The objective of this work was to determine the technical feasibility of using a diffused aeration process for final
pH adjustment at the City of Houston Southeast Water Purification Plant (SEWPP), evaluate the aeration efficiency at various air-to-water
ratios, and the impacts of water depths and detention time on aeration process.
The aeration for pH adjustment pilot plant was designed by CDM, Inc. and consists of an aeration tank with a nominal capacity of 10,250 US gallons, an aeration system, a
rotary lobe PD blower skids with a VFD drive, an orifice plate flow meter, and an ultrasonic flow meter.
A fine bubble aeration system by Sanitaire was selected as testing aeration system.
Pilot testing was performed at SEWPP. The
settled water from existing treatment module settle water channel was used as testing water and is
introduced to the aeration tank though 10-inch PVC pipe. Air is supplied by the blower and transported
to the air diffuser system through 4-inch carbon steel pipe. Treated water is discharged into the existing
54-inch sedimentation basin drain pipe and flows back to the plant process overflow basin.
Water flow rate is manually controlled by adjusting the influent butterfly valve and monitored by the
ultrasonic flow meter. Air flow rate is controlled by adjusting the blower motor speed and monitored by
the orifice flow meter. Sample tap has been installed on the discharge line to collect effluent sample for
analyzing pH and water quality.
Aeration pilot-scale testing was conducted under both batch and continuous flow conditions. Various
hydraulic detention times, water depths, and air to water ratios were tested to evaluate pH changes under
each testing condition. The initial pH of the settled water ranged from 7.1 to 7.4 during the testing
period. For each test condition, the initial and final pH values, alkalinity, hardness, total Cl<sub>2</sub> residual,
dissolved oxygen (DO), UV transmittance, and volatile organic carbon (VOC) were recorded.
Given the large volume of testing water, water temperature is not expected to change much during each
test. The water temperature was measured at the tank inlet and outlet sample taps during the aeration
process and the difference was less than 1°C. Includes 5 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 13 |
| Published : | 11/15/2004 |
