The online sensor WATERTRACE was adapted to the matrix of treated wastewater and used to control the process of organic trace substances elimination in the fourth treatment stage. The TZW supported the partners with technical advice and ran laboratory tests and reference analyses during the project.
The increasing waste water contamination by organic trace substances of anthropogenic origin, many of which are not removed in sewage treatment plants, faces their operators with new challenges. In addition to chemicals from industry and households, especially pharmaceuticals that should not be discharged into surface water due to their bioactivity effect are to be mentioned here. In order to reduce environmental pollution, sewage plant operators are increasingly planning the expansion and commissioning of a fourth treatment stage for the elimination of organic trace substances with activated carbon or ozone. In order to reduce environmental pollution by eliminating organic trace substances, a growing number of sewage plant operators are planning the expansion and commissioning of a fourth treatment stage with activated carbon or ozone.
In order to enable a demand-oriented activated carbon dosing of the fourth treatment stage, in this project exemplarily an online sensor system detecting volatile organic trace substances was to be adapted to the on-site requirements and their complex waste water matrix at the sewage treatment plant of the Stadtentwässerung Mannheim. In addition to the evaluation of a sensor-specific sum signal, it was possible to give some indications to compounds from the entirety of the substances contained in the wastewater as indicator substances. Based on the elimination of these substances, the treatment stage could be monitored.
After the installation of the sensor system in a container at the waste water treatment plant of Mannheim a continuous sampling procedure of feed and drain of the fourth treatment stage was started.
In addition to the evaluation of the sensor sum-signal, it was also intended to identify dominant individual substances by further automated sample preparation techniques and learned evaluation routines.
Publications:
Happel, O.; Mertineit, S.; Brauch, H.-J.: Online-Sensor zur Überwachung der Wasserbeschaffenheit auf organische Verbindungen. Vom Wasser 110/3, 80-83 (2012)
Happel, O.; Mertineit, S.; Brauch, H.-J.; Krieg, G.; Fey, D.; Coric, D.; Walter M.: Online-Sensorsystem zur Überwachung der Wasserbeschaffenheit auf organische Verbindungen Mitt Umweltchem Ökotox 2012, 18(3) 66-69 (2012)
Krieg, G.; Fey, D.; Happel, O.; Mertineit, S.: Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Detektion von Fremdstoffen in Wasser, Europäische Patentschrift EP 2786126 B1, Patenterteilung: 11.10.2017.
