Pond systems may constitute the entirety of the wastewater treatment works, or they may be a component of a plant aimed at secondary treatment and “polishing”. However deterioration of such secondary oxidation ponds can result in water quality actually deteriorating during passage through the ponds so that secondary treatment reverses the benefits of primary treatment.
Sludge and muck accumulation acts to lower effective retention time and can also directly contribute to excess contaminants in discharged treated effluent. Anaerobic organic sediments has been identified as a key producer of greenhouse gases such as methane.
The nutrients present in the sediments can also fuel algae blooms which are often dominated by toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
The Biotechnology Solution Platorm enables pond systems to become productive efficient wastewater treatment processing units, improving water quality and eliminating algae and CyanoHAB blooms.