Pre-concentration of municipal wastewater by chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) was studied under controlled laboratory conditions. Both iron and aluminium-based coagulants were examined at gradually increasing concentrations (0.23, 0.35, 0.70 and 1.05 mmol/L). The CEPT sludge generated from different coagulation experiments was digested in batch anaerobic reactors, while the supernatant was tested in a dead-end microfiltration setup. The results of the study show that biogas yield was dramatically decreased (from 0.40 to 0.10 m3/kg chemical oxygen demand of influent) with increasing coagulant dose. In contrast, supernatant filterability was improved. Based on the laboratory results, a conceptual design was produced for a community of 2000 inhabitant equivalents (IE), using CEPT technology (at low coagulant dose) with anaerobic digestion of the concentrates. According to this, the capital and operational costs were 0.11 and 0.09 €/m3, respectively. The biogas generated is used for digester heating and the overall process is energy self-sufficient. At a small-scale and in private applications, CEPT technology is preferably operated at higher coagulant dose, followed by membrane filtration for water reuse. Accordingly, sewage purification and reuse is possible without implementing aerobic biological processes.

This paper present the experiences gained from the study of ten up flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) based sewage treatment plants (STPs) of different cities of India. Presently 37 UASB based STPs were under operation and about 06 UASB based STPs are under construction and commissioning phase at different towns. The nature of sewage significantly varied at each STP. Two STP were receiving sewage with high sulfate and heavy metals due to the mixing of industrial waste. The treatment performance of all UASB reactors in terms of BOD, COD and TSS were observed between 55 to 70% respectively. The post treatment units down flow hanging sponge (DHS) and Aeration followed by activated sludge process (ASP) at two STPs were performing well and enable to achieve the required disposal standards. Results indicate the effluent quality in terms of BOD and SS were less than 30 and 50 mg/L and well below the discharging standards.