Synthetic wastewater prepared from readily available materials: Characteristics and economics

Abstract

The wastewater used for experimental research is typically collected from a wastewater treatment plant or prepared as a synthetic solution in the lab. These options represent transportation and cost challenges, respectively, particularly for experiments requiring large volumes of wastewater. Here, we describe a method for creating inexpensive synthetic wastewater from readily available household products. The base solution, synthesized by soaking dog food pellets for 24 hours and straining the solution, had average nutrient values of 9.7 mg/L ammonia as N, 12.2 mg/L nitrate as N, 227 mg/L total nitrogen, and 4870 mg/L chemical oxygen demand (COD). Degradation tests demonstrated that soluble COD was biodegradable. The base solution was then used to prepare synthetic wastewater that met the requirements for two experimental applications; (1) anaerobic treatment of primary effluent and (2) land-application treatment of secondary effluent. Cost analysis indicated that the single-ingredient synthetic wastewater cost 92% less to produce than synthetic wastewater recipes that used laboratory chemicals, and reduced preparation time. These results demonstrated that use of commercial products can simplify the wastewater synthesis process and reduce experimental costs for large-volume research applications while still maintaining consistent wastewater characterization.

Evaluation of oxychlorides as chemical oxygen demand interferents: The roles of the different oxidizing agents and the organic carbon source of wastewaters

“…The utilization of synthetic wastewater provides an advantage to the work as using a xed formulation avoids the inherent variability of real wastewaters (Kargol et al 2023). However, different preparations simulating municipal wastewaters have been reported in the literature (O´Flaherty et al 2013).…”

Direct Membrane Filtration of Wastewater: A Comparison between Real and Synthetic Wastewater

“…The initial fouling rates likely would have been similar if additional time was provided for COPAS stabilization. In a study using a synthetic wastewater derived from dry dog food, Kargol et al soaked their solution for 24 h prior to use [19]. This longer stabilization time helped fully solubilize the dry dog food.…”

“…Synthetic wastewater is reproduceable, safer to handle, and exhibits less variability compared to real wastewater. Synthetic wastewater has been extensively used in wastewater treatment research and been thoroughly vetted [18,19]; however, DMF research has not leveraged the benefits of using synthetic wastewater. This research investigated the use of a synthetic wastewater for batch DMF trials.…”

Significance and Applications of the Microalgae Chlamydomonas and its Bacterial Consortia

“…Industrial wastewater may contain heavy metals, organic chemicals, and oils. Synthetic wastewater is a lab-created mimic used for research purposes [22]. Medical wastewater contains antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant genes, organic pollutants (e.g.…”