Biological Wastewater Treatment

CE 59700

Credit Hours:

3

Instructor:

Zhi Zhou

Learning Objective:

There are three modules in the course.

At the end of module 1 (Biological principles in wastewater treatment), students are expected to:

  • understand general biological principles and design practice of wastewater treatment
  • apply the knowledge to select the best unit process to treat wastewater
  • design a wastewater treatment component or process to meet water quality treatment goals

At the end of module 2 (Nutrient removal and resource recovery in wastewater), students are expected to:

  • understand general principles of biological nitrogen removal and biological phosphorus removal
  • apply the knowledge to select the best unit process to remove nutrients
  • apply the knowledge to select the best unit process to recovery resources
  • analyze and evaluate biofuel systems

At the end of module 3 (Modern biotechnologies for wastewater treatment), students are expected to:

  • understand modern biotechnologies and their applications in wastewater treatment
  • select appropriate biotechniques to understand, characterize, and optimize wastewater treatment systems
  • assess public health risks associated with antibiotic resistant bacteria and viruses in wastewater.

Description:

Water scarcity is one of the most critical challenges in the human society. Billions of people in the world have poor access to clean water and such a situation is getting worse with rapid population growth and industrial development. Wastewater treatment is an important approach to recover valuable water and reduce its pollution to the environment and risks to humans. Biological wastewater treatment is a cost-effective and most used technique for wastewater treatment. The objectives of the first module are to introduce biological principles and design practice of wastewater treatment and to prepare students for designing wastewater treatment systems.

Nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for all living organisms. However, excess amount of nutrients in wastewater often result in eutrophication that may deplete oxygen, promote harmful algal boom, and even create dead zone for aquatic organisms. Therefore, nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater should be adequately treated before discharge. Additionally, there are growing interests to recover nutrients and energy from wastewater to reduce treatment costs and improve the sustainability of wastewater treatment systems. The objectives of the second module are to introduce the fundamental knowledge and practice of biological nutrient removal and resource recovery in wastewater treatment and prepares students for designing biological nutrient removal and resource recovery systems.

Modern biotechnologies have been widely used in clinical diagnosis, food production, and pharmaceutical industry. Their applications in wastewater treatment have greatly improved the accuracy and efficiency of characterizing biological systems in biological wastewater treatment plants and the natural environment. The objectives of the third module are to introduce modern biotechnologies and their applications in biological wastewater treatment and prepares students for understanding, characterizing, and optimizing wastewater treatment systems.

Topics Covered:

The major topics in the first module include design and construction process, preliminary treatment of wastewater, primary treatment, wastewater microbiology, secondary treatment, attached microbial growth, secondary settling, disinfection, post-aeration, and wastewater plant residuals management.

The major topics in the second module include nitrogen removal, phosphorus removal, resource recovery, anaerobic digestion, and biofuel.

The major topics of the third module include fundamentals of microbiology, stoichiometry and microbial metabolism, membrane treatment systems and biofouling, molecular microbiology tools, antibiotic resistance, and viruses.

Prerequisites:

Graduate standing or permission from instructor

Applied/Theory:

70/30

Web Address:

http://purdue.brightspace.com

Web Content:

Syllabus, grades, lecture notes, solutions and quizzes

Quizzes:

Quizzes are given on a weekly basis and comprise 50% of the final grade of the course.

Exam:

One final exam will be given at the end of the source and comprises 50% of the final grade of the course.

Textbooks:

Required textbook:

Recommended textbook:

Computer Requirements:

Access to common software (e.g., MS Office) is expected.