Microbiological and physicochemical treatments applied to metallurgic industry aiming water reuse

A study was conducted on the reuse of the water in a system composed of a sewage treatment plant (STP) using prolonged aeration with activated sludge and a compact water treatment plant (CWTP) in a metallurgic industry. The processes for obtaining the water for reuse were microbiological and physicochemical. The domestic sewage was then pumped to the STP, where biological flocks were formed and clarified water was obtained. The efficiency of the microbiological process in the STP was evaluated for removal of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sedimentary solids (SS). The efficiency of physicochemical processes for clarifying the water and disinfection was evaluated through analysis of pH, turbidity, color, aerobic heterotrophic bacterial count, free chlorine, hardness, alkalinity, chlorides, sulfates and dissolved total solids (DTS). In the reuse of the water, acute toxicity for the microcrustaceans Daphnia similis was also evaluated