Determination of changes in wastewater quality through a treatment works using fluorescence spectroscopy

Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize municipal wastewater at various stages of treatment in order to understand how its fluorescence signature changes with treatment and how the signal relates to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The impact of size fractionation on the fluorescence signal was also investigated. Fluorescence measurements were taken for unfiltered and filtered (0.45 and 0.20 microm) samples of crude, settled and secondary treated wastewater (activated sludge and trickling filter), and final effluent. Good correlations were observed for unfiltered, diluted wastewater samples between BOD and fluorescence intensity at excitation 280 nm, emission 350 nm (Peak T1) (r = 0.92) and between COD and Peak T1 intensity (r = 0.85). The majority of the T1 and T2 signal was found to be derived from the <0.20 microm fraction. Initial results indicate that fluorescence spectroscopy, and changes in Peak T1 intensity in particular, could be used for continuous, real-time wastewater quality assessment and process control of wastewater treatment works.