Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Korea collect and treat not only\ndomestic wastewater, but also discharge from industrial complexes. However, some industrial\ndischarges contain a large amount of non-biodegradable organic matter, which cannot be treated\nproperly in a conventional biological WWTP. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics\nand biodegradability of the wastewater organic matter contained in the industrial discharges and to\nexamine the fate of the industrial discharges in a biologicalWWTP. In contrast to most previous studies\ntargeting a specific group of organic compounds or traditional water quality indices, such as biological\noxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), this study was purposed to quantify\nand characterize the biodegradable and nonbiodegradable fractions of the wastewater organic matter.\nChemical oxygen demand (COD) fractionation tests and fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the\nindustrial discharge from dyeing or pulp mill factories contained more non-biodegradable soluble\norganic matter than did the domestic wastewater. Statistical analysis on the WWTPs� monitoring\ndata indicated that the industrial discharge containing non-biodegradable soluble organic matter\nwas not treated effectively in a biological WWTP, but was escaping from the system. Thus, industrial\ndischarge that contained non-biodegradable soluble organic matter was a major factor in the decrease\nin biodegradability of the discharge, affecting the ultimate fate of wastewater organic matter in\na biological WWTP. Further application of COD fractionation and fluorescence spectroscopy to\nwastewaters, with various industrial discharges, will help scientists and engineers to better design\nand operate a biological WWTP, by understanding the fate of wastewater organic matter.
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