The sludge burden wastewater from coagulation, flocculation and filter backwashing may
create large problems for many water suppliers concerning discharge or recycling
possibilities. The approach taken by the Waterworks Hosterwitz in Dresden, Germany, investigated
various options for sludge recycling before selecting biological treatment and subsequent recycling in
recultivation. Further, different treatment
technologies have been studied to evaluate the resulting advantages concerning sludge
withdrawal and treatment. Feasible variants of the considered technologies (indirect
discharge, modification and supplementation of the present technology, compact
coagulation, and membrane filtration) have been designed to allow for a
comparison of performance, space requirements and resulting capital expenses (CAPEX)
and operating expenses (OPEX). Following investigation and economical comparisons,
the option of direct sludge withdrawal from coagulation/sedimentation basins by an external
company, and construction of a sludge storage volume as basin or tank was selected. Sludge withdrawal from sedimentation basins presented the most economically beneficial solution, but the low costs of this option faces technological
shortcomings, since water and sludge treatment cannot be completely separated, and
therefore, mutual interactions can not be excluded. Providing additional sludge storage
volume and treatment appears to be technologically more beneficial but is space consuming.
Generally, modification and supplementation of the present technologies appeared to be
economically the best solution. Onsite sludge storage and treatment would be preferable,
if the required space is available. If not, compact coagulation and membrane filtration
are the more promising alternatives to reducing sludge production. Includes 5 references, figures.