In our aerobic wastewater treatment tank, there is growth of pink worms as shown in the picture. Any idea what those might be? Would it affect our reactor? How to remove and avoid this growth?
Thanks.
The growth of worms typically indicates too low F/M conditions over a long time caused by underloading (BOD as kg/d) and/or too high levels of old sludge (MLSS) at medium-high DO levels. These worms feed on dead biosludge.
Hence as to get more active and healthier biosludge one shall increase the BOD-load (with sufficient nutrients) and/or waste more sludge (increase WAS rate).
Sorry, I cannot see them clearly, but are they tubifex worms (also called sludge worms)? Bruno Peeters advice to increase sludge wasting (increase F/M, decrease sludge age or mean cell residence time) seems appropriate. However, are there dead zones in the aeration tank where sludge may accumulate? That might also promote worm growth even if the overall sludge age is okay. It may be that they do not in themselves cause a problem, but they may be indicators of an issue such as dead zones. Good luck!
How long have you run the reactor? In my case, the worms disappeared after certain period.
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