What is Intermittently Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA)

Accumulation of sewage is a global issue that occurs primarily due to the rising rate of population growth. Without proper treatment and management, uncontrolled sewage generation threatens human health, environment, and society. This chapter briefly introduces sewage management and regulations. The conventional method of sewage and sludge treatment consists of pre-treatment, primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments before the sewage is safe to be discharged. Several sewage treatment technologies are introduced, namely the septic tank, intermittent decanted extended aeration, activated sludge system, membrane sewage treatment system, and finally the anaerobic digester.