Technical Bulletin No. 0162: Practice and Research in Biological Oxidation of Pulp and Paper Mill Wastes

At the time this bulletin was first issued in 1963, the practice of biological treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents was beginning to become quite widespread. Twenty-three large kraft mills employed this method, treating their effluents in stabilization basins totaling over 15,000 acres in area. Twelve mills were known to employ the activated sludge process, and four used trickling filters, two of which are of the large plastic media type. Research and development work carried on by the National Council on biological treatment was then centered at its Johns Hopkins University project in cooperation with individual mills. While directed mainly toward finding new and better means of applying biological treatment, considerable research was also being conducted on improving the economics and space requirements of existing methods. This Technical Bulletin covers some of the approaches then under investigation both in the laboratory and in the field.