Biological Wastewater Treatment
Biological wastewater treatment processes are employed to transform dissolved and colloidal pollutants into gases, cell material, and metabolic end products. These processes may occur in the presence or absence of oxygen. In the absence of oxygen (anaerobic process), wastewater materials may be hydrolyzed and the resultant products fermented to produce a variety of alcohols, organic acids, other reduced end products, synthesized cell mass, and gases including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane (biogas).