Chemical/ Physical and Biological Treatment
Of Wool Processing Wastes
LESLIE T. HATCH, Assistant Engineer
Industrial Wastes and Special Studies
Metcalf & Eddy, Inc.,
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
THOMAS N. SARGENT, Sanitary Engineer
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Southeast Environmental Research Laboratory
Athens, Georgia 30601
DR. RONALD E. SHARPIN, Chief
Industrial Wastes and Special Studies
Metcalf & Eddy, Inc.,
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
WAYNE T. WIRTANEN, Sanitary Engineer
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Surveillance and Analysis
Technical Studies Section, Region I
Needham Heights, Massachusetts 02194
INTRODUCTION
The treatment of wool scouring waste has to date centered around recovery of grease
because of its value in industrial processes. Treatment of wastewaters following grease
recovery has been minimal.
The need for further treatment has become more pressing with the increasing concern
for our environment. Ambient, facultative lagoons have been used to treat the waste prior
to discharge to receiving streams (1,2). Discharging to domestic sewerage systems for
treatment has been recommended (3,4). Anaerobic digestion of the wool scouring waste
prior to treatment along with domestic sewage at domestic trickling filter plants has also
been proposed (5,6,7).
In 1969 the Barre Wool Combing Company of Barre, Massachusetts, was investigating the hot acid-cracking process for grease recovery. Concurrent with this investigation,
Metcalf & Eddy (M & E) was preparing a comprehensive sewer design report for the town of
Barre. As part of M & E's investigation, bench scale activated sludge tests were run on the
effluent from the Barre grease recovery system.
Based on the favorable results of the bench studies, a program was proposed and
accepted for funding by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Water Resources Commission. The objectives of this
program were: 1) Develop design guidelines for a prototype plant treating wastes from a
pilot scale hot acid-cracking grease recovery plant; 2) Determine the feasibility of biological
treatment with 10 days' detention; 3) Determine the warm and cold weather effects on an
aeration basin and stabilization lagoon; 4) Determine the effluent quality of both the
aeration basin and stabilization lagoon; 5) Characterize the waste sludge produced in the
biological process; 6) Determine the chlorine demand of the effluent streams; 7) Determine
nutrient levels in the effluent streams; and 8) Evaluate the hot acid-cracking process grease
removal efficiency.
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