Assessment of readily biodegradable organic matter in Vilnius municipality's wastewater: a case study

Abstract

Assessment of readily biodegradable organic matter in Vilnius municipality's waste-water: a case study. An aerobic batch test was used to determine the concentrations of readily biodegradable chemical oxygen's demand (COD) in primary settled wastewater of the Vilnius Wastewater Treatment Plant. The obtained con¬centrations are in compliance with typical referred to concentrations of readily biodegradable COD in primary settled wastewater and on avera¬ge they comprise of 12.5% of the total COD. The relationship between the concentrations of readily biodegradable COD and the total COD in pri¬mary settled wastewater was also observed. The concentration of readily biodegradable COD decreased significantly compared to results ob¬tained in 1998. It may be stated that phosphorus could be removed from wastewater biologically. However, in order to ensure successful biological phosphorus removal in practice it is necessary to evaluate other factors that could affect biological phosphorus removal.