Are standard wastewater treatment plant design methods suitable for any municipal wastewater?

The design and operational parameters of an activated sludge system were analyzed treating the municipal wastewaters in Istanbul. The design methods of ATV131, Metcalf & Eddy together with model simulations were compared with actual plant operational data. The activated sludge model parameters were determined using 3-month dynamic data for the biological nutrient removal plant. The ATV131 method yielded closer sludge production, total oxygen requirement and effluent nitrogen levels to the real plant after adopting correct influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionation. The enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) could not easily be predicted with ATV131 method due to low volatile fatty acids (VFA) potential.