Sludge

Sludge, usually 1-10 DS % ,refers to the residual, semi-solid material left from industrial waste water, or sewage treatment processes. It can also refer to the settled suspension obtained from conventional drinking water treatment, and numerous other industrial processes. The term is also sometimes used as a generic term for solids separated from suspension in a liquid; this 'soupy' material usually contains significant quantities of 'interstitial' water (between the solid particles).

In the civilized world, cities in particular have had a difficult time dealing with sewage waste. In 1992, a worldwide ban on ocean dumping of human sewage sludge went into effect, leaving cities the expensive option of having to dispose sewage waste in landfills.

Seeing sewage contains not only heavy metals and disease pathogens such as Clostridium difficile but nutrients as well, companies embraced the nutrient idea and marketed sludge as "biosolids" to farmers as a free fertilizer.

When fresh sewage or wastewater is added to a settling tank, approximately 50% of the suspended solid matter will settle out in an hour and a half. This collection of solids is known as raw sludge or primary solids and is said to be "fresh" before anaerobic processes become active. The sludge will become putrescent in a short time once anaerobic bacteria take over, and must be removed from the sedimentation tank before this happens.

This is accomplished in one of two ways. In an Imhoff tank, fresh sludge is passed through a slot to the lower story or digestion chamber where it is decomposed by anaerobic bacteria, resulting in liquefaction and reduced volume of the sludge. After digesting for an extended period, the result is called "digested" sludge and may be disposed of by dewatering and then land filling. More commonly with domestic sewage, the fresh sludge is continuously extracted from the tank mechanically and passed to separate sludge digestion tanks that operate at higher temperatures than the lower story of the Imhoff tank and, as a result, digest much more rapidly and efficiently.

Excess solids from biological processes such as activated sludge may still be referred to as "sludge", but "biosolids" or "compost" are public relations terms sometimes used to refer to treated human waste. Industrial wastewater solids are also referred to as sludge, whether generated from biological or physical-chemical processes. Surface water plants also generate sludge made up of solids removed from the raw water.