A wastewater flotation separation system is provided, which operates effectively with a minimum of maintenance. The apparatus includes a container (12) for holding wastewater, an inlet (14) located at a lower portion of the container, and an aerator (24) adjacent to the inlet for generating air bubbles that cling to waste particles to bring them to the water surface. A skimming apparatus (30) which skims particles off the surface of the wastewater into a sludge receiver (44) includes a beach device (42) with an inclined upper surface (40), and a belt device (34) that moves a series of scrapers (32) along the surface of the water and along the beach device into the sludge discharge. Each scraper includes a flap of resilient material which is bent as it scrapes along the inclined beach surface. The aerator includes an aerator chamber (16) substantially sealed from the rest of the container except at its top, with the wastewater inlet opening to the chamber so bubbles are applied along the upwardly-flowing stream of waste water that flows up along the box into the rest of the container. The aerator includes a rotor (80) with hollow blades coupled to an air tube, with the tips (104) of the blades having holes opening in a substantially circumferential direction to better distribute the air bubbles. Recirculation pipes (110, 112, 114) extend from locations at the bottom of the container to the bottom of the aerator chamber.