Treatment of Mixed Sewage and
Textile Finishing Wastes on Trickling
Filters and Activated Sludge
F. M. GIBSON, Chemist
Greater Greenville Sewer District
Greenville, South Carolina
J. H. WIEDEMAN,   Partner
Wiedeman and Singleton, Engineers
Atlanta, Georgia
The problem of treating mixed sewage and textile finishing waste is becoming more prevalent in the Southeast. Previous to 1950 it was thought that
these wastes were untreatable because of high pH. This paper primarily concerns treatment of wastes at Greenville, South Carolina, which has one of the
largest concentrations of textile mills in the U. S.
Finishing waste comprises 10 per cent of the waste flow and 50 per cent
of the BOD at Greenville. Miscellaneous textile wastes comprise about five
per cent of the waste flow.
Data from pilot plant studies at Rock Hill, South Carolina, on waste
which has 85 per cent finishing waste by flow and 95 per cent finishing waste
according to BOD will be presented as a correlation.
WASTE TREATMENT AT GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
Prior to the forming of Greater Greenville Sewer District and the installation of a modern sewerage system, the sanitary sewage was collected in a
combined system with the storm and surface waters and discharged untreated
into Reedy River inside the city of Greenville.
By the year 1925 the pollution of those river waters had reached the stage
where it was imperative that corrective measures by adopted. In this year —
1925 -- the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed an Act
entitled "An Act to Provide for the Creation and Establishment of a Sewer
District in Greenville County and to Provide for the Government Thereof. "
In the spring of 1927 contracts were let for 23 miles of sewers in sizes
36 in. to 12 in., and for a sewage treatment plant of 6.5 mgd capacity located at the confluence of Reedy River and Brushy Creek five miles below
Greenville. This plant went into operation in October 1928. All sewage
flows to this site by gravity, which was a factor in its selection.
By 1938 the sewage flow had increased beyond the capacity of the treatment plant. The original plant was expanded to 12 MGD capacity and modernized to include separate sludge digestion, trickling filters, and secondary
clarifiers. In 1950 it became necessary to build additional trunk sewers and
sludge-drying beds. The plant was further modernized and expanded in 1955
by the addition of two more pump stations, two new digesters, new bar screens
and grit removal equipment, and by the replacement of filter distributors.
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