Reliance on Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) as an indicator of wastewater quality has hindered development of efficient process control due to the associated uncertainty and lag-times. Surrogate measurements have been proposed, with fluorescence spectroscopy a promising technique. Yet, assessment of in-situ fluorescence sensors across multiple Wastewater Treatment Plants (WwTPs), and at different treatment stages, is limited. In this study a multi-parameter sonde (two fluorescence peaks, turbidity, temperature and electrical conductivity) was used to provide a BOD5 surrogate measurement. The sonde was deployed at three WwTPs, on post primary settlement tanks (PST) and final effluent (FE). Triplicate laboratory measurements of BOD5, from independent laboratories were used to calibrate the sensor, with high variability apparent for FE samples. Site and process specific sensor calibrations yielded the best results (R2cv = 0.76–0.86; 10-fold cross-validation) and mean BOD5 of the three laboratory measurements improved FE calibration. When combining PST sites a reasonable calibration was still achieved (R2cv = 0.67) suggesting transfer of sensors between WwTPs may be possible. This study highlights the potential to use on-line optical sensors as robust BOD5 surrogates in WwTPs. However, careful calibration (i.e. replicated BOD5 measurements) is required for FE as laboratory measurements can be associated with high uncertainty.
Improved monitoring of potable water is essential if we are to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG6: to make clean water and sanitation available to all. Typically monitoring of potable water requires laboratory analysis to detect indicators of fecal pollution, such as thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs), Escherichia coli (E. coli), or intestinal enterococci. However, these analyses are time‐consuming and expensive, and recent advances in field deployable sensing technology offer opportunities to investigate both the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial pollution in a more resolved and cost‐effective manner, thus advancing process‐based understanding and practical application for human health. Fluorescence offers a realistic proxy for monitoring coliforms in freshwaters with potential for quantification of potable water contamination in near real‐time with no need for costly reagents. Here, we focus on E. coli to provide a state‐of‐the‐art review of potential technologies capable of delivering an effective real‐time E. coli sensor system. We synthesize recent research on the use of fluorescence spectroscopy to quantify microbial contamination and discuss a variety of approaches (and constraints) to relate the raw fluorescence signal to E. coli enumerations. Together, these offer an invaluable platform to monitor drinking water quality which is required in situations where the water treatment and distribution infrastructure is degraded, for example in less economically developed countries; and during disaster‐relief operations. Overall, our review suggests that the fluorescence of dissolved organic matter is the most viable current method—given recent advances in field‐deployable technology—and we highlight the potential for recent developments to enhance approaches to water quality monitoring. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Water, Health, and Sanitation Engineering Water > Methods Human Water > Methods
According to the general wastewater administration rule, it is allowed for the single state authorities of Germany to make the minimal requirements on quality of wastewater discharge more restrictive then those given by the federal government. Schleswig-Holstein particularly has made extensive use of this rule in the past years. On addition of fluctuations due to tourism, industry or combined sewer system, the general criteria for the layout of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are presently unsatisfactory in order to meet these requirements. More detailed and comprehensive studies need to be carried out to fulfill these stricter demands. By illustrating four case studies of WWTP designs of size between 43,000 and 640,000 total number of inhabitants and population equivalents (PT), possible solutions will be presented. With the aid of land-registers, intensive measurement series and semi-technical and full scale experiments, design concepts including multi-stage and split flow treatment could be established.
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