PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FULL SCALE SLUDGES WITH IMPLICATIONS TO DEWATERING

An investigation was carried out for a variety of different sewage sludges in order to establish correlations between sludge composition, structure and dewatering properties. It was possible to relate the fraction of EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) components in a variety of sludge types to the shear sensitivity and the degree of dispersion of the sludge. EPS thus seem to play an important role in the stability of sludge floc structure.