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WATER TREATMENT

Anticipating the next century of wastewater treatment Advances in activated sludge sewage treatment can improve its energy use and resource recovery By Mark C. M. van Loosdrecht1 and Damir Brdjanovic1,2

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apid urbanization and industrialization in the 19th century led to unhealthy environments and widespread epidemic diseases. In response, research was undertaken that led to the development of sanitation technology. Exactly 100 years since the activated sludge process was presented (1), it is still at the heart of current sewage treatment technology. Activated sludge is a mixture of inert solids from sewage combined with a microbial population growing on the biodegradable substrates present in the sewage. The settling and recycling of sludge inside treatment plants was the invention of Ardern and Lockett. The current demands from a rapidly growing human population and the need for a more sustainable society are pushing forward new developments for sewage handling. These developments have two main drivers: general process improvements and the contribution to the recycling of resources (2, 3). The activated sludge process, combined with a better drinking water supply, was the main factor behind the increase in average life span in the previous century and for minimizing the environmental impact of human activities. Wastewater treatment is in itself a relatively low-cost process (in the Netherlands, 50 to 70 EUR per person per

year), consuming limited energy (

Water treatment. Anticipating the next century of wastewater treatment.

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