Characteristic and correlation analysis of influent and energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants in Taihu Basin

Highlights

Poor biodegradability and insufficient carbon source are discovered from influent.

Influent indices presented positively normal distribution or skewed distribution.

Average energy consumption of WWTPs in Taihu Basin was as high as 0.458 kWh/m³.

Energy consumption increases with the increase in influent volume and COD reduction.

The total energy consumption decreases with the NH₃-N reduction.

Abstract

The water quality and energy consumption of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Taihu Basin were evaluated on the basis of the operation data from 204 municipal WWTPs in the basin by using various statistical methods. The influent ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total nitrogen (TN) of WWTPs in Taihu Basin showed normal distribution, whereas chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), suspended solid (SS), and total phosphorus (TP) showed positively skewed distribution. The influent BOD₅/COD was 0.4%–0.6%, only 39.2% SS/BOD₅ exceeded the standard by 36.3%, the average BOD₅/TN was 3.82, and the probability of influent BOD₅/TP>20 was 82.8%. The average energy consumption of WWTPs in Taihu Basin in 2017 was 0.458 kWh/m³. The specific energy consumption of WWTPs with a daily treatment capacity of more than 5 × 10⁴ m³ in Taihu Basin was stable at 0.33 kWh/m³. A power function relationship was observed between the reduction in COD and NH₃-N and the specific energy consumption of pollutant reduction, and the higher the pollutant reduction is, the lower the specific energy consumption of pollutant reduction presents. In addition, a linear relationship existed between the energy consumption of WWTPs and the specific energy consumption of influent volume and pollutant reduction. Therefore, upgrading and operation with less energy consumption of WWTPs is imperative and the suggestions for Taihu WWTPs based on stringent discharge standard are proposed in detail.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Taihu Basin / Wastewater treatment plant / Influent characteristics / Energy consumption evaluation / Specific energy consumption / SPSS correlation analysis

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Joo Hwa Tay from University of Calgary, the financial support provided by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2017ZX07302-001), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. JUSRP51512).

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