Water scarcity is increasing worldwide and as always water is becoming precious. So, it is becoming more important to reuse wastewater. For reusing wastewater, wastewater treatment plants in a city infrastructure are the main component but they release a pungent odour that can cause health issues and nuisance to humans. So it is vital to treat these odorous gases before discharging them into the atmosphere. Usage of biological scrubbers is vital to remove wastewater odour.
Why is a proper odour control unit necessary?
The odour is generated in the wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater collection systems along with sludge treatment are the major areas for releasing pungent smells. The collection system usually includes screening, channels, grit removal, collection sump etc. The sludge treatment area consists of a digester system, sludge storage tank and sludge dewatering rooms. Most pungent smells are produced during the treatment and lead from anaerobic decomposition of the organic matter. The biggest odour-causing gases released and must be treated at the odour control units are ammonia, hydrogen sulphides, VOCs and mercaptans. When these untreated gases are released into the air, they cause air pollution and human health hazards. So it is important to implement the right odour control units or biological scrubbers in WTP to solve the issues.
How can you remove the odour?
One of the best solutions to remove the pungent wastewater discharging smell is the installation of an odour control unit in the wastewater treatment plant. Odour control units extract the pungent gases from designated areas and discharge the odourless air into our atmosphere. There are several well-proven odour control solutions such as biological scrubbers, chemical scrubbers etc.
What are the different techniques for removing odours from wastewater treatment plants?
Have a look at these techniques which are extremely helpful in treating odours:
a) Chemical oxidation
In this process of chemical oxidation, water scrubbing along with apt oxidizing chemicals are efficiently used to suppress pungent smells.
When we talk about WTP, mainly sodium hydroxide or sodium hypochlorite and even mixtures of both are used for neutralization and oxidation of harmful odours. In bigger plants, chemical oxidation is best for intermittent odour elimination. The whole process needs the proper attention of the operator. The efficiency of odour removal gained in this process is approximately 99 percent.
b) Biological oxidation
This procedure of biological oxidation is selected by industrial wastewater treatment plants and municipalities as the operating cost for such a process, in the long run, is less. This technology is classified into three stages: a) Biofilter b) Biotrickling and c) Bio scrubber
The biofilter stage is the oldest version of this process of biological oxidation. Here natural media such as wood chips, stones etc are used as the growth surface area for microorganisms. Biofilter units need larger areas and need constant humidification of pungent releasing gases. Here the efficiency to remove the odour is achieved from 95 per cent to 99 per cent. Biofilter technology is becoming outdated in advanced treatment plants because of the area needed and high operating costs.
Biofilters are constantly replacing bio-scrubbers or bio-trickling filters. Here, vertical packed towers are utilized for the growth of microorganisms that need less area than the usual biofilter. The bio trickling filter or bio scrubbers are made from recycled plastic, glass or foams. In bio-trickling filters, the air entering from the unit’s bottom moves up via a packed tower that oxidizes odorous gas. When we talk about biological scrubbers, water is re-circulated constantly. Here the efficiency of odour removal can be varied but still approximately 99 percent to 99.9 percent by elevating contact time.
There are many advantages of using biological scrubbers:
a) Have low operating costs as compared to other systems
b) Best life cycle cost
c) Biological scrubbers have less carbon footprint
d) Operation of bio-scrubbers is simple
c) Activated Carbon Adsorption System
This system works on the adsorption principle. It adsorps odorous gas molecules and oxidizes odorous gas then discharges odourless gases into the air. The filtration media are chosen for applications of wastewater odour removal to eliminate hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans etc. You must select activated carbon media that can efficiently treat pungent gases. This technology treats virgin activated carbon media for the sewage odours. Most users chose water regenerable activated carbon media as they last longer and do not need chemicals and are environmentally friendly. The efficiency of this procedure is 99.9 per cent.
Among these mentioned technologies, the usage of biological scrubbers is preferred over other technologies as they can retain both environmental and economic benefits of biotreatment. Bio scrubbers efficiently remove VOCs, H2S and many odour-controlling gases in applications.
Conclusion:
So, to prevent odour nuisance and to have constant pungent smell removal efficiency, odour control systems like biological scrubbers are vital. Its efficiency is also as high as 99.9 per cent. It is crucial for every wastewater treatment plant to install odour control units. You can reach out to a reliable supplier of bio scrubbers.
