WASTEWATER

ENGINEERING
 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

POLLUTION
Wastewater collected from municipalities and communities must ultimately
be returned to receiving waters or to the land.
Pollution may be defined as the introduction of a substance to the
environment at levels leading to lost beneficial use of a resource or
degradation of the health of humans, wildlife, or ecosystems.

CONTAMINATION
The presence of infectious or non-infectious agent in an inanimate article or
substance.

Water Pollution
DAO 34 (DENR Administrative Order No. 34 Series of 1990) Revised Water
Usage and Classification
Water Usage and Classification for the purpose of maintaining the
quality of Philippine waters in a safe and satisfactory condition, all waters
are classified according to beneficial usages (i.e. Class AA, A, B, C, D,
SA, SB, SC and SD.
POINT AND NON-POINT SOURCES
Point sources of pollution occur when harmful substances are emitted
directly into a body of water from a pipeline or sewer.
Non-Point sources pollution occurs as water moves across the land or
through the ground and picks up natural and human-made pollutants.
These are characterized by multiple discharge points.
EXISTING WATER RESOURCES (NWRB)
Marine Waters
- cover an area of about 226,000 sq. km, including bays and gulfs
- coastline stretches to about 17,460 km
- 64 or 79 provinces are in coastal areas
Groundwater
Inland Waters
- Lakers 99
o Major (minimum area of 4 km2) - 16
o Minor (minimum area less than 4 km2) 83
- Status of our Rivers
o 180 of 421 rivers are polluted
o 50 are biologically dead
o 4 rivers are from Metro Manila

Why do we need to treat wastewater?

To prevent fresh and saline water pollution
To prevent seashore pollution
To protect freshwater and marine life
Protection of public health
To reuse the treated effluent
Agriculture
Industrial recycle
Recharge
Solving social problems caused or affiliated with wastewater accumulation

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SEWAGE TREATMENT
Sewage treatment is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater,
primarily from household sewage.
It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove theses
contaminants and produce environmentally safer treated wastewater (or
treated effluent).
By-product of sewage treatment: semi-solid waste or slurry, called sewage
sludge and effluent.

WASTEWATER ENGINEERING
Wastewater engineering is the branch of environmental engineering in which
basic principles of science and engineering are applied to the problems of
water-pollution control that is issues associated with the treatment and reuse
of wastewater.
The ultimate goal is the protection of the environment in a manner
commensurate with economic, social, and political concerns.
Specific objectives:
To reduce the pollution loading i.e. carbonaceous removal, nutrients
removal, heavy metals removal, etc.
Compliance with the government standards mandated by DENR
and/or LLDA (Laguna Lake Development Authority)
Sustainable development

History of Sewage Treatment

Major human settlements could initially develop only where fresh surface
water was plentiful, such as near rivers or natural springs.
Throughout history people have devised systems to make water more
accessible and disposing consumed water more convenient.
Throughout history, people have subconsciously known that improper
disposal of sewage leads to unhealthy living conditions.
People vs microbes
The oldest written account of sewage disposal seems to be from the Old
Testament of the Bible:
12You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there,
13and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when

you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up
your excrement. (Deuteronomy 23: 12-13)
Cathole or cat hole (sometimes called pighole) is a pit for human feces.
During ancient times, aside from a place for disposing bowel
movements, it was also used for disposing spent water from kitchen.
Also used by hikers and other individuals engaged in outdoor
recreation.
Pit Privies (also known as out houses and earth closets)
Have been used for thousands of years, in urban settings such as
ancient English church, American rural settings, and some cities of
developed countries.
Chamber pots
Chamber pots were typically emptied into community latrines when
large number of people lived in close proximity, or private ones
elsewhere.
Chamber pots evolved eventually into a more intricate design and

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

finally into bench type latrines.

Eventually, the ancient Romans developed flushed community
latrines.
Users sat on benches suspended over trenches as waste was flushed
away by used public bath water-the first documented large scale
reuse of greywater.
Night Soil is a euphemism for human feces collected at night from
cesspools, privies, etc. and sometimes used as fertilizer.
Some defined it as untreated excreta transported without water.
In urban areas, a night soil collector arrived regularly, at varying time
periods depending on the supply and demand for night soil
collection.
Around AD 100, direct connections of homes to sewers began, and the
Romans completed most of the sewer system infrastructure.
Sewers were laid throughout the city, serving public and some private
latrines.
It was mostly the wealthy whose homes were connected to the sewers,
through outlets that ran under an extension of the latrine.
By the 1800s much of the U.S. and Europe had forgotten the advances
made by the Romans and chamber pots were back in vogue.
The street gutters in some famous cities became the preferred point of
disposal for chamber pots.
Some men would visit wealthy homes daily and empty chamber pots into
small barrels.
They would then transport the barrels to the nearest latrines or riverbank and
empty them there.
It was estimated that in 1839, for every person who died of old age or
violence in London, eight died of disease caused by poor sanitation
practices.
Broad Street outbreak (1854)
In 1865, the first Royal Commission on River Pollution was established. At this
time, England was the country with probably most urgent problems in water
pollution because of dense population and advanced industry.
Repeated hygienic problems in English towns and cities and the demand of
industry for clean water led to the formation of appropriate institutions
already in the second half of the 19th century.
The first experiments with aeration were performed at the Lawrence
Experiment Station in Massachussetts in 1912 using 1-gal glass jugs.
Activated Sludge was developed in England in May 3, 1914 by Adern and
Lockett.
The activated-sludge process is a biological method of wastewater
treatment that is performed by a variable and mixed community of
microorganisms in an aerobic aquatic environment.
In Public Law 92-500 of the US, the Congress required municipalities
and industries to provide secondary treatment before discharging
wastewater into natural water bodies.
The US EPA established a definition of secondary treatment based on
three wastewater characteristics: BOD5, suspended solids and
hydrogen-ion concentration (pH).
It is a form of biological (and chemical) treatment that utilizes
microorganisms to decompose these high-energy molecules.

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

SEWAGE
It is the liquid (spent water) conveyed by a sewer. It may consist of any one or
a mixture of the following depending on the type of collection system used
and may include:
Domestic Sewage also known as sanitary sewage, is the on that
originates in the sanitary convencies of a dwelling, residences,
commercial, institutional and similar facilities.
Industrial wastewater wastewater in which industrial wastes
predominate (i.e. waste from industrial process such as brewing,
dyeing, etc.)
Storm sewage liquid flowing in sewers during or following a period of
rainfall and resulting from precipitation runoff.
Infiltration is the groundwater entering sewers and building
connections through defective joints and broken or cracked pipe and
manholes.
Inflow is water discharged into sewer pipes or service pipe
connections from sources such as roof leaders, etc.

Types of Wastewater According to Source

Coming from residential, commercial, institutional and similar
facilties
Domestic BOD range : 300 500 mg/L
TSS : 300 mg/L
COD : 500 1000 mg/L
Wastewater in which industrial wastewater predominates
- Wastewater with extremely high or low pH
Industrial - Wastewater with color and high temperature
- Wastewater with high heavy metals
- Wastewater with inorganic chemicals (Phenols)
Storm Rain water

Composition of Sewage

ORGANIC
COMPOSITION

Carbohydrates
(30-50%)
SOLID
COMPOSITION
SEWAGE Proteins
COMPOSITION Organic (40-60%)

0.10% Solids
Inorganic Fats & Oil
Sewage (10%)
-sand, grit &
99.9% Water metal chips
Nutrients

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

Black water is a domestic wastewater comprising toilet wastes only.

Greywater is a waste flow originating from kitchen, bath, shower and laundry
excluding wastes.
Stale Sewage has a pronounced odor of hydrogen sulfide (HsS), dark gray
and occasionally contains recognizable solids.

Quantity of Water & Sewage

Precision refers to the reproducibility of an analytic technique when it is
repeated on a homogeneous sample. It is without regard to the actual
value.
Accuracy correspondence between the measured value and the actual
value.

% = 100

Population Projection
1. Arithmetic Method the rate of growth is always constant.
= +

Where: Pt = Population @ t (time) projected

Po = Present Population
t = time in years
K = constant increase

2. Geometric Method the rate of growth follows a geometric or logarithmic

relationship.
= ( + )

3. Curvilinear Method involves graphical projection of the past population of the

past population growth curve, following whatever tendencies the graph
indicates.

4. Logistics Method the logistic curve used in modeling population trends has an
S shape. The hypothesis of logistic growth may be tested by plotting recorded
population data on logistic paper.

=
+ ( + )

5. Declining Growth assumes that the city has a limiting saturation

population, and its rate of growth is a function of its population deficits.

= + ( )( )

Factors affecting Water Use

Size of the City
Industry and Commerce
Characteristics of the Population
Metering of Water
Miscellaneous factor (i.e. climate, quality, pressure, system maintenance,
and conservation programs)

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CHARACTERISTICS OF WASTEWATER
Physical
Chemical
Biological
Radioactive

Physical Characteristics
1. Total Solids
2. Taste and odor
3. Temperature
4. Color

1. TOTAL SOLIDS
defined as all the matter that remains as residue upon evaporation at
103 to 105 OC.

=

Types of Solids according to chemical property:

Organic
Inorganic include salts and minerals

Solids Determination:
Ignition at 103 OC
Total Solids
Organic
(Volatile Solids)
Ignition at 550 OC
Sample
Inorganic
(Fixed Solids)
Imhoff Cone

Settleable Non-Settleable Dissolved

Solids Solids Solids
Filter

Suspended
Solids

Types of Solids according to size:

Suspended solids greater than 1 mm (larger than bacteria)
Colloidal solids range size between 1 mm and 0.001 mm
Dissolved solids less than 0.001 mm

Dissolve Colloidal Suspended or non-filterable

d
10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 1 10 100
Size of particles, microns

10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1

Size of particles, millimeters
Removed by coagulation Settleable

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TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS

solids in water that can be trapped or retained in a standard glass-fiber
filter.
70% organic and 30% inorganic
can be removed from the water by physical or mechanical
means
consist of settleable and colloidal solids

Types of Total Suspended Solids:

1. Settleable Solids
2. Colloidal Solids

SETTLEABLE SOLIDS
Suspended solids that will settle to the bottom of a cone-shaped
container (Imhoff cone) in one-hour.
are approximate measure of the quantity of solids that will
be removed by sedimentation in clarifiers or ponds
approximately 75% organic

COLLOIDAL SOLIDS
not truly dissolved yet and do not settle readily.
are particulate matter with an approximate diameter
range from 1 millimicron to 1 micron
important factor in treatment and disposal of wastewater

TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS

solids in water that can pass thru a standard glass-fiber filter (pore size
of 0.45 m).
it is determined by subtracting TSS from TS:
=
it consist of both organic (40%) and inorganic (60%) molecules
and ions that are present in true solution in water.
about 90% in true solution and 10% colloidal

VOLATILE SOLIDS
are determined by igniting the residue on evaporation, or the
filtered solids at 550 OC in an electric muffle furnace.
dried solids are burned for 15 to 20 min.
indicator of the organic content of wastewater since the
organic fraction will oxidize and will be driven off gas at 550
OC

volatile-solid analysis is applied most commonly to

wastewater sludges to measure their biological stability

FIXED SOLIDS
are inorganic fraction that remains behind as ash after ignition. It
is the rough measure of the mineral content of wastewater.
However, many inorganic salts volatilize during ignition
CaCO3 Calcium Carbonate, the major component of the
inorganic salts, is stable up to a 825 OC

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

TS - Total Solids TS

TSS Total Suspended Solids

TDS Total Dissolved Solids
TSS TSS
VSS Volatile Suspended Solids
FSS Fixed Suspended Solids
VDS Volatile Dissolved Solids
FDS Fixed Dissolved Solids VSS FSS VDS FDS

2. ODORS
Caused by gases produced by the decomposition of organic matter.
The most characteristic odor of stale or septic wastewater is H 2S, which is
produced by anaerobic microorganisms that reduce sulfates to sulfides.
Offensive odors can cause poor appetite for food, lowered water
consumption, impaired respiration, nausea and vomiting and mental
perturbation.

Major Categories of offensive odors:

Compounds may be found or may develop in domestic wastewater,
depending on local conditions.
Odorous Compound Chemical Formula Odor
Ammonia NH3 Ammoniacal, pungent
Chlorine Cl2 Punget, suffocating
Cratyl Mercaptan CH3(CH2)3SH Skunklike
Dimethyl Sulfide (CH3)2S Decayed vegetables
Diphenyl Sulfide (C6H5)2S Unpleasant
Ethyl Mercaptan CH3CH2SH Decayed cabbage
Hydrogen Sulfide H2S Rotten eggs
Indole C8H6NH Fecal, nauseating
Methyl Amine CH3NH2 Putrid, fishy
Methyl Marcaptan CH3SH Decayed cabbage
Skatole C9H9N Fecal, nauseating
Sulfur Dioxide SO2 Purgent, irritating
Thiocresal CH3C6H4SH Skunk, rancid

3. TEMPERATURE
The temperature of wastewater is commonly higher than water supply.
Mean annual wastewater temperature: 10 to 21.1OC
Representative value: 15.6 OC
Impacts:
Effect on aquatic life
Chemical reactions and reaction rates (serious depletions in
dissolved oxygen, DO concentrations, in the summer months
Suitability of the water for beneficial use
Abnormally high temperatures can foster the growth of
undesirable water plants and wastewater fungus.
Standards: Class C Inland Water it should be ambient not to raise 3
OC above river

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4. COLOR
Fresh wastewater: Gray
Septic/Stale: Black
Anthropogenic sources:
Paper mills
Textile mills
Food processing
Chemical compounds: humic acid (yellow); iron oxides (red) and
Manganese oxides (brown)
Impact:
Aesthetic displeasing and unacceptable
May be an indication of toxicity
May stain textiles and fixtures

Types of Color:
Apparent Color due to suspended solids
True Color due to dissolved solids that remain after suspended solids
Measurement: Colorimetric (Visual Comparison Method)
Unit Measurement of Color:
1. True Color Unit (TCU)
2. Platinum Cobalt Unit (PCU)
o Standard color solutions: Potassium Chloroplatinate
(K2PtCl6) tinted with small amounts of cobalt chloride.
o Color produced by 1 mg/L of Pt plus mg/L of Cobalt = 1
standard color unit
o Comparison tubes: Nessler tubes

Chemical Characteristics
1. pH
2. FOG (Fats, Oil and Grease) and other organic matter
3. BOD5
4. COD
5. Nutrients
6. Heavy Metals

1. pH
is negative logarithm of hydrogen ion concentration.
pH = -log [H+] or pH = log 1/[H+]; [H+] = antilog pH
pH + pOH = 14
low or high pH is undesirable in wastewater
pH range 6.5 to 9.0 (standards)
Acid Base
0 7 14
2. ALKALINITY
Is the ability of water to neutralize acids.
CO32- H2BO3-
HCO3- HPO4-
OH - NH3
HSiO3-
These compounds result from the dissolution of mineral substances in the
soil and atmosphere.

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3. HARDNESS
Is caused by divalent or multivalent cations or positively charged
metallic ions principally Ca+2 and Mg+2, others include Iron, Strontium,
Manganese and Barium.
Anions are bicarbonates, chlorides and sulfates.
Like alkalinity, it is expressed in terms of mg/L of CaCO3
Cations Anions
Ca2+ HCO3
Mg 2+ SO42-
Sr 2+ Cl-
Fe2+ NO3-

Classification of hardness:
Nature of water Range of hardness
Soft 75 mg/L as CaCO3
Moderately hard 75-150 mg/L as CaCO3
Hard 150-300 mg/L as CaCO3
Very hard >300 mg/L as CaCO3

4. FOG (Fats, Oil and Grease)

A variety of organic substances including hydrocarbons, fats, oils, waxes,
and high-molecular weight fatty acids are collectively referred as FOG.
Source are animal and vegetable matter
Objectionable because of the following:
it adheres to sewer pipe
it is detrimental to the bacteria
it form excessive scum in sedimentation tanks
it clog filter media, it reduces reaeration capacity of natural body
of water
DENR standards is less than 5 mg/L
Instrument used is Soxhlet Extraction Flask

5. ORGANIC MATTER
These solids are derived from both the animal and plant kingdoms and
the activities of man as related to the synthesis of organic compounds.
Are normally composed of a combination of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, and nitrogen in some cases.
Proteins are the principal constituents of the animal organism.
They are complex in chemical structure and unstable, being
subject to many forms of decomposition. When present in large
quantities, extremely foul odors are apt to be produced by their
decomposition.
Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, cellulose and wood
fiber.
Surfactants are large organic molecules that are slightly soluble
in water and cause foaming in wastewater-treatment plants and
in the surface waters into which the waste effluent is discharged.

Historical note: before 1965, ABS was typically present in

synthetic detergents.

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o ABS alkyl-benzene-sulfonate is resistant to biological

decomposition
o LAS linear-alkyl-sulfonate replaced ABS since it is
biodegradable
o Surfactants are determined by measuring the color
change in a standard solution of methylene blue dye,
Methylene Blue Active Substance (MBAS).

Phenols (C6H5OH) cause taste problems in drinking water,

particularly when the water is chlorinated. They are produced
primarily by industrial operations. Phenols can be biologically
oxidized at concentrations up to 500 mg/L.

Measurement of Organic Matter:

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
Total Organic Compound (TOC)
Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD)

1. 5-day BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD5)

Involves the measurement of the dissolved oxygen (DO) used
by microorganisms in the biochemical oxidation of organic
matter.
Within a 20-day period, the oxidation is about 95% to 99%
complete, and in the 5-day period, the oxidation is from 60 to
70% complete.
The 20oC temperature used is an average value for slow-
moving streams in temperate climates and is easily duplicated
in an incubator.
The kinetics of the BOD reaction are, for practical purposes,
formulated in accordance with 1st order reaction kinetics as:

Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

Aquatic aerobic organisms need oxygen to survive.
Maximum amount in clean water is about 9 mg/L.

BOD Exerted
If you determine the BOD after 5 days, this is called the 5-
day BOD (BOD5). If you determine the BOD after 20 days,
this is called the 20 day BOD (BOD20). These are really
BOD exerted values.

Ultimate BOD
It is the amount of oxygen required to decompose all of
the organic material after infinite time. This is usually
simply calculated form the 5 or 20 day data.

Mathematically,

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Integrating,

ln =

=

BOD exerted,

=
= (1 )

where:
Yt = BOD exerted @ time t
Lo = ultimate BOD, mg/L
Lt = BOD remaining @ time t
k = reaction constant (per day)

Typical values of reaction constant:

Water Type K, d-1
Tap water <0.10
Surface Waters 0.1 0.23
Weak Municipal water 0.35
Strong Municipal water 0.40
Treated effluent 0.12 0.23

Vant Hoff-Arrhenius Relationship:

= ()
where:
= varies, often quoted in literature is 1.047

Comparison between two First Rate BOD Formulas:

= (1 )
= ( )
Where:
K, k = deoxygenation constant; is not exactly constant
but varies with temperature
Lower case k = used for the reaction rate in the base e
Upper case K = used for the reaction rate in the base 10

To some literatures (i.e. Davis & Cornwell), the relationship

between two:
= .

Similarly, Ultimate BOD or Initial Oxygen Equivalent is

temperature dependent:
[ ] = [ ] (. + . )
Where:
[LO]T = ultimate BOD or Initial Oxygen equivalent at
temperature T
[LO]20 = ultimate BOD or Initial Oxygen equivalent at
temperature 20 OC

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Carbonaceous BOD (CBOD)

Oxygen consumption due to carbon
Nitrogenous BOD (NBOD)
Oxygen consumption due to nitrogen
The organism that oxidize the carbon in organic
compounds to obtain energy cannot oxidize the
nitrogen in these compounds

2. CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD)

It is the amount of (dissolved) oxygen required to oxidize and
stabilize organic and inorganic content of the sample solution.
Potassium chromate is used as a strong oxidizing agent.

=

- Varies from 0.4 to 0.8 for domestic wastewaters
- BOD5/COD > 0.6 = waste is fairly biodegradable
- 0.3>BOD5/COD> 0.6 = seeding required to treat biologically
- BOD5/COD < 0.3 = cannot be treated biologically

3. TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON (TOC)

Applicable to small concentration. The test is performed by
injecting a known quantity of sample into a high temperature
furnace. The organic carbon is oxidized to CO2 in the
presence of catalyst, the CO2 is measured by means of
infrared analyzer.

4. THEORETICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (ThOD)

Based on the stoichiometric arrangement of organic matter in
wastewater, which is generally a combination of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

Total Oxygen Demand (TOD)

In this test, organic substances and to minor extent,
inorganic substances are converted to stable end
products in a platinum-catalyzed combustion chamber.
TOD is determined by monitoring the amount of oxygen
content present in the nitrogen carrier gas.

Nitrogen
Is a constituent of proteins, chlorophyll and many other
biological compounds.
Proteins that are converted to amino acids and further
reduced to ammonia (NH3)
Sources: Proteins, Amines, Amino Acids, Urea
Objectionable: promotes Eutrophication
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) is a measure of the total
organic and ammonia nitrogen in the wastewater.
TKN gives a measure of the availability of nitrogen for
building cells.

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Nitrogen Cycle

Protein

Atmosphe Organic
re Nitrogen

N2 gas NO2

NO3

Phosporus
Source: Detergents, Fertilize,
Form: Phosphate (PO43-)
Measurement: Colorimetric
Important in bacterial propagation
Promotes eutrophication or algal bloom

6. HEAVY METALS
Non-toxic Metals
Sodium Iron
Manganese Aluminum
Copper Zinc
Toxic Metal
Arsenic Barium
Cadmium Chromium
Lead Mercury
Silver
Standards are set in DAO No. 35
Treatment by precipitation, coagulation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis

Biological Characteristics
Domestic wastewater contains enormous quantities of microorganisms.
Depending on sewage age and the quantity of dilution of water,
bacterial counts in raw sewage may be expected to range from 500,000
to 5,000,000 per mL.
Algae Protozoa Crustaceans
Fungi Rotifers

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1. MICROBIOLOGY OF SEWAGE

Bacteria
Single-celled plants which metabolize soluble food and reproduce by
binary fission.
In the presence of adequate and a suitable environment, bacteria will
produce and behave in the graph shown:

Lag Phase - or acclimatization is the adjustment phase of

microorganism.
Log Growth Phase microorganism multiply since there is an ample
supply of food.
Declining Growth Phase the point at which the food is largely
depleted and food becomes the limiting factor in further growth.
Stationary Phase food = microorganism
Endogenous Phase - the total mass of microorganisms will slowly
decrease as the cells use up all their stored reserves and slowly
begin to die.
During this phase, a phenomenon known as lysis can occur
in which the nutrients remaining in the dead cells diffuse out
to furnish the remaining cells with food (known as cryptic
growth)
F/M < 1

Anaerobic Bacteria oxidizes organic matter utilizing electron acceptors

other than oxygen.
They produce CO2, H2O, H2S, CH4, NH3, N2, reduced organics and
more bacteria.
A large part of the available energy appears in the form of end
products, hence cell production is low.
End products of anaerobic fermentation are likely to be odorous.
Production of a stable effluent is unlikely, since wastes do not

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contain sufficient electron acceptors to permit oxidation.

Aerobic Bacteria utilize free oxygen as an electron acceptor.

End products: CO2, H2O, SO42-, NO3-, NH3, and more bacteria.
Bulk of available energy is converted into either cell mass or heat,
yielding a stable effluent which will not undergo decomposition.
The oxygen required may be furnished naturally from the
atmosphere or mechanically by bubble aeration.

Facultative bacteria are most of the bacteria encountered in wastewater,

which can function in both aerobic and anaerobic environment.
They are the major contributor to stabilization of wastewater.
Example reactions: reduction of CO2 to CH4 and oxidation of NH3 to
NO3-.

Algae
Are photosynthetic microorganisms which can produce oxygen and
organic cell mass from inorganic chemicals.
Algae are not important in most waste treatment process, but play a
role in oxidation ponds.

Protozoa
are single celled protists which reproduce by binary fission. They can
be aerobic, anaerobic, or facultative.
Their major food source is the bacteria.
Protozoa of importance to sanitary engineers include amoebas,
flagellates, and free-swimming stalked ciliates.

Fungi
are multicellular nonphotosynthetic plants. Most fungi are aerobic, but
anaerobic species are known.
They tend to predominate over bacteria in wastes which are deficient
in nitrogen or low in pH.
Their large filamentous shape makes them to settle poorly and are thus
difficult to remove by sedimentation.

Rotifers
Are the simplest multicellular animal. They feed on bacteria and small
protozoa, thus further stabilizing the waste.
Since they require a high level of DO, their presence is a good
indication of the relative stability of a treated waste.

Crustaceans
Any of various types of animal that live in water and have a hard outer
shell.
Their presence is also a good indication of a stabilized wastewater.

Generally speaking microorganisms are like people who prefer:

Enough room to move around
Just sufficient food

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Enough nutrients
Enough oxygen to breath

Coliform Organisms
are rod shaped bacteria thriving inside the intestinal tract of man.
Each person discharges from 100 to 400 billion coliform organisms per
day.
They are harmless to man and are, in fact, useful in destroying organic
matter in biological waste treatment processes.
The presence of coliform organisms is taken as an indication that the
water is free from disease producing organisms.
Coliform Organisms bacteria include the genera Escherichia and
Aerobacter.
Other genera: Citrobacter, Hafnia, and Klebsiella
There is difficulty in determining E.coli to the exclusion of soil
coliforms, as a result, the entire coliform group is used as an
indicator of fecal pollution.
E. coli is the preferred pathogen indicator.
Note: this is not the pathogenic E.coli O157:H7 strain
Properties of E.coli are:
o Found in much higher concentrations than most
pathogens in fecal matter.
o Non pathogenic
o Easy detect, relatively fast and inexpensive analysis.
o Its absence indicates absence of enteric pathogens.

Total Coliform
all aerobic, facultative and anaerobic gram-negative, non-spore
forming, rod-shaped bacteria that ferment lactose with gas
formation within 48 hours.

Test Procedure for determining the presence of coliform:

Presumptive test based on the ability of the coliform group to
ferment lactose broth, producing gas.
Confirmed test consist of growing cultures of coliform bacteria on
media that suppress the growth of other organisms.
2 Accepted Methods for determining the number of Coliform
organisms present in a given volume of water:
Most Probable Number (MPN)
- Has been used for a long time and is based on a
statistical analysis of the number of positive and negative
results obtained when testing multiple portions of equal
volume and in portions constituting a geometric series for
the presence of coliform.
- It is not an absolute concentration of organisms that are
present.
Membrane Filter Technique (MFT)
- It is accomplished by passing a known volume of water
sample through a membrane filter that has a very small
pore size. The bacteria are retained on the filter.
- The bacteria are then contacted with an agar that

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contains necessary nutrients necessary for growth of the

bacteria. After incubation, the coliform colonies can be
counted and the concentration in the original water
sample is determined.
- Faster than MPN and gives a direct count of the number
of coliforms.

Fecal Coliforms (FC) vs. Fecal Streptococci (FS)

- It has been observed that the quantities of fecal coliforms and
fecal streptococci that are discharged by human beings are
significantly different from the quantities discharged by animals.
FC/FS ratio
Domestic Animal Less than 1.0
Human being Greater than 4.0

2. SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Objective of Sampling:
Evaluate performance efficiency of WTP
Compliance to DENR requirements

GRAB SAMPLING
Sample is taken at random with no particular time.
It may be taken from the discharge of a pump, be manually dipped
from the flow, or be automatically dipped or siphoned from the
stream.

COMPOSITE SAMPLING
It is a mixture of grab samples taken over a period of time, with the
volume of individual samples usually being proportional to the flow at
the time the sample is taken.
Composite samples are most useful for analyses of average
characteristics such as daily waste loads.

CONTINUOUS SAMPLING
Sample represents diversion of a small fraction of the total flow over
some period of time.
Continuous samplers are usually not flow proportional. Rather, they
extract the sample at a constant rate.
Continuous samplers are most suitable for instrumental measurements
which can be performed virtually instantaneously, such as
temperature, pH, DO, etc.

Important Notes on Sampling:

Examination of drawings that shows sewers and manholes will help to
determine sampling locations where flow conditions encourage a
homogenous mixture.
However, if the discharger intends to evaluate the performance efficiency
of the whole WTP, samples must be taken from influent stream to the WTP
and from the effluent stream of each treatment unit. Effluent from specific

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plant operation/process or production area must be taken to evaluate

effectiveness of in-plant water pollution control or waste minimization
measure/s.
In sewers and in deep, narrow channels, samples should be taken from a
point one-third the water depth from the bottom. The collection point in
wide channels should be rotated across the channel.
Samples must be suitably preserved until they can be analyzed. Domestic
sewage samples can be preserved satisfactorily by storage at 4 oC.
Freezing alters the character of the solids and thus should be avoided.

3. UNIT OPERATIONS AND UNIT PROCESS

Unit operation the treatment or removal of contaminant is brought by the

physical or mechanical sources.
Unit process the treatment occurs predominantly due to chemical and
biological reactions.

With these, the classification of treatment methods:

Physical unit operations treatment methods in which the application of

physical forces predominate. Because most of these methods evolved
directly from mans first observations of nature, they were the first to be used
for wastewater treatment. Examples of Physical unit operation:
Unit Operation Principal Application
Screening Racks or bar screen are the first step in WTP. They
are used to remove large objects.
Grit Removal It is used to remove heavy material such as sand,
gravel, eggshell, etc.
Primary It is used to remove settleable solids.
Sedimentation
Filtration Filtration is used to polish effluent. Total suspended
solids and turbidity are removed.
Reverse Osmosis or It is a demineralization process applicable to
Ultrafiltration production of high quality water from effluent. The
water is permeated through semipermeable
membrane at high temperature.

Chemical unit processes treatment methods in which the removal or

conversion of contaminants is brought about by the addition of chemicals
or other chemical reactions. Examples of Chemical unit processes:
Unit Process Principal Application
Chemical Treatment is accomplished by producing
Precipitation
Grit Removal It is used to remove heavy material such as sand,
gravel, eggshell, etc.
Primary It is used to remove settleable solids.
Sedimentation
Filtration Filtration is used to polish effluent. Total suspended
solids and turbidity are removed.

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

Reverse Osmosis or It is a demineralization process applicable to

Ultrafiltration production of high quality water from effluent. The
water is permeated through semipermeable
membrane at high temperature.

Biological unit processes treatment methods in which the removal of

contaminants is brought about biological activity or action of
microorganisms.
Unit Process Principal Application
Suspended Growth It is used to remove dissolved organics. Principal
Biological Reactor variation is activated sludge.
Attached Growth It is used to remove dissolved organics. Principal
Biological Reactor variation is trickling filter.
Nitrification The process is used to convert ammonia to nitrate.
Achieved in suspended or attached growth
biological reactor.
Denitrification Nitrite and nitrate are reduced to nitrogen gas by
microorganisms. It is achieved under anaerobic
condition in suspended or attached growth
reactors.

4. ELEMENTS OF PLANT ANALYSIS & DESIGN

Important elements:
Flowsheet is a graphical representation of a particular combination of unit
operation and processes.

Process loading criteria key criteria used as a basis for sizing the
individual unit operation and processes.

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

Solid balance - is determined by identifying the quantities of solids

entering and leaving each unit operation or process. Such information
must be available to (1) assess the need for sludge-storage facilities and
their capacity, and (2) to determine the proper size of the sludge piping
and pumping equipment.
Hydraulic profiles used to identify the elevation of the free surface of the
wastewater. These profiles are prepared for (1) to ensure that the
hydraulic gradient is adequate for the wastewater to flow through the
treatment facilities by gravity, (2) to establish the head requirement for the
pumps where pumping will be needed, and (3) to ensure that the plant
facilities will not be flooded or backed up during periods of peak flow.
Plant layout is the spatial arrangement of the physical facilities of the
treatment plant in the flowsheet. The overall plant layout includes the
location of the control and administrative buildings and other necessary
buildings.

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PRELIMINARY TREATMENT
Provides protection to the wastewater treatment plant equipment that
follows.
This includes:
Screening
Flow measurement
Solids grinding
Grit removal
Equalization

SCREENING
Treatment used for the removal of coarse and settleable solids by
inception.
Purpose: To remove material which would
1. Damage equipment
2. Interfere with the satisfactory operation of a process
3. Cause objectionable shoreline condition

Types of Screens
Racks or bar screen - composed of parallel bars or rods which maybe
hand cleaned or mechanically cleaned
Fine screens wire/cloth mesh; perforated plate

Screening

Coarse Screen Finescreen Microscreen

(6 to 150 mm) (<6 mm) (<50 m)

Mechanically Static
Hand cleaned Drum type Step type
cleaned wedgewire

Static
Drum type Step type
wedgewire

FLOW MEASUREMENT
Flow rate needed for efficient operation, chemical addition, etc.
Several operations need flow rate data for good operations (I.e.
chlorination, pH adjustment, etc.)
Legislative requirement
Various Types of Wastewater Flowrate used in Process design:
Average Daily Flowrate (ADF) average flowrate over a period of
time.
Peak Hourly Flowrate (PHF) highest flowrate measured in 24-hour

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 SEWAGE TREATMENT: PLANNING & DESIGN

period
Maximum Daily Flowrate (MDDF) maximum daily design flow over a
period of time

Flow measuring devices:

Venturi meter
Parshall flumes
Weir (i.e. V-notch)
Magnetic & sonic meters

SOLIDS GRINDING OR COMMINUTION

Grinding of coarse solids to a more or less uniform size.
Comminutors devices that used to cut up the solids in wastewater.
Barminutor is a combination of a bar screen and a comminutor. The
bar screen traps the rags and a rotating cutter runs down the screen to
cut up the rags every 15-30 minutes.

GRIT REMOVAL
Purpose: To remove grit (sand, broken glass, silt, and pebbles) to avoid
wears of pump and other mechanical devices.
Grit chamber is an enlarged channel where the velocity of wastewater
flow is controlled to allow only the heavier solids to settle out.
The downward slope of a sewer line must be sufficient to maintain a
minimum velocity of 2 feet per second in the pipe. This velocity is
maintained until the flow enters the treatment plant. The grit is removed
from the flow as it passes through a grit chamber. The velocity in the grit
chamber is reduced to about 1 foot per second.
Horizontal-flow grit chamber
Aerated grit chamber
Circular grit chamber

FLOW EQUALIZATION
Equalization basin maintains a constant volumetric flow of wastewater
from pretreatment to other downstream operation. It dampens hydraulic
or flowrate variations.
Specific objectives of equalization:
Smooth out fluctuations in flow rate
Dampens the variation in the concentration of BOD5
Decrease fluctuations in flow rate, to provide more consistent
treatment. Done by storing excess wastewater during high flow
periods. Results in more consistent treatment.

PRELIMINARY TREATMENT 23