Trickling filter technology for treating wastewater

Wastewater can be high in organic matter and nutrients, and biological treatment may be required to achieve approved environmental discharge standards. Treatment systems for Australian processing plants usually involve dissolved air floatation (DAF) and an anaerobic system, followed by an activated sludge process. The two key shortcomings of this type of treatment system involves spatial footprint (i.e. large anaerobic lagoons) and high power costs (i.e. to power activated sludge systems). As a result, operators wish to evaluate alternative methods for removing organic waste from wastewater and this report considers the potential for application of trickling filters (TFs) for the industry.