Carbon Management at the New Reading Wastewater Treatment Plant

Abstract

The whole life costs of chemical and biological phosphorus removal are comparable if the sewage contains sufficient readily biodegradable carbon (rbCOD) to stimulate biological phosphorus removal (BPR). To date, standard practice is to dose iron salts (an industrial byproduct) into the activated sludge basin. However, the cost of iron salts is increasing because the industries which produce these iron salts are closing. For this reason, biological removal is often the preferred option in the UK when the sewage contains an industrial source of rbCOD. The design of these new wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has to take into account the type and amount of carbon available and the operation of industry in question.