Activated Sludge and Nutrient Removal, Manual of Practice No. OM-9 (Third Edition)
Water Environment Federation (WEF), 601 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA. 22314-1994; (2018) $125.00, 450 pp., softcover, ISBN: 978-1-57278-340-9.
This extensively revised third edition of Activated Sludge and Nutrient Removal, Manual of Practice No. OM-9, reflects best practices and the latest advances. This is one of the best books ever published by WEF. The book is not only a primary reference for the design and operation of the activated sludge process, but also an excellent supplemental college textbook for environmental biotechnology courses.
This book was published by the Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.) and prepared by a WEF task force under the direction of the Plant Operations and Maintenance Subcommittee of the Technical Practice Committee (TPC). Congratulations are deserved for task force chair Barton Jones, the 26 task force members, TPC chair Eric Rothstein, the 28 TPC control group members, and the 15 outstanding biological wastewater treatment experts for a job well done.
The table of contents of this book introduces the knowledge to be learned by readers and gives credits to the dedicated scholars who have contributed to the book chapters. Some of the chapter topics are activated sludge process fundamentals, process control methods for the secondary clarifier, advanced concepts in nutrient removal, and process simulators.
All topics in the book are important for design, operation, and learning of the activated sludge process and nutrient removal. Contributing authors are all experienced and qualified biotechnologists, professional engineers, or educators. The task force chair/editor did an excellent job; all chapters are very smooth in terms of presentation although each chapter is contributed by different authors.
This five-star book includes an updated process control section, with step-by-step examples for calculations; a new laboratory chapter with detailed directions for common process control tests; and an introduction to using modeling for process control. Design engineers, facility managers, operators, educators, students, and researchers may find this book very useful because they may be guided through selecting an appropriate sludge age, calculating wasting rates, optimizing return activated sludge flow, managing clarifier blankets, and setting dissolved oxygen and oxidation–reduction potential set points.
This book has many other useful features and benefits. For instance, both U.S. customary and international metric units are adopted. There are ample figures, tables, equations, and practical examples for illustration and explanation of theories, principles, biochemistry, microbiology, and engineering applications of activated sludge process and nutrient removal. Practice questions with answers have been added to the end of each chapter to help the reader enhance his or her understanding of the material and retain information vital to solving performance problems and improving operations. The book also discussed such modern activated sludge processes as membrane bioreactors and sequencing batch bioreactors. Updated references are provided in each chapter for further study by researchers.
The reviewers cannot find any shortcomings. However, future items to include to further enhance this resources are a list of symbols and acronyms, conversion factors, a glossary, examples of other modern secondary clarification, such as secondary dissolved air flotation clarification.
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Lawrence K. Wang is a professor and Mu-Hao Sung Wang is a consultant at the Lenox Institute of Technology (Newtonville, N.Y.).
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