The most direct way to find out whether the activated sludge in a water treatment plant is stable and functioning optimally is to characterize it. With Orvion ASP (Activated Sludge Profiling) the microbiological composition of the activated sludge in a treatment plant is routinely mapped and it becomes clear when significant changes occur.
Changes in the activated sludge provide an early insight into possible changes in the functioning of a treatment plant and thus into the need to make adjustments. The following themes, among others, benefit from early identification of deviations in the activated sludge:
- Sludge leaching : Early intervention when the relative proportion of thread-forming bacteria, such as Microthrix, in the activated sludge increases significantly – or over a threshold value. Avoid sludge flushing and use of chemicals.
- Nitrification : Gain insight into the nitrifying biomass and deviations in it that lead to a reduced nitrogen removal. Assessing the optimal aeration strategy for nitrifying biomass (energy saving)
- Bio-P : Insight into the phosphate removing bacteria (PAO) and the competing bacteria (GAO). Sufficient abundance of PAO is required for a robust Bio-P process and must remain dominant over GAO.
Orvion ASP is composed of the following components:
- Monthly characterization of the activated sludge to gain insight into the microbial composition with ORVIdecode NGS analyses. The results are processed and visualized in a digital dashboard environment. The data is updated monthly with the latest ASP results of a purification.
- The ASP data is graphically elaborated within defined themes, such as light sludge, nitrification, Bio-P, etc. Deviations in the composition of the activated sludge within these themes thus become immediately apparent.
- Optional : Integration of physical and/or chemical process data of the treatment in the digital environment, such as concentrations C, N, P in the effluent, removal efficiencies, sludge load, sludge volume index (SVI), etc.
- Optional: Have quantitative qPCR analyzes performed (or do it yourself) at a higher frequency on a number of selected key processes for faster response times.
- Optional : Compare ASP data between purifications to assess how they perform among themselves and to be able to learn from each other (only if both parties agree to this).
