Application of the model of sludge volume index forecasting to assess reliability and improvement of wastewater treatment plant operating conditions

The article presents a mathematical model for the analysis of operational reliability of a wastewater treatment plant, in which sedimentation of activated sludge and removal of biogenic compounds were taken into account. The presented model allows for continuous control and monitoring of both processes, even in the case of measurement discontinuities. In the presented approach, the values of quality indicators can be determined using selected data mining methods on the basis of wastewater flow and temperature measurements. The paper proposes an innovative indicator that takes into account the interaction between the quantity, the quality of inflowing wastewater expressed by means of physicochemical parameters and the susceptibility of activated sludge for bulking. Based on the presented calculation algorithm, an exemplary concept of controlling the biological process (mixed liquor suspended solids, oxygen concentration and the amount of coagulant dosed) is presented, taking into account the variable conditions at the inflow to the bioreactor.