Development of Simple and Cost-effective Treatment System for Municipal Wastewater

This study developed an alternative municipal sewage treatment system based on the pilot- and full-scale experiments. This proposed system consisting of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) and trickling filter using a polyurethane sponge as packing material. This aerobic process was originally developed and named as a down-flow hanging sponge (DHS). DHS reactors accomplished high process performance during pilot- and full-scale experiments in Japan and other countries. The effluent quality of the DHS reactors was comparable to that of activated sludge systems. Moreover, advantages of DHS reactors include simple operation and maintenance (O&M), no required oxygen supply, small land requirement, and less excess sludge production. Indeed, the estimated energy requirement and excess sludge production of UASB and DHS systems were found to be approximately 75 and 85 % lower than those of conventional activated sludge systems, respectively. The high process performance can be attributed to the fact that the DHS reactor maintains much of the sludge in the reactor at concentrations 5–10 times higher than activated sludge. This indicates that DHS reactors have the potential for use as reliable, affordable, and efficient treatment systems, and can be used widely including developing countries

Use of G3-DHS Bioreactor for Secondary Treatment of Septic Tank Desludging Wastewater

Study was done for the use of the third-generation of downflow hanging sponge (G3-DHS) bioreactor for secondary treatment of septic tank desludging wastewater. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the prospective system of G3-DHS bioreactor to be applied in Indonesia. During experiment, the G3-DHS bioreactor kept a relatively high dissolved oxygen concentration under natural aeration. At a relatively short hydraulic retention (HRT) of 3 h, the G3-DHS bioreactor could remove up to 21% (SD = 15%) of total COD, 21% (SD = 7%) of filtered-COD, 58% (SD = 24%) of unfiltered-BOD, and 33% (SD = 24%) of ammonium removal. The final effluent had an unfiltered-BOD of only 46 mg/L (SD = 20 mg/L) that it was below the Indonesian standard (unfiltered-BOD = 100 mg/L) for thresholds of domestic wastewater treatment plants effluent

Unjuk Kerja Down-Flow Hanging Sponge (DHS) Bioreaktor sebagai Secondary Treatment untuk Pengolahan Limbah Domestik

Pencemaran air limbah akan terus bertambah dengan meningkatnya jumlah penduduk dan aktifitas masyarakat. Berbagai proses telah diaplikasikan untuk pengolahan limbah domestik, tetapi umumnya proses-proses tersebut membutuhkan biaya operasi dan perawatan yang relatif mahal. Downflow Hanging Sponge (DHS) telah diusulkan sebagai pemecahan persoalan penanganan limbah domestik untuk negara-negara berkembang. DHS bioreaktor adalah pengolahan limbah secara biologis yang tidak membutuhkan aerator dan mudah dalam pengoperasian. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi bioreaktor DHS sehingga dapat diterapkan di Indonesia. Bioreakor DHS dioperasikan dengan hydraulic retention time (HRT) 4 jam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan DHS bioreaktor mampu mengurangi hingga 34% Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) total, 33% soluble Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), 80% Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) total, dan 65% ammonia