What type of treatment generally follows sedimentation in the wastewater process?

The type of treatment that generally follows sedimentation in the wastewater process is secondary treatment. After the primary treatment, which includes processes like screening and sedimentation to remove large solids and settleable materials, the remaining wastewater still contains dissolved and suspended organic matter. Secondary treatment aims to significantly reduce this organic matter using biological processes.

In secondary treatment, microorganisms, such as bacteria, are introduced to consume the organic pollutants in the wastewater. This can occur in various systems, such as activated sludge systems, trickling filters, or bio-towers. The primary goal here is to further purify the effluent by reducing the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS), ultimately ensuring that the water meets regulatory standards for discharge or further treatment.

Tertiary treatment, while it improves the effluent quality further, typically occurs after secondary treatment and is a more advanced stage, often addressing remaining contaminants or focusing on disinfection. Biochemical treatment is a part of secondary treatment processes that employ biological methods to treat wastewater, but it is not a standalone step following sedimentation. Thus, secondary treatment is the appropriate answer to follow sedimentation in the wastewater treatment process.