MEKLLE UNIVERSITY

ETHIOPIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY-MEKELLE

[EiT-M]
SCHOOL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Sewage Treatment
(CEng-4173)

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 1

 CHAPTER - 1
Introduction to sewage treatment

What is sewage/wastewater?
➢Sewage/Wastewater is a liquid waste consists
▪living organisms
▪vegetable
▪chemical matter
➢Wastewater consist about 99.9% water and 0.1% solids
➢ Wastewater contain pathogens (disease causing organisms)
➢ To prevent any health hazards caused by discharging
wastewater into the environment, the wastewater must be treated
before discharge
➢ Wastewater treatment involves collecting the wastewater in a
central, segregated location (the Wastewater Treatment Plant)
and subjecting the wastewater to various treatment processes
November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 2
 cont’d
• Wastewater treatment consists of applying known technology to
improve or upgrade the quality of a wastewater
• The principal objective of wastewater treatment is generally to
allow human and industrial effluents to be disposed off without
danger to human health or unacceptable damage to the natural
environment
• With the current emphasis on environmental health and water
pollution issues, there is an increasing awareness of the need to
dispose of these wastewaters safely and beneficially
• The degree of treatment of a wastewater depends on the
quality of the raw waste and the required effluent quality

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 3

 Categories of sewage
1. Sanitary Sewage:
o Liquid wastes of
domestic, commercial,
institutional and
industrial places.
o This sewage is
extremely foul in
nature and required to
be disposed off very
carefully.
2. Storm Sewage:
o Surface runoff
developed during and
immediately after
rainfall.
 Course Objectives

❑To introduce fundamentals of the wastewater treatment

plants and their unit operations and processes
❑To provide basic design skills and knowledge on the
wastewater treatment plants and their unit operations and
processes
❑To experience a design project on a hypothetical wastewater
treatment plant
• Identify kinds and sources of wastewater
• Describe hazards in wastewater
• Describe ways of treating wastewater
• Describe the products of wastewater treatment,
including the production and use of bio solids

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 5

 Wastewater Treatment Standards
Effluents discharged to receiving water bodies should achieved the following maximum
wastewater quality limits: (according to WHO)
Parameter Effluent Limit

BOD5 20mg/l

TSS 30mg/l

Nitrates (as Nitrogen) 30mg/l

Phosphate 10mg/l

COD 100mg/l

pH 6–9

Faecal coliform 1000MPN/100ml

Residual chlorine 1.5mg/l

MPN- Most Probable Number

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 6

 Wastewater Treatment Standards

1. Free from materials harmful to human, animal and aquatic life;

2. Free from anything that will settle in receiving waters forming
objectionable sludge deposits, or that will adversely affect
aquatic life;
3. Free from floating debris, oil, scum and other materials in
amounts sufficient to be noticeable in receiving waters;
4. Free from materials produce heat, color, turbidity, and/or
odour in sufficient concentration that adversely affect aquatic
life in receiving waters;
5. Free from nutrients in concentrations that create growths of
aquatic weeds or algae in the receiving waters;

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 7

 Flow chart for wastewater treatment processes

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 8

 Conventional waste water treatment plant

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 9

 Chapter-2
Characteristics of wastewater
Physical Chemical Bacteriological
Total Solids, Suspended Solids and Bacteria and other
Settleable Solids living
Turbidity Alkalinity microorganisms
pH
Chloride Contents
Dissolved gases
Color Nitrogen compounds
Phosphorus
Presence of Fats, Oils and Greases
Odor
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Temperature Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
Total Organic Carbon

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 10

 Summary of typical raw domestic wastewater characteristics

Concentration
Contaminants
Unit Weak Medium Strong
Total solids (TS) mg/l 350 720 1200
Total dissolved solids (TDS) mg/l 250 500 850
Fixed mg/l 145 300 525
Volatile mg/l 105 200 325
Suspended solids mg/l 100 220 350
Fixed mg/l 20 55 75
Volatile mg/l 80 165 275
Settleable solids mg/l 5 10 20
BOD5, 20 c mg/l 110 220 400
TOC mg/l 80 160 290
COD mg/l 250 500 1000
Nitrogen (total as N) mg/l 204 40 85
Organic mg/l 81 153 35
Free ammonia mg/l 12 25 50
Nitrites mg/l 0 0 0
Nitrates mg/l 0 0 0
Phosphorus (total as P) mg/l 4 8 15
Organic mg/l 13 3 5
Inorganic mg/l 3 5 10
Chlorides mg/l 30 50 100
Sulfate mg/l 20 30 50
Alkalinity (as CaCO3) mg/l 50 100 200
Grease mg/l 50 100 150
Total coliforms No/100 ml 106 - 107 107- 108 107- 109
Volatile organic compounds µg/l < 100 100 - 400 > 400

Source: Adapted from Metcalf and Eddy Inc., Wastewater Engineering, 3rd edition.

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 11

 Measurement of Concentration of Contaminants in
Wastewater (Organic matter)

➢Expressed in terms of the amount of oxygen required for

its oxidation
➢The most important standard methods for analysis of
organic contaminants are:
▪Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD)
▪Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
▪Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 12

 Cont…

Biological • The amount of oxygen which is needed for the biological

Oxygen Demand degradation of organic substances in water in mg of O2/ l.
• Generally, the biological oxygen demand serves as a sum
(BOD) parameter for the assessment of pollution of sewage.

Theoretical • If the chemical formula of the organic matter existing

in the WW is known, the ThOD may be computed as
Oxygen Demand the amount of oxygen needed to oxidize the organic
(ThOD) carbon to carbon dioxide and a other end products

Chemical • It is the oxygen equivalent of organic matter

• It is determined by measuring the dissolved oxygen
Oxygen used during the chemical oxidation of organic matter
Demand (COD) in 3 hours

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 13

Methods of BOD concentration Determination

1. Mathematical Model for BOD Curve method

2. Dilution test method

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 14

 Cont….
 The graph shown below is used to describe the change of BOD with time
 From the figure the following correlations are derived:
Where Lo=initial amount of organic mater
Y = Biological Oxygen Demand to oxidize the organic mater

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 15

 Example: 1

•Determine the 1-day BOD and ultimate BOD for a

wastewater whose 5-day 20°C BOD is 200 mg/L. The
reaction constant K= 0.23d-1what would have been the 5-
day BOD if it had been conducted at 25°C?
Solution:-
•BODt= UBOD –BODr = UBOD (1-e-kt) =L0(1-e-kt)
• 200 = L0(1-e-0.23x5) L0= 293 mg/L (this is UBOD)
•Determine the 1-day BOD:-BODt = L0(l-e-kt)
BOD1= 293 (1-e-0.23x1) = 60.1 mg/L
•Determine the 5-day BOD at 25C
KT= K20 (1.047)T-20K25= 0.23 (1.047)25-20
KT=0.29
BOD5= L0(1-e –kt ) = 293 (1-e-0.29x5) = 224 mg/L

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 16

 Dilution Test
• The BOD Dilution Test Procedure
1. Prepare several dilutions of the sample to be analyzed with distilled water of
high purity
2. Incubation bottles (250ml to 300ml capacity)
a. The diluted sample (i.e., the “substrate")
b. A seed of microorganisms (usually the supernatant liquor from domestic
sewage)
c. Nutrient solution for the microorganisms
▪ For each BOD bottle a control bottle which does not contain the substrate is
also prepared
▪ Bottles are incubated at 20°c for 5 days
▪ Light must be excluded from the incubator to prevent algal growth that may
produce oxygen in the bottle.
▪ The DO content before the incubation and after the incubation is determined
▪ The difference between concentrations of dissolved oxygen (mg/liter) in
control bottle and in sample bottle corresponds to the oxygen utilized in
biochemical oxidation of contaminants

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 17

 Cont… Where
▪ DO – dissolved oxygen of the diluted sample immediately
after preparation, mg/l
▪ DO2 – dissolved oxygen of the diluted sample after 5 day
incubation at 20ºc, mg/l
▪ DOS1 – dissolved oxygen of seed control before
incubation, mg/l
▪ DOS2 – dissolved oxygen of seed control after incubation,
mg/l
▪ f – Fraction of seeded dilution water volume in sample to
volume of seeded dilution water in seed control
▪ P – Fraction of wastewater sample volume to total
combined volume

Volume of sample
P=
Volume of sample + Volume of distilled water

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 18

 Chapter-3: Preliminary Wastewater Treatment
• Preliminary treatment consists only in separating the floating
materials and heavy settleable inorganic solids
• This process reduces the BOD of the wastewater about 15 to
30%.
• Types of Preliminary treatment
• Screening
• Removing floating papers, rags, clothes, etc.
• Grit chambers or Detritus tanks
• removing grit and sand
• Skimming tanks
• removing oils and greases

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 19

 Types of Screens, their Designs and Cleaning

•Different types of screen

•Coarse screens (opening size is about 50 mm or more)
• Removing large floating objects from sewage usually consists of rags, wood, paper,
etc.
• They will collect about 6 liters of solids per 106 liter of sewage
• Disposal sludge of may by incineration, burial, or dumping.
• Both manual and mechanical cleaning may be employed
•Medium screen (opening size is about 6 to 50 mm)
• They will collect 30 to 90 liters of material per 106 liter of sewage
• The sewage collected usually contain some quantity of organic material, which may
decompose and become offensive, and must be disposed of by incineration, or burial
(not by dumping)
• Both manual and mechanical cleaning may be employed
•Fine screen (opening size is about 1.5 mm to 3 )
• They remove about 20% of suspended solids from sewage
• Used only for treating the industrial wastewaters, or for municipal wastewaters,
which are associated with heavy amounts of industrial wastewaters
• mechanical cleaning is suitable

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 20

Example: screen design

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 21

 Grit chambers or Detritus tanks
• Remove inorganic particles such as sand, gravel, grit, egg shells, bones, and
other non-decomposable materials
• Designed to separate the intended heavier inorganic materials or particles by
the process of sedimentation due to gravitational forces
• Generally, grit chambers are designed to separate particles with;
• specific gravity about 2.65
• all particles with a nominal diameter of 0.02mm having settling velocity of about
2.3cm/s (at 100c)
• some grit removal devices are designed to remove 0.15mm sand particles having
settling velocity of about 1.3cm/s (at 10°c)
• It is not at all desirable to remove any organic matter
• The velocity is designed to scour the lighter organic particles, and while the heavier
grit particles remain settled
• Designed to have constant velocity horizontal flow at varying discharges and
achieved by providing a velocity control section,
• Collected grit quantity vary between
• 0.004 -0.037m3/1000m3 of sewage for separate sewage system
• 0.004 - 0.180 m3/1000 m3 for combined sewage system

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 22

 Example: Grit chamber
1.A grit chamber is designed to remove particles with a diameter of 0.2mm,
specific gravity 2.65. Settling velocity for these particles has been found to
range from 0.016 to 0.022m/sec, depending on their shape factor. A flow
through velocity of 0.3m/sec will be maintained by proportioning weir.
Determine the grit chamber dimensions for a maximum wastewater flow of
10,000 m3/day.
2.Design a suitable Detritus tank for a sewage treatment plant getting a dry
weather flow from a separate sewerage system at 400litre/sec. Assume the
flow velocity through the tank as 0.2m/sec and detention period of 2
minutes. The maximum flow may be assumed to be three times of dry
weather flow.

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 23

 Primary Wastewater Treatment
❑Removing large suspended organic solids using sedimentation in settling basins
❑The liquid effluent from preliminary treatment, often contains a large amount of
suspended organic material, and has high BOD (about 60% of original)
❑The organic solids which are separated out in the sedimentation tanks are
dumped in landfills or used for soil conditioners

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 24

 Sedimentation

•Solid liquid separation process in which a suspension is separated into two

phases
1. Clarified supernatant leaving the top of the sedimentation tank (overflow).
2. Concentrated sludge leaving the bottom of the sedimentation tank
(underflow).
•In a complete sewage treatment, the sedimentation is carried before the
biological treatment (i.e. primary sedimentation) and after the biological
treatment (i.e. secondary sedimentation)
•Purpose of Settling
• To remove coarse dispersed Solids
• To remove coagulated and flocculated impurities
• To remove precipitated impurities after chemical treatment
• To settle the sludge (biomass) after activated sludge process ( e.g. after tricking
filters)

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 25

Types of Settling (four types of settling can occur)

1. Discrete particle settling( Type I)

• The particles settle without interaction
• Occur under low solids concentration
• A typical occurrence of this type of settling is the removal
of sand particles
• Settling velocity is constant for individual particles
• Dilute solid’s concentration
2. Flocculent settling (Type II)
• Particles collide and adhere to each other resulting in
particle growth
• Dilute solid’s concentration
• Examples: coagulation/flocculation settling in water
treatment and primary sedimentation in wastewater
treatment

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 26

 CONT…
3. Hindered/zone settling (Type III)
• Particles are so close together movement is restricted
• Intermediate solids concentration
• Solids move as a block rather than individual particles
• Fluidic interference causes a reduction in settling velocity
• Distinguishable solids liquid interface
• Intermediate solids concentration
• Example: settling of secondary effluents
4. Compression settling(Type IV)
• Particles physically in contact
• Water is squeezed out of interstitial spaces
• Volume of solids may decrease
• High concentration of solids (sludge)

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 27

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 28
DISCRETE PARTICLES SETTLING (TYPE I)

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 29

Design of Sedimentation Tank

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 30

Example- sedimentation tank

1. Design a suitable rectangular sedimentation tank for treating

sewage from a city provide with public water supply system of
maximum 12ML/D. Assume any necessary data.
Quiz
1. Design a circular settling tank to treat 15000m3/day with surface
over loading rate of 20m3/m2/day. Assume depth of the tank is
3.5m.

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 31

 Thank you

November 27, 2023 By G/wahid 32