OPENING THE SITE TO THE PUBLIC

The wastewater treatment plant is open

to any interested person. As the biggest

environmental service provider of the

country, we consider it being important, that

interested persons have the possibility to

get closer to our activities. Furthermore, we

pay special attention to the environment-

focused education of the growing up

generation. After prior notice our experts

are at the disposal of visitor groups.

Budapest Sewage Works Pte Ltd.South-Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant

Address: H-1238 Budapest, Meddőhányó str. 1.Telephone: +36 1 284-4339E-mail: center@fcsm.huInternet: www.fcsm.hu

South-Pest Wastewater

Treatment Plant

The location of the fi rst wastewater treatment plant of Hungary was

determined by the National Planning Offi ce on December 23, 1952.

The plant was designed to treat the wastewaters of Pesterzsébet, Kispest

and Pestlőrinc, despite multiple modifi cations of the investment plan,

it was constructed without interruption and has been in full operation

since September 14, 1966. Sludge treatment was added in 1967.

The extension of the plant continued in the 80’s and now it is the most

modern wastewater treatment plant of Hungary.

Key developments:• In 1983, the hydraulic capacity of the plant was extended by

two additional parallel basins.

• In the middle of the decade, the automated dewatering of

the sludge, generated in anaerobic mesophilic digesters,

started.

• In 1986 surface aeration was replaced with the more effi cient

fi ne bubble aeration technology.

• From 1989, biogas exploitation was started; the energy

produced by the gas engines ensures the operation of the air

blowers of the activated sludge system.

• In 1990, biological phosphorus removal was achieved by

upgrading the aeration unit.

• In 1992 the hydraulic capacity was further expanded, when the

new mechanical pre-treatment unit was built, also ensuring

removal of grease and sand from the effl uents.

• In 1997 new shareholders (the French Veolia Water and the

German Berlinwasser) invested in the Budapest Sewage Works

Pte Ltd., which resulted in a signifi cant quality development at the

South-Pest plant, too. The wastewater treatment and the sludge

treatment sections were renewed and complemented.

• In 1999 the plant became capable of the full biological treatment

of 80 thousand m3 wastewater per day, also including the

two-stage nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

• In 2001, the sludge treatment process was renewed and

extended: a new covered gravity thickener equipped with a

biofi lter for odor removal was built, the centrifuges serving the

automated sludge dewatering were put in operation, the gas

engine producing electric energy from the produced biogas,

and the biogas desulphurization unit were also started up.

• In 2005 the high nutrient containing waste receiving station

was handed over and the biggest thermophilic sludge digester

of our country, as well as an additional high capacity biogas

engine started operating.

• In 2007 the capacity of the activated sludge pools’ aerators

was upgraded, a new aeration unit began operating, and the

sludge silo for the temporary storage of dewatered wastewater

sludge was built.

• In 2009 a piece of equipment for separating thready materials,

and a new heat exchanging engine house started operating,

an industrial pilot-scale digester was presented.

• In 2012 the structure receiving incoming wastewaters was fully

covered. Biofi lters operate in order to prevent odors, which

neutralize 100 thousand m³ of odorous air per hour.

• The Organica® Food Chain Reactor (FCR) was also handed

over in 2012, which can be regarded as a breakthrough in

wastewater treatment.

• In 2012 the previous chlorinating solution serving the disinfection

of the treated effl uents from the plant was replaced by the much

safer and more environmentally friendly UV disinfection..

PLANT HISTORY

2013.

PLANT CHARACTERISTICS

The South-Pest Wastewater Treatment Plant operates with the most

modern and most environmentally friendly technology. It continuously

receives and treats the wastewaters of about 300 thousand inhabitants

of Pestlőrinc, Kispest, Erzsébet and Soroksár (18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd

districts), and of the companies operating there.

Quantitative parameters

The plant area is 17 hectares, the number of employees in head

count exceeds 70.

Quantity of treated wastewaterThe wastewater treatment capacity of the plant is 80 thousand m3 per

day, 22 million m3 per year. On average 53 thousand m3 wastewater

arrives from the four districts of South-Pest per day.

Quantity of wastewater sludge producedOne of the side products of wastewater treatment is dewatered

sludge, the amount of which at the plant is 27.5 thousand tons per

year. Electrical and thermal energy is generated from the 5.9 million

m3 biogas produced every year from the anaerobic sludge processing,

which covers almost all the energy needs of the plant.

The quantity of the produced technological wasteThe quantity of the non-organic waste produced during wastewater

treatment reaches 700 m3 per year.

Quality parameters

The plant• as a result of the multiple step mechanical and biological wastewater

treatment also combined with the living machine technology, the quality

of the treated water discharged into the Ráckeve-Soroksár Danube

branch is better than the parameters defi ned in the EU regulations;

• ensures the environmentally friendly treatment of the side products

of wastewater treatment, such as sludge and mechanically removed

pollutants as well as their preparation for storing in landfills and recycling;

• treats the delivered waste containing organic compounds and

transforms it into green energy;

• is practically self-suffi cient since nearly 90% of its electric energy

demand, and 100% of its heat energy demand is produced from

sewage sludge and organic wastes;

• removes odors from the air produced during the technological

processes.

Experimental and training baseInnovative physical, chemical and biological pilot-scale experiments are

conducted at the wastewater treatment plant. The experiments ensure

the monitoring and the continuous development of the technological

processes.

The wastewater treatment plant plays an important role in the forth-going

training of specialists and in the practical education of students.

State-of-the art technology and equipmentThe French and German shareholders considerably contributed to the

modernization of the plant. Their experience in operating treatment

plants and their technical know-how enabled the signifi cant renewal

of the plant and the completion of the technological processes.

The biological fi lters were set up with French technology and German

equipment; the gas engines are German products, whilst the organic

waste receiving and treatment station, as well as the thermophilic

digester unit operate with French technology.

The treatment plant uses not only the traditional two-stage biological

fi ltering, but it also increased treatment effi ciency with the help of live

plants and the artifi cial root system, due to a Hungarian development,

the Organica® Food Chain Reactor (FCR), thus the quality of the

treated water discharged into the receiving Ráckeve-Soroksár

Danube branch exceeds the European standards.

Now the plant combines the most modern international and national

knowledge of wastewater treatment, and it is at the forefront in

Europe with regard to its technology, its equipment and its cleaning

completeness.

Parameters of infl uents and effl uents (2012)

Parameters of infl uents

(mg/l)

Parameters of effl uents

(mg/l)

Limit values

(mg/l)

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) 733 30 50

Biological oxygen demand (BOD5) 446 10 25

NH4

+-N 61 1,8 2

Total phosphorous 9 0,2 1,8

Total suspended matter 255 3 35

EQUIPMENT OF THE TREATMENT PLANT AND THEIR OPERATION

Raw

wastewater

Fine screen

Grid waste

Sand collector

floating matters

Gravity

thickener

Polyelectrolite

addition (A)

Deodorizing

biofilter

Sludge gravity

thickening filter table

Liquid and

solid waste

(Waste

receiving

station)

Contaminated air

Mechanical treatment Biological treatment Sludge treatment

Deodorizing biofilter

Backwash water

Polyelectrolite

addition (B)

Dewatering

centrifuge

Desulpherization units

Gas boilers

Gas enginesThermal energy

Dewatered

sludge

Thermal energy

Gas tank

Gas flair

Electric energy

Sand collector

sediments

Aerated sand trap

Aeration

Primary(raw) sludge

Primary clarifier

Iron(III)-chloride proportioning

Anoxic

zoneAerobic

zone Secondary clarifier

Air addition

Sludge recirculation

Excess activated sludge

AerationNitrate content wastewater+biofilter

backwash water recirculation

Nitrification

biofilterDenitrification

biofilter

Methanol dosing

UV disinfection

Treated

wastewater

Anaerobic

thermophilic

digester

Anaerobic

mezophilic

digester

Post-digester

Silo for sludge

Pasteurization equipment

2d

1 2a 2b 2c

4c

6

5b

5a

13

12

141098

19

18

17

4b

3

4a

15

20

7

4a

4a

3

3

4c4c

4c4c

4c

11b

11a

16

2e

Mechanical treatment phase

Biological treatment phase

Sludge treatment

Technological waste treatment

Other structures

Biological treatment

4. First stage combined with Organica® Organica Food Chain Reactor (FCR) technology (transformation and

removal of chemical contaminants)

a. In the activated basins covered with greenhouses

microorganisms biodegrade the dissolved organic

content of the wastewater by means of oxygen.

The roots of the plants planted on the surface of the

water reaching 0.5-1.5 meter deep and the artifi cial

biofi lm carriers placed in the basins provide excellent

habitat (complex ecosystem) for the 2-3000 kinds of

microorganisms degrading organic matters and for

other higher living beings. With the increasing number

of microorganisms in the system treatment effi ciency

also increases.

• In the anoxic zone, the oxygen source is nitrate

(predenitrifi cation);

• In the aerated zone, the oxygen is supplied by

compressed air from the blower station and a fi ne

bubble aeration system;

• Phosphate present in the wastewater is removed

by dosing an iron(III)-salt solution, which forms a

precipitate of ferric phosphate.

During the degradation processes, sludge rich in

microorganisms is generated.

b. The air blowers ensure the oxygen need of the biological

process.

c. The suspension of activated sludge and water is

separated in the secondary clarifi ers. The sludge fl ocks

settle out by gravity and are collected at the bottom of

the clarifi ers. The collected sludge is partially recycled

to the aeration basins, whilst the excess sludge is

discharged to the sludge treatment facilities.

The wastewater cleaning technology

Wastewater and rainwater reach the South-Pest plant through the

main collector of Torontál street. Due to the favorable topographical

parameters of the water collection area, the wastewater can be routed

from the main collector to the wastewater treatment plant by gravity.

A concrete defl ecting wall, built in the main collector, directs the

water from the main collector into the upper rainwater separator.

The wastewater is routed to the grit collecting and separating basin

via steel pipe located under the Budapest-Kelebia train line.

Mechanical treatment

1. Grit collecting and separating basin Coarse material such as gravel and other bigger size

pollutants are removed in this unit.

2. Covered mechanical pre-treatmenta. Automatically operating screens remove fl oating pollutants

exceeding 10 mm in size.

b. In the aerated sand and fat collector, non-organic matters

(sand, small gravels) are settled out and are removed from

the bottom of the basin by means of a scraper. The fat

and oil-like fl oating materials are collected in a sump and

discharged into the digesters.

c. The separator divides the mechanically cleaned water

into three parts depending on the actual capacity of the

biological treatment lines.

d. The rain collection basins are fi lled in case of heavy

precipitations and they serve as buffers.

e. The integrated biofi lter neutralizes 100 thousand m³ of

odorous air per hour thus signifi cantly reducing odors.

3. Primary clarifi ers The fi ne fractions of non-organic and settling matters remaining

in the wastewater are separated here. The accrued sludge is

pumped to the sludge treatment facilities.

5. Second grade (double stage fi xed bed biofi lters)

a. In the nitrifi cation fi lters, the microorganisms attached to

the fi lter material oxidize the ammonium content of the

wastewater to nitrate while the fi lters are aerated.

b. In the denitrifi cation fi lters, the microorganisms attached to

the fi lter material reduce the nitrate contained in the water,

coming out of the nitrifi cation fi lters, under anoxic conditions

to elementary nitrogen. As complementary nutrient, methanol

is applied for the biological process. During the processes

described above excess sludge is formed on the fi lter

material. This is removed by regular back washing of the

fi lters in order to prevent blockages.

6. The treated wastewater fl ows through the UV disinfection

into the Ráckeve-Soroksár Danube branch.

The sludge and waste treatment technology

The sludge separated in the primary clarifi ers and the excess

sludge of the biological processes is discharged into the

sludge treatment unit.

7. Covered gravity thickener The fi rst step of the sludge treatment. As a result of the

gravitational force the thickening sludge is further processed.

The produced water is routed back to the beginning of the

wastewater treatment technology. The air withdrawn from

the thickening units is treated in biofi lters.

8. Automatic sludge thickening and dewatering unit Automized centrifuges serve the dewatering of the

sludge coming from the digesters. As a dewatering aid a

polyelectrolyte is dosed to the sludge.

9. Silo for storing dewatered wastewater sludge It serves as temporary storage for dewatered wastewater sludge,

the sludge-transporting trucks are loaded with sludge from here.

10. Waste receiving and processing station The reception of waste with high nutrient content and its

homogenization prior to thermophilic digestion takes place here.

11. Sludge digesters The process takes place at two different temperatures, under

anaerobic conditions, and with the help of microorganisms.

a. Mesophilic digestion (at 37 oC)

b. Thermophilic digestion (at 55 oC)

12. Biofi lter It cleans and deodorizes the odorous air produced in the

waste receiving station and in the sludge dewatering building

by means of bacteria.

13. Gas engine generator units The biogas produced during sludge digestion is burnt in biogas

engines, thereby producing electric and thermal energy.

14. Biogas storage tank It serves the harmonization of biogas production and

consumption.

The treatment of technological waste

15. Technological waste transfer station It receives the waste collected at the various sites of the Company

and the sludge originating from rain trap cleaning. Following

disinfections and compaction, the materials are transferred to

containers and transported to landfi lls. An automized septic

receiving station operates at the same location.

Other structures

16. Central machinery.

17. Maintenance workshop.

18. Offi ce buildings.

19. Laboratory (factory control).

20. Porter’s service, entrance of the plant.