Class 7 - Wastewater Engineering

Wastewater Regulations
Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972
(Public Law 92-500)
Required EPA to establish WW discharge
standards
Established:
levels of treatment
deadlines for meeting these levels
penalties for violators
percent removal of solids from the WW
could not be used as a primary design
standard
receiving water quality criteria may be
used to define limitations on material
concentrations
monitoring and reporting requirements
that define how sampling should be
performed and how to check if
requirements are met

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Standards
Note: individual states may reserve the right
to impose more stringent standards
Parameter

Monthly
Average

Weekly
Average

BOD5, mg/l

30

45

Suspended
Solids, mg/l

30

45

Fecal Coliform
Bacteria,
#/100 ml

200

400

pH

range of 6.0 to 9.0

Note: BOD and SS can not exceed 15 percent

of the influent value
Treatment plants with stabilization ponds and
flow<2mgd are exempt

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Wastewater treatment plant discharge to

surface waters
Effluent requirements are expressed in
permits issued by the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
NPDES generally required the upgrade of
existing treatment plants to secondary
standards
NPDES permits are issued by the state or
EPA - must be renewed every 5 years
Type

Number of
NPDES
Permits

Industrial

48,400

Municipal

15,300

Total

63,700

State establishes water quality standards for

every receiving body
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Standards address designated uses (e.g.

fishing, swimming, drinking water, shellfish,
etc.)
Standards are pollutant specific
Water quality standards are reviewed every 3
years and revised as needed
Receiving bodies are either:
Effluent-limited - meets the in-stream
standards if all discharges conform to
secondary standards and BAT standards
or
Water-quality limited - does not meet
its proposed in-stream standard even if all
dischargers conform to secondary
standards and BAT standards
For effluent limited streams:
Overwhelming for EPA to establish effluent
limitations for each discharger - Congress
authorized uniform effluent limitations for
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each category (e.g. steel mill, paper mill,

pesticide manufacturer, etc.)
Technology-based limits
EPA proposes limits based on efficient
treatment technologies
Public commentary
EPA/states issue permits
Limits that exceed technology-based
standards
Assimilative capacity is determined
Permit limits are determined so that the
capacity is not exceeded by the point
sources
Question: When can water quality standards
be exceeded with 0 discharge?

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Non-Point Source Pollution

Can not pin point a source
Untreated storm water runoff, agricultural
runoff, leaching dumps that have
contaminated groundwater supplies, etc.

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Wastewater Treatment - History

Treatment of wastewater
Prior to 1800s - extent of the nuisance caused
by the discharge was not deemed severe
Large water bodies - dilution
Large land areas available for disposal

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Municipal WW treatment
In the early 1900s - nuisance and health
conditions created the need for WW treatment
Land space no longer available - especially
in large cities
Problems:
Offensive odors
Pathogenic microorganisms
Nutrients that overstimulate aquatic
life
WW treatment requirements
Satisfy effluent quality standards
Satisfy requirements for aesthetics
(especially odor)
Protect against the spread of disease
(sludge disposal)
Other environmental requirements
(hazardous waste, air pollution)

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Wastewater characteristics
Mixture of dissolved, colloidal, and particulate
organic and inorganic matter
Wastewater characteristics:
Flows (minimum, average, maximum for
both dry and wet seasons)
Sustained maximum flow
BOD
Total suspended solids (settle)
Total dissolved solids (not settle)
pH
Total nitrogen (nitrogen in other forms)
Phosphorus
Toxic chemicals
Physical quality:
Temperature
Color
Odor
Turbidity

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Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

Combination of physical, chemical, and
biological processes and operations
Typically divided into primary, secondary,
and tertiary subsystems
Process flow diagram of a WWTP

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Wastewater Treatment
Classification
Preliminary

Flow measurement
Removal of large floating
solids, grit, grease

Primary

Removes suspended
solids (to 20 mg/l)
Sedimentation process

Secondary

Biological process
Removes soluble and
colloidal organic matter

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Advanced

Suspended solids (<20mg/l)

Ammonia, organic nitrogen,
total nitrogen, phosphorus,
refractory organics,
dissolved solids

Sludge treat. Solids treatment and

disposal
Preliminary and Primary Treatment

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Preliminary and Primary Treatment

Screening
Used to remove coarse solids from the
wastewater
Sticks, rags, boards, other large objects
Primary purpose is to protect mechanical
devices (pumps) in the rest of the plant
Prevent clogging of valves
Normally the very first process

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Types of screens:
Coarse - Commonly vertical bars
spaced 1 cm. or more apart and
inclined away from the flow
Manually raked or mechanically
raked
Fine - Wire woven cloth or perforated
plates mounted on a rotating disk
or drum partially submerged
Must be manually cleaned on a
continual basis
Quantity of screenings

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Bar rack design

Racks and screens

Housed to avoid odor problems whenever
possible - w/ proper ventilation
Hydraulically - flow < 1 m/sec
(3.3 ft/sec)
Recommended - 0.3 m/sec (1 ft/sec)
Solids coated with organic matter dispose of in a landfill, grinding, or
incineration

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Comminuting
Screenings - shredded and returned to
flow
Located across the flow path
Intercepts the coarse solids and shreds
them to 8 mm ( in)
Basic parts - screen and cutting teeth
Slotted drum that rotates with stationary
teeth
Barminutor - another type of device with
vertical bar screen and a cutting head
High maintenance items
Always provide a manual bypass through a
bar rack or screen

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Configurations
Shredding devices should be located
ahead of pumps
Grit removal ahead of the shredder will
save on wear and tear of the cutting head
However - grit chambers are located at or
above ground level and pumps may be
needed to lift the sewage to the grit
chambers
In this case - shredding is done ahead
of the pumps and plan for cutter wear
Shredding -> Pumping -> Grit removal.

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Grit Removal
Wide assortment of inorganic solids
contained in wastewater
More storm waste produces larger grit
quantities of grit (Also garbage disposals
and industrial waste)
Inorganic grit - Pebbles, sand, silt, egg
shells, glass, metal fragments, etc.
Organic grit - Bone chips, seeds, coffee
and tea grounds

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Quantity of grit
Water Supply and Sewerage, McGhee
2.5 x 10-6 to 1.8 x 10-4 m3/m3 of
wastewater
Average: 6 x 10-5 m3/m3 of wastewater
Wastewater Engineering, Metcalf and Eddy
4 x 10-6 to 2 x 10-4 m3/m3 of wastewater
Average: 1.5 x 10-5 m3/m3 of wastewater
Grit Removal Facilities
Enlarged channel area, may be aerated
with mechanical scrapers on the bottom to
remove the grit
Reduced flow velocities allow grid to settle
Designed to remove discrete particles with
diameters of 0.2 mm and specific gravity
of 2.65
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Important to maintain velocity at 0.3

m/sec.
25% greater - washout
25% less - deposition of organics

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Designing a channel-type grit chamber

Horizontal flow, rectangular

Aerated grit chamber

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Aerated grit chambers

Keeps organic material suspended

Aeration strips noxious gases from anaerobic
wastewater - restores it to aerobic and
improves treatability
Design of a grit chamber
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Example: Design a rectangular, horizontal grit

removal facility to remove grit with a specific

gravity of 2.65 and a particle settling velocity
which ranges between 0.016 to 0.022 m/sec. The
horizontal velocity will be maintained at 0.3 m/sec
by using a proportional weir. Determine the
channel dimensions for a maximum wastewater
flow of 10,000 m3/day.
Settling velocity (Vs): assume 0.016 m/sec for the
design
Detention time (tD): 60 sec (From design table)
Determine Depth of Flow (D)
tD = D/Vs
60 sec = D/0.016 m/sec
D = .96 m
Might want to provide some freeboard also

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Determine Length of Tank (L)

L = tDVh
Where: Vh = horizontal flow velocity in the tank
Vh = 0.3 m/sec
L = (60 sec)(0.3 m/sec)
L = 18 m
Determine Width of Tank (w)
A = Q/Vh
Where: A = cross sectional area of flow
Q = flowrate
Vh = horizontal flow velocity in the tank
Q = (10,000 m3/d)(1d/1440 min)(1min/60sec)
Q = 0.1157 m3/sec
A = (0.1157 m3/sec)/(0.3 m/sec)
A = .386 m2
w = A/D = (.386 m2)/(.96 m) = .40 m

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Primary Sedimentation
Designed to concentrate and remove
suspended organic solids
When primary treatment was the total
treatment: settling was the most important
operation in the plant - design was crucial to
successful operation
Now: laws mandate secondary treatment
Many plants are designed with just
preliminary treatment to remove grit and
secondary tanks to reduce all organic matter
Primary treatment is predominantly settling
(may be enhanced with chemicals)
Suspended solids - naturally coagulate

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Primary Sedimentation Design

Organic matter slightly heavier than water
Settles at a rate of 1.0 to 2.5 m/h
Oil and grease flow to the top and must be
removed (clog filters)
Primary sedimentation tanks
Long, rectangular tanks
Circular tanks
Scum, grease removal
Rectangular tanks - sludge scrapers
(double duty)
Circular tanks - skimmer arm attached to
the sludge-scraper drive mechanism
Scum removal

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Primary Sedimentation Design Criteria

Always provide for backup in the design

May need to take a tank out of service for
repair, cleaning, or maintenance

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Typical Primary Clarifiers

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Sludge removal from primary clarifiers

Remove before anaerobic conditions develop
Anaerobic decomposition produces gas
bubbles as a byproduct - adhere to solid
particles and lift them toward the surface
Decreases the removal efficiency
Sludge removal - design to remove sludge
from the farthest point in the tank to the
sludge hopper within 30 min to 1 hr of when it
settles
Quantity of sludge removed depends on:
Strength of incoming waste
Efficiency of the clarifier
Characteristics of the sludge (specific
gravity)

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Removal efficiencies for primary clarifiers

Depend on the overflow rate
Overflow rate = Flowrate/surface area of
clarifier
Average suspended solids removal:
50-60 percent
Average BOD removal:
30-35 percent

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