Total Dissolved Solids Management for Industrial Wastewaters

Understanding and managing the effects of total dissolved solids (TDS) on biological wastewater treatment systems is important for maintaining consistent effluent compliance at facilities where discharges tend to have high variability. High TDS and rapid fluctuations in TDS have been demonstrated to have significant impacts on biological systems and can result in depressed kinetic removal rates for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and nitrification, increased effluent total suspended solids (TSS), and altered oxygen transfer. Implementation of a TDS management strategy is critical for facilities with high TDS variability as wastewater treatment upset can result in noncompliance and temporary shut down of production.