ESTIMACIÓN Y CARACTERIZACIÓN DE SÓLIDOS EN DEPURADORAS DE AGUAS RESIDUALES

Abstract

UN estimates that 54% of the population lives in cities. Directive 91/271/EEC obliges urban agglomerations to adequately treat wastewater before pouring it into rivers or bodies of water, for which many treatment plants have been built for this purpose. However, practice shows that together with water one of the critical aspects for the operation of these facilities is the arrival of solid materials. These come not only from the runoff, but also from the materials themselves that the inhabitants discarded by the pipes in an inappropriate way, like wipes, chopsticks, hygienic elements, etc. These elements are extremely negative because they cause problems of operation, jams, surcharges, etc in the treatment plants and conduits as has been recently seen in several critical cases. This work analyses the existence of these problems, characterizes the materials to determine their origin, identifies their effects on the functioning of the sewage treatment plants and studies their arrival flows in order to prepare procedures for acting. The results are obtained from two treatment plants of different characteristics, one quite urban and the other with an urban-industrial basin.