Memorandum

Date: 1/21/2010

To: Dr. Urban

From:

Re: Wastewater Treatment: MLSS and MLVS

CC: Bo Zhang

The objective of the lab exercise was to measure mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) and mixed liquor
volatile solid (MLVS) concentrations in wastewater and a clay suspension, as is practiced in activated
sludge wastewater treatment plants. Environmental engineers are concerned with particles suspended
in water and proper operation of wastewater treatment plants and therefore measure the total mass of
suspended particles as well as the mass of organic matter suspended in the activated sludge unit. These
measurements allow engineers to adjust the flow rate of return sludge from the secondary clarifier into
the secondary treatment reactor to ensure that influent organic matter will be treated with an adequate
concentration of microorganisms. /Good. It would be appropriate to mention the statistical goals as
well./

Measurements of MLSS and MLVS were recorded after filtering wastewater samples and suspended clay
solution samples. Measurements of this nature are recorded every day in wastewater treatment plants
so that environmental engineers can properly set the flow rate of return sludge. See the enclosed
“Table 1: MLSS Values” for measurements of suspended solids in the clay solutions and the wastewater
solutions. Group 4’s measurements of the MLSS in the suspended clay solution gave a mean value of
0.8122 g/L, which is lower than the true value of 1.000 g/L. See enclosed “Table 2: MLVS Values” for the
measurements of volatile solids in the clay solutions and the wastewater solutions. Our group’s
measurement of the MLVS in the suspended clay solution gave a mean MLVS value of 0.0256 g/L,
relatively close to the true value of 0.000 g/L, as clay is inorganic and should not contain any volatile
solids. /Your conclusions section does address the objective that you stated in your Introduction. Had
you also mentioned the quality assurance goals in the Introduction, you could have mentioned the
conclusions pertaining to accuracy and precision in this section.

Also enclosed is “Figure 1: Clay MLSS Values”, which shows box and whisker plots displaying the mean,
25th and 75th percentile values, as well as all data points of clay suspension MLSS values for both Group 4
and the entire class. The enclosed “Figure 2: Clay MLVS Values” shows the mean MLVS value of our
individual group as a point with error bars extended to plus and minus one standard deviation along
with a second point with error bars that represents the results of all three groups who filtered the
suspended clay solution and a line representing the true value./Are you stating Conclusions in this
paragraph? It sounds more like results to me./
During this experiment one pure water sample and six 30‐mL samples of our suspended clay solution
were filtered using the vacuum apparatus. Filters had previously been placed in the muffle furnace to
eliminate their organic content. The water control sample and three of the 30‐mL filtered samples were
placed in the drying oven at 110°C overnight. The remaining three were placed in the muffle furnace for
3 hours at 550°C. Data were recorded to determine the mass of the filtered materials after drying. /Cite
the lab handout because it provides more details about the methods./

This is where it would be good to present your tables and figures of results.

The precision of individual groups is better than the precision of the whole class. The standard
deviations of individual groups are lower than that of the entire class (Fig. 1). The compiled class
measurements of MLVS were more precise than individual groups’, as seen in the lower measured
standard deviation for these values. However, six of the MLSS filters stuck to trays during the drying
process; which may have contributed to the lower precision in the individual groups’ MLSS samples.

The water blank sample results were similar for each group, which indicates that all groups had a pure
water sample and similar technique. The ratio of volatile solids is lower for the clay samples, because
natural clay has no organic matter and therefore no volatile solids. Before any filtering was completed,
all filters were placed in the furnace to combust any organic matter found in or settled upon the filters.
Some groups measured a change in mass in the water blank filter; this result can be attributed to prior
incomplete combustion of organic matter when the filter was placed in the furnace the first time.

The bias for our group was determined by subtracting the true value from our calculated values. Our
bias could have by affected by tears on the edges of the filter papers caused by forceps during removal,
and to excess time in between pouring samples. Also, as the walls of the vacuum head attachment were
not cleaned during each run, sample could have remained on the walls and contributed to a low
measured MLSS. In considering the F/M calculation, if one were to mistakenly use the MLSS a lower
than accurate ratio would result, which would give the false indication that there were enough
microorganisms to digest the BOD. However, in this case the error resulting from mistakenly using
MLSS would not be significant, as the MLSS and MLVS values overlap within one standard deviation.

See Encl.: (Table 1: MLSS Values, Table 2: MLVS Values, Figure 1: Clay MLSS Values, Figure 2: Clay
MLVS Values)
 MLSS Values
Group Tray Weight Residue (g) MLSS (g/L) Mean Std Dev RSD/COV
#
Group 4 2 0.0256 0.853333333 0.8122222 0.0356423 4.3882394
3 0.0238 0.793333333
4 0.0237 0.79
Group 1 2.3633
Group 2 1.1156
Group 3 2.1658
Group 4 0.8122
Group 5 1.3917
Group 6 1.6742
Group 7 2.1733
Group 8 0.9122
Group 9 1.9167
Group 10 2.1283
Group 11 1.3375
Group 12 0.9600
Class Average WW 1.8074 0.6524277 36.097953
Class Average Clay 0.8948 0.0816686 9.1268668

Table 1: MLSS Values

Significant digits?
 MLVS Values
Group Tray Weight Residue (g) Mean MLSS MLVS Mean Std Dev RSD/COV
# (g/L)
Group 4 5 0.0221 0.812222222 0.0755556 0.0255556 0.0578312 226.29589
6 0.0255 ‐0.037778
7 0.0232 0.0388889
Group 1 1.8189
Group 2 0.6069
Group 3 1.6303
Group 4 0.0256
Group 5 1.0561
Group 6 1.1250
Group 7 1.6333
Group 8 0.0844
Group 9 1.4378
Group 10 1.6458
Group 11 0.9075
Group 12 0.1000
Class Average 1.3180 0.4018959 30.493744
WW
Class Average Clay 0.0700 0.0531159 75.879823

Table 2: MLVS Values/This goes above the table.

Significant digits?

Units should be indicated for all columns.

Good figure.
Figure 2: Clay MLVS Values

Good figure. There is no need (indeed, it is undesirable) to include a chart title within the Excel chart.