If interested in wastewater irrigation after processing sewage from a state park in a series of holding and aeration ponds before irrigating water from third pond, Larry Tennyson led our small study 1975 that I put into my researchgate. Penn State University by professors Sopper and Kardos were famous in the 1970s for their many papers on sewage effluent irrigation. Not all sewage or wastewater would be suitable formirrigating, as pathogens, hazardous materials, ability of soils and plants in removal oF contaminants and recovery, and groundwater concerns.
As suggested, constructed wetlands could work, requiring careful design, monitoring, etc.
Part of my message was lost, disappeared. Due to public or other potential liabilities, I would have plans reviewed by licensed civil engineer to be sure consistent with laws, regulations, etc. and to reduce personal, professional or university liability in disposing of sewage.
Of the issues with waste water treatment, disposal of solid waste is one. See US EPA document on the issue. This application opportunity combined with the loss of Soil Organic Matter in many farm fields. Lowered SOM leads to higher applications of petroleum created fertilizers to maintain crop yeilds. By combining a few problems, you may create a solution.
Wastewater is very complex in nature. So you have to consider time factor, lab facilities, money and issues in your community, cluster, town, city where you live. M.Sc. thesis may be the chapters of Ph .D. Dissertation. So, it is not only depend on your interest but the surrounding factors. I have three decades experience on Wastewater Management so I want to share my experience with you. My kind suggestion is for you that you may think about compacted, decentralized unit where you may develop a physical model or pilot scale plant with resources recovery.
Treated sewage from STPs is used for flushing and/or gardening in urban area. But in many cases the quality of treated sewage is not good. You can take this issue for your thesis.
One of the most difficult areas of practical work is the simple idea of sludge viscosity. Sewage primary sludge and sewage secondary sludge are markedly different. At a microscopic scale primary is largely fibrous from paper fibres, secondary sludge is largely bacterial biomass. Both have been described as Bingham Plastics where viscosity is related to shear stress. There are very few papers on actual measurements of these properties as they relate to TS and VS. We need the tables of TS, VS and viscosity standardising. Polymer addition is a confounding variable. Once a set of material:viscosity tables is established, we need the treatments. First filter the sludge to remove plastic. Anaerobically digest. Use continuous digesters if this is possible. Monitor the viscosity in the digester with different retention times and loading rates, yielding another family of curves. It is possible that overload failure may be detected early using viscosity as the measurement. This might be as simple as dropping a ball in a cylinder of sludge and timing the descent. If it works then 1. you have a book of standard tables to sell for ever. 2. The instrument will be used on every sewage works digester on the planet. Why do I not do it? I am closing on retirement and this is one for a young person. Good luck if you accept the challenge. LKG
I think an interesting feature of secondary treatment is the recycle of nitrogen and the way that this can be broken by including processes such as Anammox - Anaerobic ammonium oxidation is a significant component of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. A model of nitrogen in a conventional treatment process that includes anaerobic sludge treatment and the rich stream of ammonia recycled to the biological reactor imposes an energy load through aeration and nitrification partially offset by denitrification but with an entrained nitrogen content ion the solids generated. A model of the energy cycle in conventional and then modified processes using Anammox would be interesting. The other area of interest would be the use of membrane bioreactors in an Anammox process and the fouling parameters under anaerobic conditions. What type and extent of fouling is experienced in an anaerobic membrane system and what cleaning regimes are required compared to conventional aerobic bioreactors.
Good luck and enjoy the experience it will be a rewarding one!
The type of effluent under investigation must be considered (i.e its constituents) Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a robust technology that can be used to generate a fuel and treat wastewater.The use of microbial fuel cells (MFC) might be of interest to you as it can create electricity and treat water simultaneously. There are many other options that you can chose from (inclusive of the ones mentioned in other responses) that can be used for wastewater treatment.
I think you have an answer in your own question. The topic can be "Analysis of the Problems of Sewerage Treatment" through different existing methods and suggesting a best suited treatment method for the region based on environmental; social; economic and sustainability factors.