccharides, proteins and humic substances existed in final treated effluent (secondary effluent) by fluorescence excitation emission matrix (FEEM) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. In addition, when constructing ozone oxidation and coagulation processes as a hybrid process, the removal efficiency was 5.8%, 6.9%, 5.9%, and 28.2% higher than that of the single process using coagulation in turbidity, color, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and UV254, respectively. The reversible and irreversible resistances in applying the hybrid process consisting of ozone oxidation and coagulation processes were lower than those in applying ozone oxidation and coagulation processes separately in UF membrane process. Therefore, it is considered possible to apply ozonation/coagulation as a pretreatment process for stable wastewater reuse by and then contributing to the reduction of fouling when calculating the optimal conditions for ozone oxidation and coagulation and then to applying them to membrane processes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.285-292
• /
• 2021

Osmotic power is to produce electric power by using the chemical potential of two flows with the difference of salinity. Water permeates through a semipermeable membrane from a low concentration feed solution to a high concentration draw solution due to osmotic pressure. In a pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process, river water and wastewater are commonly used as low salinity feed solution, whereas seawater and brine from the SWRO plant are employed as draw solution. During the PRO process using wastewater effluent as feed solution, PRO membrane fouling is usually caused by the convective or diffusive transport of PRO which is the most critical step of PRO membrane in order to prevent membrane fouling. The main objective of this study is to assess the PRO membrane fouling reduction by pretreatment to remove organic matter using coagulation-UF membrane process. The experimental results obtained from the pretreatment test showed that the optimum ferric chloride and PAC dosage for removal of organic matter applied for the coagulation and adsorption process was 50 mg/L as FeCl₃ (optimum pH 5.5). Coagulation-UF pretreatment process was higher removal efficiency of organic matter, as also resulting in the substantial improvement of water flux of PRO membrane.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.37 no.5
• /
• pp.355-362
• /
• 2021

This study investigated the fate of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in a water reclamation facility (WRF) in Korea. The WRF consists of coagulation, sedimentation, microfiltration, and reverse osmosis (RO) components. The production capacity of WRF is 90,000 m³/day. The reclaimed water is reused as industrial water. We also characterized DOM in raw, processed, and finished waters based on analysis of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UVA₂₅₄), fluorescence excitation emission matrix (FEEM), and DOC fractions via liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD). Based on the results of DOC, UVA₂₅₄, and FEEM analyses, neither the coagulation/sedimentation nor the microfiltration at the WRF effectively removed DOM. The RO process removed more than 94% of DOM. The raw water (i.e., secondary treated effluent obtained from a wastewater treatment plant) exhibited tryptophan-like peaks, which are a promising marker of wastewater, in the FEEM analysis. Coagulation and microfiltration failed to eliminate the wastewater marker, whereas RO completely removed it. The raw water also carried high levels (89.4%) of hydrophilic and low-molecular weight substances, which are difficult to remove via coagulation-sedimentation or microfiltration. Humic substance was a major component of the hydrophilic fractions. Based on the LC-OCD analysis, RO effectively removed the humic and polymeric materials from DOM.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.603-609
• /
• 2004

The objective of this study was to determine the optimal operation conditions in an anoxic oxic process to eliminate both organic and nitrogen matters in swine wastewater. For the purpose of this, the removal efficiency was evaluated with various HRTs and internal recycling ratio. During the whole 580 days of experiment, HRTs had been gradually decreased in an order of 20, 14, 12 and l0days, and the internal recycle ratio was kept at 20Q. So as to determine the effect of the internal recycle ratio on the nitrogen removal, the internal recycle ratio had been gradually increased from 20Q to 50Q while HRT was maintained at 12days. As a result, it was shown that the removal efficiency of organic matter was above 95% regardless of changing of HRTs. The average influent concentration of TCODcr and SCODcr were 24,854 mg/L and 18,920 mg/L, respectively. Average removal efficiency of TKN was shown to be nearly 98% when HRT was kept at 12days; however, the $NH_4{^+}-N$ concentration of effluent was shown to be increased when the loading rate of $NH_4{^+}-N$ was increased to $0.602 kgNH_4{^+}-N/m^3$-day by means of decreasing HRT to 10days. It was concluded that nitrogen loading rates should be more considered rather than organic loading rates in case of determining an optimal HRT. When gradually increasing the internal recycle ratio from 20Q to 50Q, the removal efficiency of organic matters and TKN were 96% and 98%, respectively so that no significant changes in removal efficiency was detected. However, when the internal recycle ratio was kept at 50Q, it was revealed that the $NO_3-N$ concentration of effluent seemed to drop and the average $NO_3-N$ concentration of effluent was around 52 mg/L.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.160-170
• /
• 2003

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of intermittent slow sand filtration for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. The effluent of biofilter for 16-unit apartment was used as influent to the slow sand filtration system at 0.6 $m^3$/day loading rate using 15 seconds spray in every 10 minutes on the about 1 $m^2$ surface area and 0.5 m depth. The influent concentrations of total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC) and E. coli were in the range of 10.000 MPN/100 mL. and they were reduced to less than 1,000 MPN/100 mL after filtration with average of 320, 270, and 154 MPN/100 mL, respectively, showing over 95 % removal. Turbidity and SS were improved effectively and their average concentration was reduced to 0.8 NTU and 1.7 mg/L, respectively, and removal rate was about 50 %. Average BOD and COD concentrations were also reduced substantially to 2.6 and 25.8 mg/L with about 55 and 21 % removal rate, respectively. Nutrients removal was relatively low and removal rate for T-N and T-P was low however, remaining nutrients might be beneficial and less concerned in case of agricultural reuse. The concentration of biofilter effluent used in this experiment was in the range of secondary treatment effluent but slightly stronger than the one from existing wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Therefore, intermittent slow sand filtration might be also applicable to the effluent from WWTPs as long as its agricultural reuse is available. Considering stable performance and effective removal of bacterial indicators as well as other water quality parameters, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, the intermittent slow sand filtration was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. This paper is a preliminary result from pilot study and further investigations are recommended on the optimum design parameters before full scale application.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.194-206
• /
• 2003

A pilot study was performed to examine the feasibility of the pond system for further polishing of treatment wetland effluent to agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. The constructed wetland and pond system was installed in Konkuk University and the effluent from septic tank of school building was used as an influent to the wetland system. The effluent of the wetland was used as an influent to pond systems. The influent concentrations of total coliform(TC), fecal coliform (FC), and E. coli were about $10^5$MPN/100 ml, and they were reduced to less than 10,000 MPN/100 ml on average after wetland treatments, showing over 95 % removal. And they were further reduced to less than 1,000 MPN/100 ml in average, showing over 85∼93 % removal after pond treatment. Turbidity and SS were improved effectively on average and their pond effluent concentration was about 4.5 NTU and 9.8 mg/L in average, respectively Average $BOD^5$ concentrations were also reduced substantially to 9.3 mg/L with about 83 % removal rate after wetland and pond treatment systems. Nutrients removal was relatively low and removal rate for T-N and T-P was less than 43 and 44%, respectively after wetland and pond treatment. Considering stable performance and effective removal of bacterial indicators as well as other water quality parameters, low maintenance, and cost-effectiveness, pond system was thought to be an effective and feasible alternative for agricultural reuse of reclaimed water. This paper describes a preliminary result Iron pilot study and further investigations are recommended on the optimum design parameters before full scale application.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.622-629
• /
• 2014

This study induced biological denitrification and nitrification via a biofiltration process with the view of removing nitrogen from land-based fish farm effluent. To achieve this, we operated an aquaculture nitrogen-removal system that includes a denitrification and nitrification reactor [working volume 40 L, flow rate 64.8 L, HRT (hydraulic retention time) 14.8 h, HRT considering recycling of NOx 7.4 h]. In the continuous process, the nitrification rate of ammonium nitrogen exceeded 90% at a steady state and the denitrification efficiency exceeded 80% with recycling to a pre-anoxic reactor. In addition, the pH in the final effluent was lower with a low influent water alkalinity averaging 100 mg/L (as $CaCO_3$). For effective denitrification reactions, carbon must be supplied via particulate organic matter (POM) hydrolysis because of the low C/N (carbon/nitrogen) ratio in the water.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.767-773
• /
• 2011

The objectives of this research are to investigate the proper coagulation conditions which are a type and doses of coagulants, mixing conditions (velocity gradients and mixing times), pH and so on through Jar-test, to evaluate the flux variations, permeate, backwashing according to characteristics of pretreatment of the wastewater by means of MF membranes for river maintenance water reuse. The effluent water from B-city K-sewage treatment plant are used for this research. Turbidity and suspended solids(SS) are 14.2 NTU and 10.4 mg/L respectively. This condition causes fouling for membrane process. The flux decline could be reduced when coagulation pretreatment was carried out. Optimal coagulations PAC which are commonly used in the sewage treatment plant was observed in this research. The results indicate that an optimal coagulation dose and pH are 80 ppm and pH of 7 respectively, but coagulation efficiency was lower at strong acid or strong base. Results showed that continuous and steady operations in membrane separation process by means of the effective removal of organic matter and turbidity with coagulation pretreatment of sewage secondary effluent were achieved.