Course information

• Objectives

  After completion of the course you should be able to:

  • Understand the role of different microbial groups in the removal of organic matter;
  • Comprehend the steady-state system equations and the model;
  • Understand the meaning of Carbonaceous Oxygen Demand (COD), daily sludge production, F/M Ratio and Load Factor, and sludge age (SRT);
  • Design an activated sludge plant for the removal of organic matter.
• Syllabus

  This course covers the following topics:

  • Introduction to the removal of organic matter;
  • Activated sludge system constraints;
  • Model implications;
  • Steady-state system equations;
  • Design example;
  • Reactor volume requirements;
  • Determination of rector solids concentration;
  • Carbonaceous Oxygen Demand (COD);
  • Daily sludge production;
  • F/M Ratio and Load Factor;
  • Capacity estimation of activated sludge system;
  • System design and control;
  • Selection of sludge retention time (SRT).
• Organization

  Courses in this series consist of video lectures, presentation slides, reading materials, exercises, and assignments with solutions. In principle, each video presentation has its complementary presentation slides. All videos are available for viewing in the section “Video-recorded presentations”. The materials are packaged in three (.zip) files, namely, the “Videos”, the “Presentations”, and the “Documents”. Files may be of considerable size, so you need to ensure that your computer has sufficient bandwidth and capacity for downloading. This course is based on the chapter in the book “Biological Wastewater Treatment: Principles, Modeling, and Design” 2nd edition (Chen et al., 2020). To check and expand your knowledge on the subject, it is recommended to study the corresponding chapter in the complementary book  “Biological Wastewater Treatment: Examples and Exercises” (Lopez-Vazquez et al., 2023). The two chapters are open-access and available in the section “Documents (.zip) on this webpage.

• Delivery Method

  This course is currently designed for a SELF-STUDY mode. It is FREE, and does not include guidance, support, exams, assessment, and certification. It is possible that shortly, the series (or its parts) will be adopted by institutions that may deliver the guided version, including certification. As soon as this is the case, it will be advertised on this website.

• Open Access

  The content is available for free unlimited access and use, consistent with Global Sanitation Graduate School’s commitment to ensuring open access to information and knowledge. Please note that the video materials fall under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), presentations under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), readers (OA books of IWA Publishing) under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), and other readers under the license specified by the publisher. Although care has been taken to ensure the integrity and quality of these materials and information, no responsibility is assumed by the author(s), Global Sanitation Graduate School, or IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for any damage to property or persons as a result of the use of these materials and/or the information contained herein.