ABSTRACT

WSP systems should preferably be commissioned at the beginning of the hot season in order to establish as quickly as possible the necessary microbial populations to effect waste stabilization. Prior to commissioning, all ponds should be free from vegetation. Facultative ponds should be commissioned before anaerobic ponds in order to avoid odour release when an anaerobic pond effluent is discharged into an empty facultative pond. It is best to fill facultative and maturation ponds first with river or lake water so as to permit the gradual development of the algal and heterotrophic bacterial populations. If such water is unavailable, facultative ponds should be filled with raw wastewater and left for 3–4 weeks to allow the microbial populations to develop; a little odour release may occur during this period.