AVALIAÇÃO DOS MÉTODOS DE ESPECIFICAÇÃO DE CARGA E CINÉTICO-HIDRODINÂMICO NO DIMENSIONAMENTO DE SISTEMAS DE TRATAMENTO DE ÁGUAS RESIDUÁRIAS

Abstract

Access to efficient sanitation is a right of every Brazilian citizen and the universalization of this service must be achieved as soon as possible. In this sense, the choice of efficient and less expensive sewage treatment systems is essential for more municipalities to have access to this right. In this context, the method of sizing sewage treatment units is an important variable that can directly influence the cost of installing these units. However, this factor is not always studied, and this can impair the dimensioning of these units, thus hindering the dissemination of treatment plants in Brazil. Thus, the present study aims to compare the kinetic-hydrodynamic modeling and load specification model applied in the design of constructed wetlands and stabilization ponds. In this context, with the use of statistical estimators, the adequacy of the models studied in the removal of organic matter was evaluated. For the kinetic-hydrodynamic modeling, the model that presented the best suitability for all the scenarios studied was the one that associates Monod kinetics with complete mixture hydrodynamics (CSTR). On the other hand, the applied load specification method showed a low correlation in the removal of pollutants in all units studied. In addition, in order to compare the methods, the dimensioning of the treatment units was carried out according to the most suitable models of each method. In this context, this study found that the design of constructed wetlands was more efficient using kinetic-hydrodynamic modeling. As for the stabilization ponds, the dimensioning by the method of load specification guaranteed units with smaller dimensions.