Recycling of water treatment sludges in municipal wastewater treatment plants – a practical example

Full-scale and lab-scale research experiments were conducted to determine the phosphorous precipitation efficiency of iron hydroxide sludge from drinking water treatment. During full-scale investigations at a wastewater treatment plant, ferric sludge was added to the inflow of the primary settling tank in a first experimental phase and to the inflow of the aeration tank in a second phase. In the outflow of the mechanical stage and in the outflow of the biological stage, a reduction of the PO4-P concentrations could be observed. The concentration of COD, the SVI and the filament abundance were not changed significantly by adding the ferric sludge to the wastewater treatment plant. In lab tests, improved precipitation efficiency of the ferric sludge could be achieved by using anaerobic conditions and acid pulping. The research showed that the wastewater treatment process can benefit from the reuse of ferric sludge from drinking waterworks and that this also presents an inexpensive recycling option for these sludges.