Primary facultative ponds in the UK: the effect of operational parameters on performance and algal populations

Waste stabilisation pond systems in the UK are used to treat effluents from small rural communities where there are large fluctuations in both BOD load and inflow; the facultative ponds in these systems have a wide range of hydraulic retention times: between 11-86 days. Low hydraulic retention times in UK ponds are sometimes accompanied by a high BOD loading, although some have a low BOD loading due to high inflows of dilute wastewater. It is not certain whether the performance is affected by the short hydraulic retention time or high BOD loading. A pilot-scale experiment tested the effect of hydraulic retention time (20-60 days) on primary facultative pond performance whilst keeping the BOD loading constant at 80 kg/ha d. It was found that no significant loss of performance was experienced at the test range for BOD and ammonia removal; some loss in SS removal was noted at 20 days' retention time. The effect of BOD loading on the maintenance of algal populations during winter (November(February) was tested at loadings of 50 and 80 kg/ha d. Although there was a significant difference in the concentrations of chlorophyll a and dissolved oxygen between the two loadings, there was no effect on performance.