Odour control of a Biological Wastewater Facility
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Date
June, 2015
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Abstract
Industrial wastewater effluents are a major health concern globally. Thus many industries
are encouraged to treat their wastewater before discharge into receiving waters. The
efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant in a beverage industr y in Kumasi, Ghana was
studied to ascertain the cause of an odour that is produced from the treatment facility
especially during plant shutdown and flavour change over and also to determine the
quality of the effluent discharged into receiving waters. Measured parameters include pH,
Total Suspended Solids, electrical conductivity, Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical
Oxygen Demand, Total Hardness, Total Alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, colour, turbidity,
phosphorus, iron, lead, copper, zinc total coliforms, faecal coliforms, Enterococci and E.
coli using standard protocols set by APHA. The physicochemical quality of the effluent
wastewater was significantly better than the influent wastewater except for Phosphorus
which was more in the effluent (2.35 mg/L) than the influent (1.40 mg/L). Dissolved
oxygen was significantly higher in the effluent than the influent. Iron and Zinc
concentrations were higher in the influent (11.31 mg/L and 0.32 mg/L respectively) than
in the effluent (1.42 mg/L and 0.08 mg/L respectively). However, the opposite was
recorded for Lead and Copper concentrations. Differences in microbial numbers between
that in the influent and effluent were not statistically significant. The plant shut down
phase recorded a higher concentration in all the physicochemical parameters analysed
except for B.O.D. Higher concentrations of B.O.D, C.O.D and D.O above the WHO
standard were recorded, accounting for the high odour emitted from the treatment plant.
The high odour released from the treatment facility can be attributed to the high
concentration of C.O.D and B.O.D and the low concentration of D.O resulting in
anaerobic respiration with the resultant release of ammonia and other gases which
accounts for the odour.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Materials Engineering
of the College of Engineering, in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the degree of Master of Science, in
Environmental Resources Management