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A publication of

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS

VOL. 71, 2018 The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors: Xiantang Zhang, Songrong Qian, Jianmin Xu
Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-68-6; ISSN 2283-9216 DOI: 10.3303/CET1871039

Water Quality Analysis and Treatment Plan of Typical Swags

Hua Guo, Junliang Liu*, Liyong Zhang, Tiejian Zhang
College of Urban and Rural Construction, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China
[email protected]

Swags as typical agricultural lands are widely distributed in rural areas. They also act as the important water
storage ponds in rural areas in Northern China. But unfortunately, a big heap of pollutants is often dumped
into swags due to industrial revitalization, population growth and for other reasons, coupled with man-made
sabotage and backward infrastructure, the water pollution is ubiquitous everywhere. A survey has been
conducted on typical swags in a county of Hebei, China, for developing a preliminary treatment program,
which provides the clues to the treatment of swags in the area. Water in these swags generally has poor
quality, even falls short of Class V surface water standard. Rainwater swag holds the best quality, followed by
the domestic sewage + rainwater swags, while the pollution of the aquaculture wastewater + rainwater swags
are heavy, pertaining to the sewage with high organic matter and high ammonia nitrogen wastewater. For the
specific projects, this is the program designed on the principle of “select a reasonable combination process
based on the pollution situation of the swags and sustainable treatment effect”, and with the “decontaminate to
cut off pollution – purify and treat water to control pollution – purify microbial activation water, restore water
body self-purification function – intensify plants for water self-purification function – perform scientific
management” as the basic idea.

1. Introduction
Swags are typical agricultural lands widely distributed in rural areas. According to its formation, swags can be
classified into natural, artificial and semi-artificial types. There are more typical man-made, semi-artificial
swags in rural areas of Hebei, China, made up of historically abandoned kilns and borrow pits with puddles
from the rain, of different areas and sporadically distributed. These swags can be used for water storage,
irrigation, fish culture, etc., serving as an integral part of the water environment system and playing an
important role in rural areas. However, due to industrial revitalization, population growth, etc., the pollutant
emissions in these areas increase, coupled with the man-made sabotage and backward infrastructure, many
swags have been heavily polluted since they have to meet more untreated industrial effluent, domestic
sewage, rainfall runoff, domestic garbage, agricultural waste and building rubbish (Yang et al., 2018). On the
other hand, with the improvement of living standards, the rural residents have set a higher demand for living
environment, they are more intense in their desires for renovating used pits and ponds to build a beautiful
countryside. The important content for ecological civilization construction is no doubt to Improve the rural
ecological environment and build an ecologically livable beautiful village. A survey has been conducted on
typical swags in a county of Hebei, China, for developing a preliminary treatment program so as to provide the
clues to the treatment and transformation of the swags in the area.

2. Materials and methods

2.1 Overview of study area
In a county located in the central part of Hebei Province, there are continental monsoon climate and four
distinct seasons, annual average temperature of 12.8 °C, the extreme minimum air temperature of -20.9 °C,
annual average rainfall of 517.8 mm and the maximum precipitation of 893.9 mm, mostly concentrated in
summer, so that the water resources there are abundant. More than 130 independent swags are located
there. According to the field survey, there are some issues: (1) Exogenous sewage pollution: there are

Please cite this article as: Guo H., Liu J., Zhang L., Zhang T., 2018, Water quality analysis and treatment plan of typical swags, Chemical
Engineering Transactions, 71, 229-234 DOI:10.3303/CET1871039
230

sewage outfall in many swags; (2) Eutrophication: the COD, NH 3-N or TP in each swag slightly exceed the
standard; (3) Garbage: there are widespread garbage accumulated or sporadically distributed.
1.2 Sample collection
In order to survey the water environment quality of the contaminated pits in the area, representative swags are
chosen for sampling and testing, as applicable to the specific situation. Samples are collected in dry season,
and at the sampling points, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Distribution of sampling points

Sampling swags contain three types, i.e. rainwater swags, domestic sewage + rainwater swags, aquaculture
sewage + rainwater swags. See Table 1 for details.

Table 1: Typical swags

Samples No. Types of swags Water level / m3 Refuse quantity / m3
1 rainwater 19320 865 (landfill, floating)
2 Domestic sewage + rainwater 5985 1000 (landfill, floating)
3 Domestic sewage + rainwater 10895 60 (landfill, floating)
4 rainwater 3000 20 (fragmented, floating)
5 Domestic sewage + rainwater 360000 10 (fragmented, floating)
6 rainwater 1000 15 (fragmented, floating)
7 rainwater 7500 25 (fragmented, floating)
8 rainwater 2000 500 (landfill, floating)
9 rainwater 40000 180 (landfill, floating)
10 rainwater 2000 15 (fragmented, no floating)
11 rainwater 2000 35 (landfill, floating)
12 Domestic sewage + rainwater 4000 25 (fragmented, floating)
13 Domestic sewage + rainwater 25000 330 (landfill, floating)
14 Aquaculture sewage + rainwater 2000 5 (fragmented, no floating)
2.2 Analysis of samples

Table 2: Test water quality indicators and analysis methods

Analysis item Determination method Main instruments and models
Potassium dichromate digestion - ferrous 1KW electronic universal furnace / acid
COD
sulfate titration burette
Ammonia nitrogen Nessler reagent colorimetry Spectrophotometer / HACH DR5000
Total phosphorus Ammonium molybdate spectrophotometry Spectrophotometer / HACH DR5000
Shanghai Kangyi PHB series pen type
pH
pH meter
Shanghai Shanke WGZ-800 scattered
Turbidity
turbidity meter
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Given that there may be organic and nitrogen-phosphorus pollution in water, and as required by the treatment
program, the COD, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, pH and turbidity are chosen for water quality
determination. Each indicator should be tested in accordance with the Water and Wastewater Determination
and Analysis Method (E. 4) (Addition). Refer to Table 2 for measurement method and testing instruments. In
order to further clarify the types of organic pollutions, the COD is divided into total COD (hereinafter referred to
as TCOD) and dissolved COD (hereinafter referred to as SCOD). For the test method for SCOD, the water
sample is filtered via a 0.45 μm filter, and then tested according to the national standard.

3. Results and analysis

3.1 Water quality test results
3.1.1 Test on water quality in aquaculture sewage swags
Major quality indicators for aquaculture swags (14# sample point) are listed in Table 3.

Table 3: Main water indicators in sampling points

Sampling site COD Ammonia nitrogen Total phosphorus pH Turbidity
14 1250 211.1 19.6 7.1 -

14# sampling point has ever accepted the aquaculture sewage from nearby livestock farms. Water there is
heavily polluted by organic matter and ammonia nitrogen. COD, NH3-N and TP reaches as high as 1250mg/L,
211.1mg/L and 19.6mg/L, respectively, pertaining to the sewage with high ammonia nitrogen and high organic
matters.
3.1.2 Water quality test in other swags
The COD content in every sampling point is shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: Content of COD in sampling swags

Test results show that the content of COD in the 9# sampling swag is the lowest, only 25.6mg/L, in
accordance with the Class IV water quality standard; except for the sampling points 1, 7, 9, and 10, the CODs
in other swags all exceed the Class V standard, in which the COD in 13# sampling point reaches as high as
136mg / L. Except for 12# and 13# swags, the SCODs of other swags are less than 40mg/L. The COD in
water pertains to the type of sewage received, and is correlated to the water level. Several swags where the
water quality is relatively good are rainwater types since they have a relatively high water level. The COD in
the swags receiving domestic sewage is the highest, which suggests that domestic sewage is an important
source of pollution. The areas near 3#, 12#, 13# sample swags are densely populated. There are more than
700 people in the community and schools, from where, domestic sewage is directly discharged into the swags
via the pipelines. 5# Sampling swag receives less sewage thanks to its high water level, so that there is better
water than in other swags that receive domestic sewage.
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Figure 3: Content of ammonia nitrogen in sample swags

Ammonia nitrogen is an important indicator for determining surface water quality. On the whole, it is superior
to the COD indicators for measuring the pollution level. In 2#, 3#, 4#, 5# sampling swags, ammonia nitrogen
indicators measured is subject to the Class IV standard; in 6#, 9#, 10# sample swages, ammonia nitrogen
indicator meets the Class V standard. 1# Sample swag has ammonia nitrogen slightly higher than the value
specified by the Class V standard; in 8#, 11#, 12#, 13# swags, ammonia nitrogen is many times the standard
value, reaches up to 13.22mg / L, which may pertain to domestic sewage and garbage emissions.

Figure 4: Content of TP in sample swag

TP is an important indicator for measuring eutrophication in water bodies. Test data shows that 4#, 5#, 7#, 8#
sample swags contain the TP as required by the Class V standard, of which 4#, 7#, 8# are rainwater types,
and 5# converges a little amount of domestic sewage, but has a high level in total, so that the TP
concentration meets the requirements of Class V standard. In the other swags, the TPs exceeded 0.4 mg/L of
the Class V water quality standard, and climbs up the maximum in the 11# swag, reaching 4.97 mg/L, far
higher than 0.4 mg/L. 11# swag has a lower water level, so that the ammonia nitrogen and TP are far greater
than the standard values.

Figure 5: pH in sample swag

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The pHs in the sample swags 7~9 meet the water quality requirements since the swags mainly converge
rainwater and less domestic sewage, and there is no special industrial effluent discharged.
3.2 Analysis of results
Test data shows that the water quality in the swags in this area is generally poor, and falls short of the Class V
water quality standards. The water quality has a direct bearing on the type of water inflowed. The water quality
of rainwater swags is better than that of the domestic sewage + rainwater swags. The aquaculture sewage +
rainwater swags have the worst quality. Most of them are polluted by organic matters and nitrogen and
phosphorus, and have water quality in a state of eutrophication. Except for 12# and 13# swags, the SCODs in
other swags are less than 40mg/L. 2# and 12# swags are located in an area where there is a well-established
sewage pipe network system. The domestic sewage converges into the water body after collecting. 14# swag
is heavily polluted by organic matter and ammonia nitrogen, pertaining to sewage with high ammonia nitrogen
and high organic matters. There is an abominable environment around swags. Some of the swags heaps up
much garbage, and so much garbage floating on the water surface has a bad effect on the senses.

4. Discussion on treatment program

4.1 Treatment principle
Swag is an important pondage body in the rural areas of the north China. The water management should
retain the water storage function of the existing pits for rainwater storage and landscape; a set of the most
appropriate treatment technologies should be determined depending upon specific pollution situation in the
water bodies to be treated, striving to make it reliable, easy to manage, efficient and energy-saving, as
applicable to local conditions (Jin, 2001). For the specific projects, this is the program designed on the
principle of “select a reasonable combination process based on the pollution situation of the swags and
sustainable treatment effect”, and with the “decontaminate to cut off pollution – purify and treat water to control
pollution – purify microbial activation water, restore water body self-purification function – intensify plants for
water self-purification function – perform scientific management” as the basic idea. The combination
technology and measures against pollution are adopted to intensify the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus
(Goda,1981), inhibit the growth of algae with the growth competition of dominant plant community, restore and
strengthen the self-purification function of water bodies, and underline the follow-up scientific management
(Schonach et al., 2018) (such as plant harvesting, etc.), and finally realize the long-term sustainability goal of
governance effect.
4.2 Treatment program
According to the above-mentioned pollution situation, and with pollution characteristics, this program selects
different water treatment technologies (including different plant species) and measures for organic
combination, in the light of different pollution situation, landform and depth characteristics of each swag, while
allowing for the bidding requirement (Val Klump et al., 2018; El-Hattab, 2015). See Table 4.

Table 4: Different types of water treatment technologies and measures

Pollution situation For combined technologies and measures Major functions
Removal of residues of COD,
Specially polluted The biochemical purification technology performs
ammonia nitrogen and TP in
swags bypass treatment on the sewage.
sewage
Set up sewage treatment facilities to treat it on site Removal of COD, ammonia
Exogenous
after the interception of domestic sewage nitrogen and TP from exogenous
sewage pollution
discharged into the swags domestic sewage
High-efficiency purification and algae removal Reduce water suspended matters,
technology, microbial activation combined with algae, colloid, COD, ammonia
Water
biological filtration technology (integrated with nitrogen and TP to improve
eutrophication
microbial activation, aeration, running water transparency and dissolved
circulation, microorganisms oxygen;
Restore and strengthen the self-
Thoroughly cleanup and transit for landfill after purification capacity of water
Garbage
screening. bodies, clean up the foreign
transport
Set up the enclosures; strengthen management and
Other integrated
training; Perform scientific management
management
Underline plant harvesting
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14#Pitang water body pertains to sewage with high ammonia nitrogen and high organic sewage, and can be
treated by garbage clearance – cut pollution - biochemical bypass treatment - microbial activation combined
with biological filtration - aeration - aquatic plants - maintenance management. For 12#, 13# swags, etc., algae
fully cover on the surface; for swags where NH3-N and TP greatly exceed the standard can be treated by the
garbage clearance – cut pollution – mobile efficient algae removal clarification (bypass)-microbial activation
combined organism filtration - aeration - aquatic plants - maintenance management program. 7#, 9# and
others have the better quality; those swags without algae on the surface can be treated by the garbage
clearance – cut pollution -microbial activation combined with biological filtration – aeration - aquatic plant-
maintenance management program.

5. Conclusion
Water in the swags in this area is generally poor, and even falls short of the Class V surface water quality
standard. Rainwater swag is the best in water quality, followed by domestic sewage + rainwater pond. The
pollution of the aquaculture sewage + rainwater swags is heavy, where water pertains to high organic matter
and high ammonia nitrogen wastewater. Various types of swags are surveyed to develop appropriate
treatment program for them.
Long-acting maintenance of the swag treatment effect is based on the “30% construction and 70%
management”. It is recommended that new pollution sources in the swags should be cut off after the
completion of the treatment project. It is proposed that rainwater-based swags are used for aquaculture to
facilitate the long-acting ecological effects and functions of the swags.

Acknowledgements
This paper is supported by the Science and Technology Fund of Hebei Agricultural University (No. LG201632,
LG201629) and the scientific research project of Hebei Provincial Water Resources (No. 2017-53).

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