A novel hybrid bioreactor for treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater

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Municipal wastewater effluents are the largest single effluent discharges, by volume, in Canada. Municipal wastewater may consists of sanitary sewage from homes, businesses, industries and institutions as well as the rain and melted snow that drain into sanitary sewers. This wastewater typically contains human and other organic waste, nutrients, pathogens, microorganisms, suspended solids and household and industrial chemicals. A series of conventional physical and biological processes have been used for treatment of various types of wastewaters including but not limited to aerobic/anaerobic bioreactors, chemical precipitation, adsorption and reverse osmosis. However, in most cases, these methods are only able to remove a fraction of contaminants and need to be combined with other removal technics for an integrated treatment. This will add to the capital and operational costs of the treatment system as well as associated environmental burdens. HALBR is a novel hybrid airlift bioreactor to treat municipal and industrial wastewaters containing refractory organic compounds with different BOD/COD and COD/N ratios. It is equipped with an internal rotating settling device with continuous regime for treating wastewaters containing refractory pollutants. Ease of operation and economic advantages of this novel technique makes it a unique and efficient wastewater treatment tool. The invention prevails over the drawbacks of the prior art through providing a high-rate hybrid and single-stage system. The treated effluent from the spiral separator is discharged continuously and may go through an ultrafiltration membrane to produce hygienic water. HALBR can be installed within any existing conventional wastewater treatment plants or used as a new single-stage bioreactor for treatment of any municipal and industrial wastewater. It is applicable for treatment of a wide range of wastewaters (e.g., domestic sewage, landfill leachate and a wide range of municipal and industrial wastewaters) at a lower cost and smaller footprints. This invention will also be an ideal treatment solution for many rural and remote communities in Canada and around the world.