MODULE 3

BY
DEEPTHI K
 Sewage disposal
1) Dilution i.e disposal in water
2) Broad irrigation or Sewage farming ie:
Disposal in land
 Dilution (disposal in water)
Process where by the treated sewage or the
effluent from the sewage treatment plant is
discharged into a river stream or a large body
of water such as lake or sea
Discharged sewage is purified by self
purification process of natural water
 Condition favouring disposal by dilution

Adopted under the following condition

 When sewage is comparatively fresh (4 to 5 hr old) and free
from floating and settleable solid.
 When the dilution water(source of disposal) has a high
dissolved oxygen (D.O) content.
 Where the dilution water is not used for th e purpose of
navigation or water supply for atleast some reasonable
distance on the downstream from the point of sewage
disposal.
 Where the flow currents of the diluting water are favourable
 When the outfall sewer of the city or the treatment plant is
situated near some natural waters having large volume
Std of dilution based on royal commission report
BIS std for discharge of sewage and industrial effluents in
surface water sources and public sewer
General std for discharge of environment pollutants from effluents into surface water
sources, public sewers and marine coasts under environmental (protection)rules 1986
Self purification of natural streams
• Automatic purification of polluted water is called
self purification phenomenon
Natural forces of purification
1. Physical forces
(i) Dilution and dispersion
(ii) Sedimentation
(iii) sunlight
2. Chemical forces
(i) Oxidation
(ii) reduction
 Dilution and dispersion

• The action results in diminishing the

concentration of organic matter
• When sewage concentration Cs flows at a rate
Qs into a river stream with concentration CR
flowing at a rate QR the concentration C of the
resulting mixture is given by
CSQS+CRQR = C(QS+QR)
 Sunlight

• The sunlight has bleaching and stabilizing

effect of bacteria
• The evolution of oxygen in river water due to
sunlight will help in achieving self purification
through oxidation
 Oxidation

• Oxidation of the organic matter will start as

soon as the sewage outfalls in to the river
water containing DO
• The deficiency so created will be filled up by
the atmospheric oxygen
• The process of oxidation will continue till the
organic matter has been completely oxidised
 Sedimentation

• The settleable solids if present in sewage will

settle down into the bed of the river near the
outfall of sewage
 Reduction

• Occurs due to hydrolysis of organic matter

settled at the bottom either chemically or
biologically
• Anaerobic bacteria will help in splitting the
complex organic constituents of sewage into
liquid and gas
The various factors in which these natural
purification forces depends are:
(a) Temperature: the rate of biological and chemical
activities are enhanced at higher temp. and
depressed at lower temp. at higher temp. the
capacity to maintain the D.O. concentration is
low. While the rate of biological and chemical
activities are high causing depletion of D.O.
leading to anaerobic condition
(b) Turbulence: help in breaking the surface of the
stream or lake , and maintaining aerobic
condition in the river stream and keeping it
clean. Wind and undercurrent in lakes and
oceans cause turbulences
Cont….
c) Hydrography affect the velocity and surface
expanse of the river stream
d) Available DO and amount and type of organic
matter present: larger the amount of D.O. the
better and earlier the self purification will occur
e) Rate of reaeration: greater is the rate the quicker
will be the self purification and there will be no
chances of development of anaerobic condition
 Zones of Pollution in a River Stream
i. Zone of degradation
ii. Zone of active decomposition
iii. Zone of recovery
iv. Zone of cleaner water
 (i)Zone of degradation

Found just below the point where sewage is

discharged
Water becoming dark and turbid with
formation of sludge deposits at the bottom
D.O. is reduced to 40% of the saturation value
Increased carbon dioxide content
 (ii)Zone of active decomposition

Marked by heavy pollution

Water becoming greyish and darker than in the
previous zone
D.O. falls down to zero and anaerobic
condition may set
As the organic decomposition decreases due to
stabilization of organic matter the re-aeration
sets in and D.O. again rises to the original
level (40%)
 (iii)Zone of recovery

The river stream tries to recover from its

degraded condition
Water become clearer
B.O.D falls down and D.O. content rises above
40% of the saturation value
 (iv)Zone of cleaner water

river attains its original condition with D.O.

rising upto the saturation value
Water become attractive in appearance
Showing zones of pollution along a river stream
 Oxygen deficit of a polluted river stream
The oxygen deficit D at any time in a polluted river
stream is the difference between the actual D.O.
content of water at that time and the saturation D.O.
content at the water temperature

Oxygen deficit = Saturation D.O. - Actual D.O.

In order to maintain clean condition in a river stream ,

the oxygen deficit must be nil and this can be found
out by knowing the rates of de-oxygenation and re-
oxygenation
 De-oxygenation Curve
• In a polluted stream the D.O. content goes on
reducing due to decomposition of volatile
organic matter
• At a given temperature the curve showing the
depletion of D.O. with time is called de-
oxygenation curve
 Re-oxygenation Curve
• In order to counter balance the consumption of
D.O. due to de-oxygenation ,atmosphere
supply oxygen to the water and the process is
called re-oxygenation
• The rate of re-oxygenation can also be
expressed mathematically and plotted in the
form of a curve called re-oxygenation curve
 Oxygen Deficit Curve
• The de-oxygenation and re-oxygenation go
hand in hand . If de-oxygenation is more rapid
than the re-oxygenation an oxygen deficit
results
• The amount of resultant oxygen deficit can be
obtained by algebraically adding the de-
oxygenation and re-oxygenation curves
• The resultant curve so obtained is called the
oxygen sag curve or the oxygen deficit curve
Cont..
• When the de-oxygenation rate exceed the re-
oxygenation rate the oxygen sag curve shows
increasing deficit of oxygen.
• When both rates become equal the critical
point is reached.
• When the rate of de-oxygenation falls below
that of re-oxygenation the oxygen deficit goes
on decreasing till becoming zero.
Oxygen sag curve
 Disposal of waste water in lake
Lake pollutants
Phosphorous: largely contained in domestic
and industrial waste water seriously affects the
water quality in lake (prime lake pollutant)
Oxygen demanding waste
Toxic chemicals
 Stratification in lake
During summer
 The surface water of a lake gets heated up by the
sunlight and warm air.
 This warm water being lighter remains in upper layers
near the surface
 This warmer well mixed and aerobic depth of water is
called epilimnion zone.
 The lower depth which remains cooler poorly mixed
and anaerobic is called the hypolimnion zone.
 There may also exist a intermediate zone or dividing
line called thermocline or metalimnion.
During winter
 The epilimnion cools until it is more dense than
the hypolimnion.
 The surface water then sinks causing over turning
 The water of the hepolimnion rises to the surface
where it cools and again sink. Thus lake becomes
completely mixed making it quite aerobic.
 When temp. falls below 4ᵒC overturning stops
because water is most dense at this temp results in
winder stratification.
 Biological zones in lake
I. Euphotic zone
II. Littoral zone
III. Benthic zone
 I. Euphotic zone

• The upper layer of lake water through which

sunlight can penetrate is called euphotic zone
• All plant growth occurs in this zone
• The depth of euphotic zone is reduced by the
turbidity which block sun light penetration
 II. Littoral zone

• The shallow water near the shore in which

rooted plants grow is called the littoral zone
• The extent of littoral zone depends on the
slope of the lake bottom and the depth of the
euphotic zone
 III. Benthic zone

• bottom sediments in a lake comprises what is

called the benthic zone
• As the organism living in the overlying die
they settle down to the bottom where they are
decomposed by the organisms living in the
benthic zone
Biological zones in a lake
 Eutrophication of lakes
• Eutrophication is a natural process under which lakes get
infested with algae and silt up gradually to become
shallower and more productive through the entry and
cycling of nutrients like carbon , nitrogen and phosphorus
• The increased phosphorus in lake water entering either
through the agricultural use of its drainage area or through
the entry of domestic and industrial waste water will cause
accelerated eutrophication of lake called cultural
eutrophication.
• The water quality management of lake therefore aims at
reducing eutrophication to atleast at its natural level by
controlling and reducing the input of phosphorus in the lake
water.
 Disposal of waste water in sea water
The following points should be kept in mind while
discharging sewage in to the sea
1. The sewage should be discharged in deep sea only
2. In order to mix sewage properly with sea water the
sewage should be released at a minimum depth of 3 to
5 metres below the water level
3. Before deciding the position of outfall point the sea
current, wind direction, velocity etc should be
thoroughly studied. The point of discharge should be
such that the sewage is taken away from the shore by
the wind and not brought back near the shore
4. The outfall sewer should be placed on a firm rocky
foundation and encased in thick stone masonry so as
to protect it from wave action
BIS std for waste water effluents to be discharged into marine coasts
 Disposal on land
Disposal of sewage on land for irrigation
Addition of sewage may help in increasing the
crop yield by 33% but must be made safe
before used as irrigation water
If the soil to be irrigated is sandy and porous
the sewage effluents may contain more solids
and other wastes and thus requiring lesser
treatment as compared to the case where the
soil is less porous and sticky
Recommended doses for sewage
farming in India
 Quality std for waste water effluents
to be discharged in land for irrigation
BIS std of waste water effluents to be discharged on land for irrigation
 Std for discharge of polluted effluents on land for
irrigation under environmental (protection)rules 1986
Adopted under the following condition

• When some natural river or water courses are not

located nearby and land treatment is the only
alternative left
• When irrigation water is scarcely available
• When large area of open land are available
• Areas of low rain fall
• The area for land treatment should be preferably
be porous such as sandy
• Areas of low water table
 Method of applying sewage effluent to farm

1)Surface irrigation called broad irrigation

 Sewage is applied in different ways on the surface
of land
 Different types are
i) Free flooding
ii) Border flooding
iii) Check flooding
iv) Basin flooding
v) Furrow irrigation method
2) sub-surface irrigation
Sewage is applied to the root zone of crop
through a system of properly laid open jointed
pipes
Sewage as it flows through this pipes
percolate through the open joints and is
distributed in the surrounding by the action of
capillarity
3) Sprinkle or spray irrigation
Sewage is spread over the soil through nozzles
which are fitted at the tip of the pipes carrying
sewage under pressure
Process being costly not use din India