New Product Launch | Online Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate (SOUR) Analyzer for Activated Sludge

“Wastewater treatment plants are among the most energy-intensive industries. Electricity typically accounts for 70%–90% of total energy consumption, while aeration systems alone account for 50%–70%. Excessive aeration wastes electricity and disrupts process performance, while insufficient aeration increases the risk of non-compliant effluent and environmental penalties.”

01 Pain Point: Limitations of Traditional DO Monitoring

Conventional dissolved oxygen (DO) meters only measure the amount of oxygen remaining in the water—they are a result indicator. A high DO concentration does not necessarily mean the activated sludge is performing efficiently.

Excessive DO can:
• Waste energy
• Disturb biological process zones
• Lead to excessive total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP)

What truly determines treatment performance and energy consumption is the metabolic activity of microorganisms.

To understand the real condition of microorganisms, operators mainly rely on manual sampling and laboratory testing, but results are delayed. After a toxic shock, sludge activity may collapse within minutes, long before laboratory results are available.

02 New Product: From Experience-Based Judgement to Digital Precision

Our latest innovation is the Online Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate (SOUR) Analyzer.

SOUR (Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate) measures the oxygen consumption rate per unit of activated sludge over time.

Simply put, if activated sludge is a factory, DO represents the raw material inventory in the warehouse, while SOUR represents the actual consumption rate on the production line. Even with abundant inventory, a sharp drop in consumption means production has a problem—either toxic inhibition or nutrient deficiency. SOUR directly reveals the real-time metabolic status of microorganisms.

03 Key Features: Three Powerful Advantages

• 24/7 fully automatic monitoring replacing manual testing.

“Enables fully automated operation throughout the entire process (water intake, aeration, measurement, cleaning, and sludge return). Each complete testing cycle is finished within 10–20 minutes, delivering precise, stable, and reliable performance, eliminating the significant delays of traditional manual testing.”

• Early toxic shock warning 2–4 hours in advance.

Before pollutants react and conventional water quality parameters deteriorate, the microbial respiration rate slows down immediately, and the SOUR value drops rapidly. The system can issue an early warning 2–4 hours in advance, providing a critical time window for process adjustment.

• Precise oxygen control for demand-based aeration.

With accurate oxygen demand data, aeration is no longer based on estimation. A 40,000 m³/day wastewater treatment plant in Taicang, Suzhou, China achieved annual electricity savings of 1.46 million kWh after implementing the SOUR system with intelligent aeration control.

04 Key Applications

• Industrial and mixed wastewater treatment plants

Influent conditions are highly variable, and there is a significant risk of toxicity, requiring early warning to ensure process stability.
• Facilities requiring quantitative sludge activity evaluation

Say goodbye to vague, intuition-based judgments like “it seems fine.”
• Plants with high aeration energy consumption

Understanding the true oxygen demand enables precise aeration control and reduces energy costs.
• Environmentally sensitive wastewater treatment plants

Effluent compliance cannot be compromised, requiring more precise and finely tuned process control.
• New, expanded, or upgraded treatment plants during commissioning
Quantitative data is required to guide and optimize operational and tuning parameters.

'We used to rely on experience; now we rely on data.' The Online SOUR Analyzer represents a shift from experience to data-driven precision.

Stop guessing. Start seeing with SOUR.