Agri-food companies generate industrial discharge with very specific characteristics. In particular, discharge conditions of the tomato processing industry are very variable both in flow and in load, and the particular conditions that are generated select the organisms present in the activated sludge.

Adiquímica, in collaboration with Grupo Bioindicación de Sevilla (GBS), has carried out a study to evaluate three activated sludge samples from three different IWWTP of the sector above mentioned according to the Sludge Volume Index (SVI). Taking into account the SVI index, Adiquímica raised the possibility of carrying out a simplified study of the activated sludge depending on its macroscopic and microscopic propierties, and it could be concluded that they share common biological conditions such as large flocs formation and the dominance of the Thiothrix sp filament.

Furthermore, the SVI value is related to the percentage of Suspended Solids, COD, BOD, Nitrogen and Phosphorous reduction, and the sampling showed that there is high availability of soluble carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous deficiency and certain septicity caused by overloads in campaign, which seem to be the cause of this specificity and combine in monoculture conditions with respect to this filamentous species.

The exponential growth capacity of this filament and other filamentous species that may appear in the activated sludge in the face of certain environmental conditions require a rigorous control of the process that Adiquímica offers to avoid severe alterations in decantability and, therefore, loss of quality in the customer”s discharge.

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This study has been published in TECNOAQUA journal.