SIMAM provides MBR technology for Italian plant

Italian engineering and construction company, SIMAM S.p.A from Senigallia, has just completed work on a major expansion project at a wastewater treatment plant in Terni, Italy.

The water treatment plant is owned by a large Italian company and handles concentrate from dyeing processes. SIMAM, a specialist in water and wastewater treatment, was involved in the construction of an MBR plant which will treat the concentrate from those processes. The 10 m3/h stream is particularly difficult to treat because of the presence of surfactants and a high organic load, which has an impact on the factory's overall biological treatment processes.

As chemical oxygen demand (COD) from raw water has a very high biodegradability and very low sludge production when used with MBR technology, SIMAM's solution minimises the waste produced by focusing on transforming COD into carbon dioxide instead of biomass. The output flow from the ultrafiltration has a residual COD of 600–1200 mg/l and a residual surfactant of 10–20 mg/l. The resulting residual COD is then biologically treated, away from other sections of the treatment plant. In addition, downstream from the aeration basin, the ultrafiltration (UF) modules are fed by gravity.