Characterization of water and sludge produced from different designed clarifiers, case study.

The conventional drinking water treatment plant is depending on coagulation as the main step. In semiarid countries, Quality of produced sludge is major challenges in terms of assessing its optimal operation and performance due to temperature and inappropriate technologies. We study the removal efficiencies of the different designed clarifiers fed with same water comparing to WHO environmental guidelines. According to the analysis of water produced from different clarifiers in El-Asher Water Treatment Plant, the water quality of one clarifier was better than other one. While, nitrate and total phosphate were recorded higher values according to low formation rate of sludge. Improper coagulant dosage is another probable cause production of high aluminum content sludge especially if the coagulant is not dosed optimally. This is depending on the clarifier design and operation and maintenance problems.