Water and Wastewater Consulting Engineers Research Development
Abstract
Stabilization ponds have high capability for treating the wastewater with high organic and hydraulic loading. Hence this system is a popular means of wastewater treatment for certain industries such as slaughterhouses, dairies and food processing plants. The main objective of this study was to investigate the efficiency of stabilization ponds for treating a high organic load wastewater receiving effluent from a slaughterhouse plant in Iran. The efficiency of Kermanshah slaughterhouse wastewater treatment plant was studied over six months from September 2000 to March 2001. The general conditions and operation of the plant were considered and some wastewater treatment indexes such as pH, TSS, BOD5, COD, coliform and fecal coliform in influent and effluent were determined.The quality of the plant effluent has significant difference with the standard limits recommended by Iranian Environmental Protection Agency. The average amounts of TSS, BOD5, COD, total and fecal coliform in effluent were 280.67 mg/l, 353.17 mg/l , 580.5mg/l, 1.51*107MPN/100ml and 2.10*105 MPN/100ml respectively. The results showed that the effluent could not be used for irrigation or discharged to surface water based on the recommended standard by Iranian Environmental Protection Agency. Also, the comparison of the average number of fecal coliform in effluent with the microbiological quality guideline of World Health Organization (WHO) showed that the effluent was not acceptable for use in unrestricted irrigation