Abstract

CORREA RESTREPO, Gloria; CUERVO FUENTES, Hernán; MEJIA RUIZ, Roberto  and  AGUIRRE, Néstor. Monitoring of the stabilization ponds system in Santa Fé de Antioquia, Colombia. Rev. P+L [online]. 2012, vol.7, n.2, pp.36-51. ISSN 1909-0455.

Introduction. This Research work introduces the results obtained in the monitoring of the stabilization ponds system used to treat domestic waste waters in Santa Fe de Antioquia, a town located in the West of Antioquia. The system has a treatment train which includes an anaerobic pond that works coordinated with another two that are facultative, operating in parallel. This project started because of the problem caused by stinking odors in the communities located near the waste water treatment plant of Santa Fe de Antioquia. Objective. Evaluating and monitoring the behavior of the stabilization ponds system used to treat domestic waste water in Santa Fe de Antioquia. Methodology. Five samplings were performed between November 2006 and December 2007. 14 sampling stations were established, comprehending the influent and the effluent of each pond, the center of each pond, three different depths and the total effluent of the system. The following variables were determined: Environment and water temperature, dissolved oxygen, redox potential, pH, COD, DBO₅, total solids, dissolved solids, suspended solids, settle able solids, volatile suspended solids, "a" chlorophyll and flow. With the time-space analysis of the variables, the best performance conditions of this treatment system were related. Results. In the anaerobic pond a media temperature of 26,7 °C was obtained and in the facultative ponds the temperature was approximately 28,0 °C. As for the dissolved oxygen, average data of 17,4 y 24,6 mg/L were reported on the surfaces of the facultative ponds, and these decreased with respect to depth and time. The media of the redox potential in the anaerobic pond was -235 mV, and for the facultative ponds it varied between 24 and 69 mV. The media of the pH in the facultative ponds was 7,5 in their centers, varying in time and space, while that of the anaerobic pond was 7,0 with a little variation due to its depth. In general, in both facultative ponds, during the daytime, there was a chemical stratification. Important values were measured for the "a" chlorophyll production in the facultative ponds, with media values up to 2.275 ug/L. When the efficiency of the system was measured, a load removal in soluble DBOS of 92% was obtained, considering a variation for anaerobic pond between 50% and 70% and between 59% and 62% for the facultative ones. Conclusions. According to this research, it can be clearly appreciated how the control of the physical-chemical standards and the flows that enter in the pond system is essential for an adequate operation of the plant. On the other hand, the anaerobic pond is the unit that produces distress in the community due to the generation of stinking odors, so its removal efficiency is a factor that must be highly regarded in the treatment plant.

Keywords : stabilization ponds; stinking odors; temperature; application load; detention time; "a"· chlorophyll; efficiency.

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