The UASB reactor as an alternative for the septic tank for on-site sewage treatment

Although septic tanks are amply used for on site sewage treatment, these units have serious drawbacks: the removal efficiency of organic material and suspended solids is low, the units are costly and occupy a large area and operational cost is high due to the need for periodic desludging. In this pa...

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Published in:Water Science & Technology Vol. 48; no. 11-12; pp. 221 - 226
Main Authors: COELHO, A. L. S. S, DO NASCIMENTO, M. B. H, CAVALCANTI, P. F. F, VAN HAANDEL, A. C
Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London IWA 01-01-2003
IWA Publishing
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Summary:Although septic tanks are amply used for on site sewage treatment, these units have serious drawbacks: the removal efficiency of organic material and suspended solids is low, the units are costly and occupy a large area and operational cost is high due to the need for periodic desludging. In this paper an innovative variant of the UASB reactor is proposed as an alternative for the septic tank. This alternative has several important advantages in comparison with the conventional septic tank: (1) Although the volume of the UASB reactor was about 4 times smaller than the septic tank, its effluent quality was superior, even though small sludge particles were present, (2) desludging of the UASB reactor is unnecessary and even counterproductive, as the sludge mass guarantees proper performance, (3) the UASB reactor is easily transportable (compact and light) and therefore can be produced in series, strongly reducing construction costs and (4) since the concentration of colloids in the UASB effluent is much smaller than in the ST effluent, it is expected that the infiltration of the effluent will be much less problematic.
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ISBN:1843394561
9781843394563
ISSN:0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI:10.2166/wst.2004.0846