PLANT HISTORY
The location of the ﬁrst wastewater treatment plant of Hungary was
determined by the National Planning Ofﬁce on December 23, 1952.
The plant was designed to treat the wastewaters of Pesterzsébet, Kispest
and Pestlőrinc, despite multiple modiﬁcations of the investment plan,
it was constructed without interruption and has been in full operation
since September 14, 1966. Sludge treatment was added in 1967.
The extension of the plant continued in the 80’s and now it is the most
modern wastewater treatment plant of Hungary.
OPENING THE SITE TO THE PUBLIC
The wastewater treatment plant is open
to any interested person. As the biggest
environmental service provider of the
country, we consider it being important, that
interested persons have the possibility to
get closer to our activities. Furthermore, we
pay special attention to the environmentfocused education of the growing up
generation. After prior notice our experts
are at the disposal of visitor groups.
Key developments:
• In 1983, the hydraulic capacity of the plant was extended by
two additional parallel basins.
• In the middle of the decade, the automated dewatering of
the sludge, generated in anaerobic mesophilic digesters,
started.
• In 1986 surface aeration was replaced with the more efﬁcient
ﬁne bubble aeration technology.
• From 1989, biogas exploitation was started; the energy
produced by the gas engines ensures the operation of the air
blowers of the activated sludge system.
• In 1990, biological phosphorus removal was achieved by
upgrading the aeration unit.
• In 1992 the hydraulic capacity was further expanded, when the
new mechanical pre-treatment unit was built, also ensuring
removal of grease and sand from the efﬂuents.
• In 1997 new shareholders (the French Veolia Water and the
German Berlinwasser) invested in the Budapest Sewage Works
Pte Ltd., which resulted in a signiﬁcant quality development at the
South-Pest plant, too. The wastewater treatment and the sludge
treatment sections were renewed and complemented.
Budapest Sewage Works Pte Ltd.
South-Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant
Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Internet:
2013.
H-1238 Budapest, Meddőhányó str. 1.
+36 1 284-4339
[email protected]
www.fcsm.hu
South-Pest
Wastewater
Treatment Plant
• In 1999 the plant became capable of the full biological treatment
of 80 thousand m 3 wastewater per day, also including the
two-stage nitrogen and phosphorus removal.
• In 2001, the sludge treatment process was renewed and
extended: a new covered gravity thickener equipped with a
bioﬁlter for odor removal was built, the centrifuges serving the
automated sludge dewatering were put in operation, the gas
engine producing electric energy from the produced biogas,
and the biogas desulphurization unit were also started up.
• In 2005 the high nutrient containing waste receiving station
was handed over and the biggest thermophilic sludge digester
of our country, as well as an additional high capacity biogas
engine started operating.
• In 2007 the capacity of the activated sludge pools’ aerators
was upgraded, a new aeration unit began operating, and the
sludge silo for the temporary storage of dewatered wastewater
sludge was built.
• In 2009 a piece of equipment for separating thready materials,
and a new heat exchanging engine house started operating,
an industrial pilot-scale digester was presented.
• In 2012 the structure receiving incoming wastewaters was fully
covered. Bioﬁlters operate in order to prevent odors, which
neutralize 100 thousand m³ of odorous air per hour.
• The Organica® Food Chain Reactor (FCR) was also handed
over in 2012, which can be regarded as a breakthrough in
wastewater treatment.
• In 2012 the previous chlorinating solution serving the disinfection
of the treated efﬂuents from the plant was replaced by the much
safer and more environmentally friendly UV disinfection..
PLANT CHARACTERISTICS
EQUIPMENT OF THE TREATMENT PLANT AND
THEIR OPERATION
1
2a
2b
2c
2e
2d
4c
The South-Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant operates with the most
modern and most environmentally friendly technology. It continuously
receives and treats the wastewaters of about 300 thousand inhabitants
of Pestlőrinc, Kispest, Erzsébet and Soroksár (18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd
districts), and of the companies operating there.
Quantitative parameters
Experimental and training base
Innovative physical, chemical and biological pilot-scale experiments are
conducted at the wastewater treatment plant. The experiments ensure
the monitoring and the continuous development of the technological
processes.
The wastewater treatment plant plays an important role in the forth-going
training of specialists and in the practical education of students.
Raw
wastewater
Fine screen
Quantity of treated wastewater
The wastewater treatment capacity of the plant is 80 thousand m3 per
day, 22 million m3 per year. On average 53 thousand m3 wastewater
arrives from the four districts of South-Pest per day.
Quantity of wastewater sludge produced
One of the side products of wastewater treatment is dewatered
sludge, the amount of which at the plant is 27.5 thousand tons per
year. Electrical and thermal energy is generated from the 5.9 million
m3 biogas produced every year from the anaerobic sludge processing,
which covers almost all the energy needs of the plant.
State-of-the art technology and equipment
The French and German shareholders considerably contributed to the
modernization of the plant. Their experience in operating treatment
plants and their technical know-how enabled the signiﬁcant renewal
of the plant and the completion of the technological processes.
The biological ﬁlters were set up with French technology and German
equipment; the gas engines are German products, whilst the organic
waste receiving and treatment station, as well as the thermophilic
digester unit operate with French technology.
Aerated sand trap
Primary clariﬁer
Sand collector
ﬂoating matters
Sand collector
sediments
NH4 -N
Total phosphorous
Total suspended matter
Aeration
4c
UV disinfection
4c
4a
Treated
wastewater
6
3
4a
Nitrate content wastewater+bioﬁlter
backwash water recirculation
Mechanical treatment phase
3
Biological treatment phase
Sludge treatment
Deodorizing
bioﬁlter
5b
4b
3
17
5a
Technological waste treatment
Polyelectrolite
addition (A)
Sludge gravity
thickening ﬁlter table
Anaerobic
thermophilic
digester
7
Gas ﬂair
Anaerobic
mezophilic
digester
Post-digester
Desulpherization units
Gas boilers
Polyelectrolite
addition (B)
(Waste
receiving
station)
4c
4a
Excess activated sludge
Gravity
thickener
Deodorizing bioﬁlter
Dewatering
centrifuge
Gas engines
Other structures
Gas tank
Thermal energy
18
20
Electric energy
Thermal energy
13
19
12
16
11a
Dewatered
sludge
Pasteurization equipment
Contaminated air
11b
Silo for sludge
Backwash water
The treatment plant uses not only the traditional two-stage biological
ﬁltering, but it also increased treatment efﬁciency with the help of live
plants and the artiﬁcial root system, due to a Hungarian development,
the Organica® Food Chain Reactor (FCR), thus the quality of the
treated water discharged into the receiving Ráckeve-Soroksár
Danube branch exceeds the European standards.
Now the plant combines the most modern international and national
knowledge of wastewater treatment, and it is at the forefront in
Europe with regard to its technology, its equipment and its cleaning
completeness.
Biological treatment
The wastewater
cleaning technology
Mechanical treatment
1.
2.
Grit collecting and separating basin
Coarse material such as gravel and other bigger size
pollutants are removed in this unit.
Covered mechanical pre-treatment
a. Automatically operating screens remove ﬂoating pollutants
exceeding 10 mm in size.
b. In the aerated sand and fat collector, non-organic matters
(sand, small gravels) are settled out and are removed from
the bottom of the basin by means of a scraper. The fat
and oil-like ﬂoating materials are collected in a sump and
discharged into the digesters.
c. The separator divides the mechanically cleaned water
into three parts depending on the actual capacity of the
biological treatment lines.
Parameters of inﬂuents
(mg/l)
Parameters of efﬂuents
(mg/l)
Limit values
(mg/l)
733
30
50
446
10
25
61
1,8
2
9
0,2
1,8
255
3
35
d. The rain collection basins are ﬁlled in case of heavy
precipitations and they serve as buffers.
e. The integrated bioﬁlter neutralizes 100 thousand m³ of
odorous air per hour thus signiﬁcantly reducing odors.
3.
Primary clariﬁers
The ﬁne fractions of non-organic and settling matters remaining
in the wastewater are separated here. The accrued sludge is
pumped to the sludge treatment facilities.
8
9
10
14
Sludge treatment
Biological treatment
4.
Wastewater and rainwater reach the South-Pest plant through the
main collector of Torontál street. Due to the favorable topographical
parameters of the water collection area, the wastewater can be routed
from the main collector to the wastewater treatment plant by gravity.
A concrete deﬂecting wall, built in the main collector, directs the
water from the main collector into the upper rainwater separator.
The wastewater is routed to the grit collecting and separating basin
via steel pipe located under the Budapest-Kelebia train line.
Parameters of inﬂuents and efﬂuents (2012)
+
Denitriﬁcation
bioﬁlter
Secondary clariﬁer
Sludge recirculation
Liquid and
solid waste
The plant
• as a result of the multiple step mechanical and biological wastewater
treatment also combined with the living machine technology, the quality
of the treated water discharged into the Ráckeve-Soroksár Danube
branch is better than the parameters deﬁned in the EU regulations;
• ensures the environmentally friendly treatment of the side products
of wastewater treatment, such as sludge and mechanically removed
pollutants as well as their preparation for storing in landfills and recycling;
• treats the delivered waste containing organic compounds and
transforms it into green energy;
• is practically self-sufﬁcient since nearly 90% of its electric energy
demand, and 100% of its heat energy demand is produced from
sewage sludge and organic wastes;
• removes odors from the air produced during the technological
processes.
Biological oxygen demand (BOD5)
Aerobic
zone
Air addition
Primary
(raw) sludge
Mechanical treatment
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
Nitriﬁcation
bioﬁlter
Aeration
The quantity of the produced technological waste
The quantity of the non-organic waste produced during wastewater
treatment reaches 700 m3 per year.
Quality parameters
Anoxic
zone
4c
Methanol dosing
Iron(III)-chloride proportioning
Grid waste
The plant area is 17 hectares, the number of employees in head
count exceeds 70.
4c
15
5.
First stage combined with Organica® Organica Food
Chain Reactor (FCR) technology (transformation and
removal of chemical contaminants)
a. In the activated basins covered with greenhouses
microorganisms biodegrade the dissolved organic
content of the wastewater by means of oxygen.
The roots of the plants planted on the surface of the
water reaching 0.5-1.5 meter deep and the artiﬁcial
bioﬁlm carriers placed in the basins provide excellent
habitat (complex ecosystem) for the 2-3000 kinds of
microorganisms degrading organic matters and for
other higher living beings. With the increasing number
of microorganisms in the system treatment efﬁciency
also increases.
6.
• In the aerated zone, the oxygen is supplied by
compressed air from the blower station and a ﬁne
bubble aeration system;
7.
During the degradation processes, sludge rich in
microorganisms is generated.
b. The air blowers ensure the oxygen need of the biological
process.
c. The suspension of activated sludge and water is
separated in the secondary clariﬁers. The sludge ﬂocks
settle out by gravity and are collected at the bottom of
the clariﬁers. The collected sludge is partially recycled
to the aeration basins, whilst the excess sludge is
discharged to the sludge treatment facilities.
11.
Sludge digesters
The process takes place at two different temperatures, under
anaerobic conditions, and with the help of microorganisms.
a. Mesophilic digestion (at 37 oC)
b. Thermophilic digestion (at 55 oC)
12.
Bioﬁlter
It cleans and deodorizes the odorous air produced in the
waste receiving station and in the sludge dewatering building
by means of bacteria.
13.
Gas engine generator units
The biogas produced during sludge digestion is burnt in biogas
engines, thereby producing electric and thermal energy.
14.
Biogas storage tank
It serves the harmonization of biogas production and
consumption.
The sludge and waste
treatment technology
• In the anoxic zone, the oxygen source is nitrate
(predenitriﬁcation);
• Phosphate present in the wastewater is removed
by dosing an iron(III)-salt solution, which forms a
precipitate of ferric phosphate.
Second grade (double stage ﬁxed bed bioﬁlters)
a. In the nitriﬁcation ﬁlters, the microorganisms attached to
the ﬁlter material oxidize the ammonium content of the
wastewater to nitrate while the ﬁlters are aerated.
b. In the denitriﬁcation ﬁlters, the microorganisms attached to
the ﬁlter material reduce the nitrate contained in the water,
coming out of the nitriﬁcation ﬁlters, under anoxic conditions
to elementary nitrogen. As complementary nutrient, methanol
is applied for the biological process. During the processes
described above excess sludge is formed on the ﬁlter
material. This is removed by regular back washing of the
ﬁlters in order to prevent blockages.
The treated wastewater ﬂows through the UV disinfection
into the Ráckeve-Soroksár Danube branch.
8.
9.
10.
The sludge separated in the primary clariﬁers and the excess
sludge of the biological processes is discharged into the
sludge treatment unit.
Covered gravity thickener
The ﬁrst step of the sludge treatment. As a result of the
gravitational force the thickening sludge is further processed.
The produced water is routed back to the beginning of the
wastewater treatment technology. The air withdrawn from
the thickening units is treated in bioﬁlters.
Automatic sludge thickening and dewatering unit
Automized centrifuges serve the dewatering of the
sludge coming from the digesters. As a dewatering aid a
polyelectrolyte is dosed to the sludge.
Silo for storing dewatered wastewater sludge
It serves as temporary storage for dewatered wastewater sludge,
the sludge-transporting trucks are loaded with sludge from here.
Waste receiving and processing station
The reception of waste with high nutrient content and its
homogenization prior to thermophilic digestion takes place here.
The treatment of technological waste
15.
Technological waste transfer station
It receives the waste collected at the various sites of the Company
and the sludge originating from rain trap cleaning. Following
disinfections and compaction, the materials are transferred to
containers and transported to landﬁlls. An automized septic
receiving station operates at the same location.
Other structures
16.
Central machinery.
17.
Maintenance workshop.
18.
Ofﬁce buildings.
19.
Laboratory (factory control).
20.
Porter’s service, entrance of the plant.