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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Water related disease such as cholera and typhoid were rampant in Europe in
the middle of the last century. It was in 1854 that Dr. John Snow demonstrated the
connection between sewage contamination of water sources and the spread of cholera
by his investigation of The Broad Street Pump Outbreak in London. It was them
appreciated that protection of water sources, effective water treatment and
distribution system, well maintained sewers, comprehensive wastewater treatment
facilities and rational pollution control measures were vital factors in improving the
health of a community. There is thus a great need to implement appropriate water
and wastewater treatment systems all over the world and this requires engineers and
scientists to have a sound understanding of the main processes involved
Natural watercourses have considerable capacity for self-purification for
some pollutants and this and the downstream use of the receiving water are usually
taken into account when assessing allowable levels of pollution in discharges.In
sparsely populated areas it may be possible for the local streams and lakes to remain
largely unpolluted but as communities grow in size so do the pressures on the
environment.
Many pollution problems are due to effect in the dissolved oxygen in water,
since balanced aquatic ecosystem requires the presence of sufficient oxygen in the
water. Organic pollutants are usually of food for microorganisms and in their
stabilization oxygen is consumed. Excessive amounts of organic matter discharged to
a water-course will cause depletion of the dissolved oxygen level, which if serious,
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may kill most forms of aquatic life. Pollution control measures are thus aimed at
ensuring satisfactory dissolved oxygen concentrations in the receiving water,
removing excessive amounts of suspended matter and preventing the discharge of
toxic materials which would prevent full use of the water for other purposes.
To treat the pollutant water, there are various techniques attempted in order to
improve the sources of water whether with chemical reaction, mechanical action,
plant removal and natural microorganism. The natural microorganism is mostly
encouraged as the reaction are natural and produced; if any, minor long term effects.
1.1
Problem Background
Existing Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in Malaysia which are mostly
Oxidation Ponds have always faced with problems attaining the required Department
of Environment (DOE) effluent standards. Major problems related to odour emission,
instability in treatment process and excess sewage production persisted until today.
Effluents from wastewater become a big problem for those involved in
wastewater treatment industry such as Indah Water Konsortium. Sometimes the
effluents become another problem to the environmental such as effluent discharge
having highly non-biodegradable organic, odour problem, colour and others. The
common outcry from the public is smell problem emitted from the pond. Smell could
be traced up till three kilometre away from the oxidation pond especially when in the
morning and after rain, when the air is moistured.
However, odour control technology such as odour scrubber placed at almost
sewage treatment plant required such high costs depending on the concentration and
size of the sewage treatment plant. As an alternatives to reduce the cost, the
application of bio-chemical products are hoped to overcome this odour problem, at
the same time improve the quality of the treated sewage and sludge generated.
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Bio chemical product is a new technology of natural and environmental
friendly consisting of chemical and physical properties. Bacterial /enzymes
concentrate is efficient at digesting various toxicants in waste treatment system. It
reacts by maintaining the natural balance and eliminating unnatural and unfriendly
microorganisms present in the polluted water continuously.
The biochemical product used in this study is Eco Bio Block (EBB) . It is a
solid, block manufactured through stringent process of mixing the precise amount of
cement, sand, stone, environmentally friendly microorganisms with special
nourishment and volcanic stone. It infused microorganisms into cement blocks,
which treat polluted water by maintaining the natural balance and eliminating
unnatural and unfriendly microorganisms present in the polluted water continuously.
The development of EBB was built since 16 years ago. Malaysia has been the
first country to adapt this technology to treat wastewater. The pioneer projects were
done to treat Sungai Melaka and Parit Kuah at Padang Mat Silat, Langkawi, Kedah.
Another project were carried out at Putrajaya Wetland and Sungai Damansara.
This study is carried out to determine the potential usage of Eco Bio Block as
a biochemical product to upgrade the performance of STP. Sewage treatment plant at
Rumah Pangsa Kulai was selected for the purposed of the study. The technical
aspects of its mechanism, process, application, locating, hydraulic and hydrological
data was look into the process of enhancing the beneficial biological and
microorganism activities in the treatment plant, which could assist in improving the
treatment performance as well as to upgrade the treatment capability of the sewage
treatment plant.
1.2
Objectives
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The aim of this study is generally to investigate the potential usage of
applying bio-chemical products selected in assisting and improving the performance
of the sewage treatment plant. Major objectives are:
(i)
To study and understand the behaviour of bio-chemical products in
sewage treatment process
(ii)
To study the effectiveness of biochemical products in the treatment plant
– through :
o Quality of effluent before, during and after application
o Sludge minimisation
o Maintenance efficiency
1.3
Scope of Work
This study involves selection of potential biochemical products dosed in
sewage treatment (oxidation pond) at Kulai Flat House, Senai Area. Biochemical
products Eco Bio Block is chosen. Selected parameters at different point are analysed,
which includes in-situ and laboratory analysis. The monitoring and sampling are
conducted based on scheduled time
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