Performance evaluation of Activated Sludge Process in Dairy Waste water Treatment

Abstract— Wastewater from dairy industries generally has oils and greases in high concentration and contains high concentration of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). This experimental study is being initiated to evaluate an Activated Sludge Process (ASP) with mixed bacteria for dairy waste water treatment. A three phase study was carried out by varying hydraulic retention time (HRT). The study is being undertaken in two steps in which the bacteria is being cultured in a medium by the process of acclimatization. The later stage will be the determination of the operating parameters.   The characteristics of dairy industry waste water were studied and the performance was analyzed. A lab-scale ASP was set up for the study of the performance in treatment of effluent. The effect of various aeration time phases were analyzed in the lab scale Aeration Process for the HRT time of (2, 4, 6) hrs respectively. ASP efficiently removes BOD, COD and nutrients when designed and professionally operated according to local requirements. From the effects of various HRT, the 6 hrs HRT was more efficient in removal of the organic matter. The removal efficiency of COD, BOD and TSS were 97%, 97.5% and 96% respectively. In this process all the parameters were within the standard discharge limits. Hence, the enhancement of organic removal from dairy effluent using ASP was found feasible