The performance of sludge blanket clarifier against conventional settler under high water turbidity conditions

The performance of a sludge blanket clarifier was evaluated and compared to conventional settlers under high levels of turbidity and algae in the field and experimentally. Field data of sludge blanket and conventional clarifier operation were observed simultaneously for the treatment of highly turbid water. In addition, a comparison was carried out on turbidity removal efficiency, algae removal, and sludge accumulation pattern. Finally, these systems were simulated in the laboratory and operated to treat turbid water with high levels of turbidity and algae up to 80 NTU and 10 cells/l respectively. Field data confirmed that the sludge blanket clarifier equipped with upper sludge cones has a high removal efficiency of turbidity and algae, ease of use and has insignificant sludge accumulation compared to the conventional settler. Further, laboratory experiments have confirmed that sludge blanket clarifier is also very effective for the treatment of high algae concentrations up to 10 cells/l, with a short retention time, compared to a conventional settler, which was not effective under these conditions.