Design and Implementation of a WWTP by Active Sludge System at Laboratory Scale, Faculty of Livestock Sciences ESPOCH

The wastewater treatment using activated sludge is considered an aerobic biological treatment method, being one of the most efficient strategies for organic matter removal. In this study, the experimental investigative method was used, which consisted of five stages, first the collection of information, then the sampling of wastewater in the slaughterhouse of the San Pedro de Pelileo canton, then the characterization of the effluents, fourth the execution of calculations for the design of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and finally the verification of the efficiency of the system. The design of the WWTP on a laboratory scale is made up of three tanks: storage, aeration and sedimentation with extensions of 60 × 60 × 85 cm and two tanks: collection of treated water and sludge with extensions of 60 × 60 × 70 cm. The treatment was carried out varying the hydraulic retention times (72–36–12–4 h), respectively. As a result of the treatment, the elimination of the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) was modified with an initial value of 29,500 to 300 mg/L in a hydraulic retention time of 2 h. It is concluded that the biological treatment carried out in the laboratory-scale WWTP is excellent in terms of efficiency to remove contaminants since the sedimentable solids were eliminated in 99.9% of the effluents from the slaughterhouse.