Biological Activated Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Plant before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Marius-Daniel Roman, Cornel Sava, Dana-Adriana Iluțiu-Varvara (), Roxana Mare, Lavinia-Lorena Pruteanu, Elena Maria Pică and Lorentz Jäntschi
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Marius-Daniel Roman: Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Cornel Sava: Faculty of Engineering Materials and the Environment, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dana-Adriana Iluțiu-Varvara: Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Roxana Mare: Faculty of Building Services Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Lavinia-Lorena Pruteanu: Department of Chemistry and Biology, North University Center at Baia Mare, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 76 Victoriei Street, 430122 Baia Mare, Romania
Elena Maria Pică: Faculty of Engineering Materials and the Environment, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Street, 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Lorentz Jäntschi: Department of Physics and Chemistry, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 103-105 Bd. Muncii, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the related measures brought a change in daily life that affected the characteristics of the municipal wastewater and further, of the biological activated sludge. The activated sludge process is the most widely used biological wastewater treatment process in developed areas. In this paper, we aim to show the situation of specific investigations concerning the variation of the physicochemical parameters and biological composition of the activated sludge from one conventional wastewater treatment plant from a metropolitan area. The investigations were carried out for three years: 2019, 2020 and 2021. The results showed the most representative taxa of microorganisms: Microtrix , Aspidisca cicada , Vorticella convallaria , Ciliata free of the unknown and Epistylis and Rotifers . Even if other microorganisms were found in the sludge flocs, their small presence did not influence in any way the quality of the activated sludge and of the wastewater treatment process. That is why we conclude that protozoa (especially Flagellates and Ciliates ) and rotifers were the most important. Together with the values and variation of the physicochemical parameters, they indicated a good, healthy, and stable activated sludge, along with an efficient purifying treatment process, no matter the loading conditions.

Keywords: biological activated sludge; wastewater treatment plant; COVID-19 pandemic; microorganisms; bacteria; protozoa; rotifers; nitrification tank; microscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11323-:d:910477

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