Bacteria & Algae – How Their Growth Impacts Inorganic Waste Removal From Water
Wastewater treatment plants have to deal with a lot of pollutants and metals. They have to segregate not just oil and grease but all kinds of organic and inorganic materials from the water. All these pollutants and impurities pose numerous challenges. For example, the removal of metals is a very critical aspect of wastewater inorganic removal.
Removal Of Metals From Wastewater
The metals contained in any wastewater stream might range from 0.03mg per liter to 540.6 mg per liter in concentration. This concentration is very challenging for the components of a wastewater treatment plant. Just the use of a regular wastewater bar screen or a sludge screening system is not going to be enough. Metals such as manganese, zinc, iron, and aluminum are found in wastewater streams and their concentration values can easily be around 540.6, 149.7, 39.1, and 38.8 mg per liter respectively.
The removal efficiency of your wastewater treatment plant should be more than 50%. This is the only way to ensure that the water coming out of your plant is usable in some form or another. It is still not going to be usable for drinking purposes but several other applications that are dependent on water.
Metal Assimilation With The Help Of Bacteria
You can easily improve the removal efficiency of your wastewater plant by utilizing the metal assimilation qualities of bacteria and other biological organisms. Various metals including aluminum, calcium, chlorine, chromium, barium, arsenic, copper, iron, zinc, and manganese, and many more can be easily removed with the help of a few biologically active bacteria. The removal efficiency of your plant is going to be affected by several factors such as the concentration of the metal and the bacteria abundance. The pH of the process is also going to impact how well your treatment plant is able to carry out wastewater inorganic removal before you begin with fat oil and grease screening.
Reason For Unexpected High Metal Removal Efficiencies
What causes high removal efficiencies of some metals such as iron, manganese, and zinc? The biggest reason for unexpected high removal efficiencies in your wastewater treatment plant when it comes to segregating a few metals including the ones mentioned above can be the type of microorganisms present in the wastewater treatment system.
For example, several of the bacteria that are included in any wastewater treatment stream seem to be a little less active when it comes to assimilating nickel and cadmium. The same bacteria culture can easily assimilate a large amount of zinc and iron. This is due to the composition of the wastewater and also the various species of algae present in it.
For some metals, for example, zinc and mercury, close to 4 algae species have been found to cause some variation in metal absorption and assimilation by the bacteria culture present in the wastewater stream. Experts say that one of the biggest reasons for variable metal removal efficiencies is that different algal species require different conditions to survive. They, in turn, impact the ability of the bacteria in the water to assimilate metal in varying degrees.
Conclusion
Metal removal is an essential part of inorganic waste removal from water sources. The combination of the right bacteria and other microorganisms can help you boost the efficiency of your wastewater treatment plant.
