Mechanical Helminth Eggs Separation for Wastewater Purification: Analysis of the Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

Extended Abstract Around 900 million people in developing countries now live without access to clean drinking or industrial water. Water-borne pathogens cause particularly high death rates in children and immunocompromised people. In this context, the helminth eggs are of particular importance. Sedimentation is a widely used method for mechanical cleaning of wastewater. In order to use the sedimentation principle effectively, the sinking behavior of the particles should be known. In the case of the small sewage treatment plants, the question is more complex, as the residence times are shorter and the existing, possibly turbulent flow fields play a greater role for the movement of the pathogens. An overview on the problematic of parasites in wastewater solution methods was presented by Cornel and Kneidl [1]. The aim of the present research is the development of a validated computer simulation model to determine the sinking behavior of helminth eggs and its application to predict the separation characteristics of a small sewage treatment plant with a subsequent optimization of the separation behavior of helminth eggs in this plant. Experimental and numerical