Frequently changes and expansion in industry leads to new processing lines being developed, which in turn results in a new effluent streams. These new effluents may contain unusual compounds or simply result in a higher or more concentrated flow and may require additional treatment before discharge. Treatability studies are also of use to businesses beginning to treat their own waste for the first time, perhaps as a result of increasing trade effluent disposal costs. Aqua Enviro have technical expertise in a selection of technologies that can be trialled under differing operating conditions to optimise the proposed treatment system.

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Lab Scale RBC		Lab Scale MBR		Lab Scale Anaerobic Reactors

In the past, studies have been undertaken for water companies and industrial clients using technologies such as traditional activated sludge, SBR (sequencing batch reactors), MBR (membrane bioreactors), RBC (rotating biological contactors) and various anaerobic digesters. After initial discussions to determine the approach or technology that is expected to successfully meet effluent quality requirement, a treatability programme can be put together.

Studies can be tailored to suit individual customer requirements but are scheduled for a minimum of 4 weeks to allow a biomass to develop and acclimatise to the waste stream. Data concerning the influent and effluent to the treatment system is collected along with monitoring of the biomass and gas production if required. If constraints allow then the toxic or shock loading will also be applied to allow recovery characteristics to be determined. A report is produced covering all the data and operational parameters used; this outlines the treatment options available and any areas of further investigation that are necessary. Aqua Enviro are then able to scale up the pilot study and to work with process designers to determine the optimum solution for difficult or inhibitory wastes.