THE IMPETUS AND RATIONALE FOR BIOLOGICAL APPROACH AND BREAKTHROUGH IN WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

1. The belief that Sustainable and Clean Energy from biomass is by way or the microbe, through advances in applied biological engineering, and that the full potential of manipulating bacteria communities for the production of goods and services is yet to be topped!

2. Recognition of:

  1. a general lack of awareness of the richness of microbial types and activities especially the comparative neglect of anaerobic, slow-growing organisms that present rheological problems in confined engineered environments [Rheology is the study of the flow of matter]

  2. the need to correct on existing shortcoming

    • that engineering has received less attention than the biological sciences, especially in the discoveries and innovations in the fields of modern mainstream biotechnology.
    • that engineering advances are inevitably much slower and therefore major breakthroughs are infrequent relying more on a rather empirical approach:

"Over the years, improvements in anaerobic digestion of POME hove come by means of experimentation and intuition, there being very little engineering kinetics data which con be used for proper design of a biogas plant"

—Waste Management in Malaysia -Current Status and Prospect for Bioremediation. 1993 by Ministry of Science, Technology And The Environment

The use of chemicals (e.g. aluminium sulphate, coagulant aids, polymers), membranes, etc is not economically, operationally and environmentally sustainable in the field of wastewater treatment.

Our experience way back in the '80s. with what seemed to be the precursor of the self­-flushing hollow-fibre membrane filter now in vogue, which was used for removing residual suspended solids from the clarifier of a water treatment plant designed to treat a turbid water source for domestic use, made us realize the sheer impracticality of using membrane for the treatment of wastewater, even in the tertiary stage.

Reason: fouling, rapid pressure drop, close-interval backwashing, shortened filter runs, disruptive plant operation
[Membrane retentate from POME is not fully stabilized, tedious to separate and convert to utilizable product, whereas in a dedicated biological plant the biosolids can be rendered to a dry form on-site for packaging following the recovery of its bioenergy content!]

A holistic biological approach in wastewater treatment may be compared to the case of traditional herbal medication in medical health care, which if prescribed correctly (process applicability and plant design compatibility, removes the symptoms (the 'obvious' pollutants like suspended solids and the bulk of dissolved organics) as well as the root causes (the deep-seated triggers of health disorder, the micro pollutants, heavy metals and recalcitrant chemicals), thereby restoring health (the original water content), no side effects (e.g. spill over impact)

With the increasing awareness on the need to adopt the best Industry practices, for economy, product certification, water security, environmental preservation and corporate profiling, the biological approach in waste management has to be the obvious choice. More so in an oil mill setting, where the benefits are manifest.

Official advocacy of the biological approach in waste management by the Government, the Institutions and the academia.

Poignant to note that in PIPOC 2011 (CP19) it is lamented that "New technology for effluent treatment is urgently needed to overcome the effluent problem." Which goes to show the timeliness and relevance of GWE's contribution in this area. [PIPOC = International Palm Oil Congress]

 

 

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