Treatment
A collection of pipes, pump stations, and other infrastructure used to transport sewage and stormwater from residential, industry, and commercial facilities to a WRRF.
What is a Wastewater Collection System
A sludge dewatering system that uses gravity drainage followed by increasing pressure between moving belts to reduce sludge volume and increase solids concentration.
What is a Belt Press?
The treated wastewater discharged from a treatment process or facility, meeting regulatory quality standards.
What is Effluent
What is the greatest electricity requirement for a WW utility
What is Areation (MI)
An organism (often insects or rodents) that can carry and transmit disease associated with wastewater or sludge.
What is a Vector (MI)
Physical: Temperature, color, odor, turbidity.
Chemical- pH, BOD, COD, pollutants, nutrients. (And microorganisms!)
What are Influent Characteristics
A fixed-film biological process where wastewater flows over media supporting microorganisms that remove organic matter.
What is a Trickling Filter
Dewatered biosolids typically have a solids concentration of above 15%and are referred to as a _______?
What is Cake (MI)
This type of sludge digestion can produce enough gas to power parts of the treatment plant, but too hot or too cold, it fails.
What is Anaerobic Digestion
It’s colorless, odorless, and deadly in confined spaces. Wastewater workers always monitor for this gas.
What is H2S
The initial step in wastewater treatment that removes large debris like trash, rags, and grit to protect downstream equipment.
What is Preliminary Treatment
A settling tank that concentrates sludge by allowing solids to settle and separate from excess water.
What is a Gravity Thickener
The collection, thickening, stabilization, dewatering, and disposal or reuse of wastewater sludge.
What is Solids Handling
Oxygen is dissolved in water, but bubbles aren’t enough. What measurement tells you if there’s enough for aerobic microbes?
What is Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
You step into the treatment plant and your ears pop! This safety rule isn’t about bubbles, it’s about…
What is Hearing Protection
The biological stage of wastewater treatment where microorganisms metabolize dissolved and colloidal organic matter, significantly reducing BOD and TSS.
What is Secondary Treatment
A device that separates and washes grit from wastewater using differences in settling velocity.
What is a Grit Classifier
A tertiary filtration system using rotating cloth-covered discs to remove fine suspended solids from treated effluent.
What are Disc Filters
This “silent eater” in wastewater treatment sneaks around, converting ammonia to nitrate without producing bubbles.
What is Nitrifying Bacteria
You see foam and odors, but the real danger is microscopic. These tiny “hitchhikers” can make you sick.
What is Pathogens
The physical treatment stage, where settleable and floatable solids are removed by sedimentation
What is Primary Treatment
A mechanical grinder that shreds large solids in wastewater to prevent clogging and equipment damage.
What is a Comminutor
A BIOLOGICAL treatment process where specialized microorganisms uptake excess phosphorus and store it within their cells for removal with waste sludge.
Biological Phosphorus Removal
It’s not sludge, not liquid, but a sticky layer forms on pipes and tanks, causing resistance and smells, what is it?
What is Biofilm
BONUS QUESTION
If you fall into a churning aeration basin, will you sink like a rock, or float and “swim” your way to safety?
What is there is a negligible difference in buoyancy between aerated water and normal water, making it possible to float, but still incredibly difficult without a life preserver.