HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY

School of the Built Environment

D21WW (Water & Wastewater Treatment)

Recommended Reading Materials

Texts

Gerard, K (1996). Environmental Engineering. McGraw-Hill.

Haigh N (1987): EC Environmental Policy & Britain. 2/e, Longman (A loose leaf
continuously updated edition is held in the library

Horan, N J (1990). Biological wastewater treatment systems (theory and operation). J.

Wiley.

Metcalf and Eddy Inc. (1991). Wastewater Engineering: treatment, disposal, reuse.
McGraw-Hill.

Tchobanoglous, G and Schroeder, E D (1987). Water quality, Addison-Wesley.

Gray, N F (1994). Drinking water quality. J. Wiley.

Journals

Journal, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

D21WW: Part A ©A.J.Adeloye 1

 Syllabus
Year 4 Semester 2 School of the Built Environment
Module Title(s) Water and Wastewater Treatment
Module Code(s) D20WW
Outline syllabus PART A: Introduction
of module(s) Need for water & wastewater treatment
Aim of the module
Overview of water and Wastewater quality characteristics

PART B: Engineered Systems for Water Treatment

Introduction to different treatment combinations
Aeration
Solids separation- the theory
Primary sedimentation & design
Coagulation & flocculation
Filtration
Disinfection and disinfecting agents
Removal of refractory organics, colour and odour

PART C: Engineered Systems for Wastewater Treatment

Overview of available options
Preliminary Treatment Design
Primary Treatment: a re-statement of primary sedimentation
Secondary Treatment
Further Wastewater Treatment
Sludge Handling, Treatment and Disposal
Disposal of Wastewater Treatment Effluent

PART D: Legislative aspects of Water Pollution Control

UK laws
EU Directives
Future direction

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D21WW: Part A ©A.J.Adeloye 3
 D20WW: Water and Wastewater Treatment

Part A: Introduction and Water Quality

Characteristics

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1. Introduction

Raw water from the different sources- rivers, springs, aquifers, etc- contains several
impurities that must be removed before the water becomes suitable for drinking.
However, because of the variation in the nature and levels of pollution, the
combination of treatment process applied differs.

On the other hand, the wastewater resulting from applying water to various domestic,
industrial, commercial and agricultural uses contains many impurities that must be
removed before the wastewater is discharged into the environment. The essence of
wastewater treatment therefore is the substantial removal of major pollutants from the
wastewater before discharging it into the environment. It is impossible to remove all
of the pollutants; however, if a substantial part, typically >80%, is removed before
discharge, then little or no adverse effects will be caused in the environment.

2. Aim

The aim of this module is to understand the basis of design of water and wastewater
treatment plant processes and operations, including the safe disposal of final products,
i.e. effluent and sludge, of the treatment. The module will conclude with a brief
discussion of the legislative and other provisions for water pollution control as applied
in the UK and elsewhere.

3. Important Water and Wastewater Characteristics – an Overview

The pollution loading of wastewaters from individual trades, farms etc., may be
expressed in terms of kg/day of particular compounds. However, for mainly domestic
wastes, the three most common parameters used to describe the waste are biochemical
oxygen demand (BOD), the suspended solids (SS) and the bacteriological quality.

3.1 Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

(a) Carbonaceous BOD (CBOD)

This is the oxygen used up by the bacterial oxidation of organic pollutants

(Carbonaceous BOD) or ammonia (nitrogenous BOD), usually determined under
standard conditions of incubation of 20 oC over 5 days. (Generally in this case, the
nitrogenous BOD will be small, simply because those bacteria which oxidise
ammonia would not have developed in sufficient numbers by the fifth day. The
nitrogenous bacteria will become very abundant after about 7-8 days when most of the
carbonaceous organic pollutants have been removed.) A BOD of 10mg/l means that 1
litre of waste will require 10 mg of oxygen when incubated at 20 oC for 5 days. The
sample is incubated in a sealed bottle (250 - 300 mls) ; the initial dissolved oxygen
concentration (measured on a duplicate sample ) less the final dissolved oxygen
concentration (measured on the incubated sample) gives a measure of the BOD. The
necessary bacteria and nutrients may be present naturally or may be added.

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Often it is necessary to predict the BOD without actual measurement. This can be
achieved by modelling the BOD decay process. The kinetics of BOD oxidation
depend upon the particular organics present; however, for domestic waste a first-order
reaction rate is assumed:

dL
= − K1L (1)
dt

where L is the BOD remaining or unoxidized (mg/l), t is time (d) and K1 is a constant
with units of T -1 (day -1). Integration of the above equation using Lo as the initial
unoxidized BOD gives the unoxidized BOD after time t as

= e − K1t
Lt
(2)
Lo

The oxidized BOD then becomes

BOD t = L o − L t = L o  1 − e − K1t  (3)

Lo is often referred to as the ultimate BOD (mg/l), and approximates to the result of a
BOD test carried out at 20oC over >20 days. Also, K1 depends on temperature in the
form:

K T = K 20θ T − 20 (4)

where KT and K20 represent the values of K1 at T oC and 20 oC, respectively and θ is a
constant.

(b) Nitrification and Nitrogenous BOD (NBOD)

The term BOD in general calculations on loading, sewage treatment, effluent

standards etc. usually means the 5 day 20oC BOD exerted by the carbonaceous
material. In most circumstances this is acceptable because, as stated previously, the
nitrosomonas and nitrobacter species of bacteria which are responsible for oxidizing
(ammonia) NH 4 → NO 2 − (nitrite) and NO − → NO − (nitrate), respectively, by
2 3
NITRIFICATION are usually in very low concentrations in most samples of rivers,
sewage, effluents etc. However, if the sample is taken after a lightly loaded

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percolating filter, the nitrogenous oxygen demand may be partially exerted within the
5 day period. Nitrogenous kinetics are also assumed to be first-order and the resulting
BOD expression is

BOD N = L NO  1 − e − K N t  (5)

where LNO is the ultimate nitrogenous BOD (mg O2/l), KN is the reaction rate
constant (day-1), and t is time in days. KN, like K1, also depends on the temperature
(see eq. (4)).

For a combined carbonaceous BOD plus nitrogenous BOD, the total BOD is

BOD = L o  1 − e − K1t  + L NO  1 − e N ( N ) 

 −K t − t 
(6)
 

where tN is a delay time (day) before nitrifying organisms are effective.

Example 1
A BOD test is carried out for 15 days at 20oC. The reaction rate constants K1 and KN
are 0.16 day -1 and 0.1 day -1, respectively, and Lo and LNO are 450 mg/l and 300
mg/l, respectively. The nitrifying organisms are assumed to be effective only from
the time t = 8 days. Calculate the BOD exerted at days 5, 8, 12 and 15.

Solution

Limitations of the BOD

The problems with the BOD as a water quality parameter include that:

i. its determination takes a long time- at least 5 days for current standard;
ii. its determination may be affected by the presence of bactericidal substances in the
sample;

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iii. it merely characterises the biodegradable organics; wastewater, particularly from
industrial sources, contain a whole range of non-biodegradable organics which also
need oxidising with dissolved oxygen.

Hence, there is now the move away from BOD to using the chemical oxygen demand
(COD). The determination of the COD is much faster (3 hours) and characterises all
oxidisable substances in the waste, whether or not they are biodegradable.

Example 2

A BOD test was carried out on three samples of river water. All gave a dissolved
oxygen initial reading of 7 mg/l. The final dissolved oxygen reading after 5 days
incubation at 20 oC were 0, 3, 7 mg/l. Calculate the three BOD values.

Solution

3.2 Suspended solids (SS)

The material in suspension in sewage commonly consists of inorganic grits, silts or

clays, organic compounds such as bacteria, fats, greases, and a wide range of wastes
from food cleaning and preparation processes. The total suspended material which
will normally be removed by passage through a fine glass-fibre filter paper is classed
as suspended solids.

Both the BOD and SS concentrations in sewages are influenced by the daily per capita
water usage. Present practice is therefore to assume a per capita production of BOD
and SS in terms of kg/cap.day and to calculate expected concentrations in terms of
local water usage.

Example 3
A small sewage works serves a population of 500 people whose per capita BOD5 and
SS production is 0.055 kg/day and 0.08kg/day, respectively. Water consumption is
metered at 200 l/cap.day. A small industry discharges an effluent of 5 l/s containing
100 mg/l BOD5 and 200 mg/l SS over a period of 3 hours per day. Calculate the mean
BOD5 and SS concentrations in the works inlet.

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Solution

In general, both the SS and BOD5 are the two main parameters for monitoring the
performance of treatment works. In the UK for example, it is customary to expect that
effluents from treatment works contain no more than 20 mg/l BOD5 and 30 mg/l SS
for discharge to inland rivers, based on the Royal Commission Standards. These are
referred to as the consent conditions.

3.3. Turbidity

While the SS is used for wastewater, turbidity is used for examination of water.
Turbidity is the extent to which light penetrates in the water sample. The main source
of turbidity in water is the erosion of colloidal materials e.g. clay, silt. Other sources
are soaps, detergents in household and in industrial wastewater.

Turbidity is measured photometrically using the Jackson Turbidimeter (Figure 1) and

expressed JTU (Jackson Turbidity Unit). 1 JTU (Jackson Turbidity Unit) = Turbidity
of 1 mg SiO2/litre of distilled water

More recent unit of measurement is the FTU (Formazin Turbidity Unit). Formazin
provides more reproducible results/standards than SiO2; the standardised candle has
also now been replaced by electric bulb.

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Sample View

Long glass tube (calibrated

against turbidity by silica,
SiO2)

Black metal sheath

Standardised candle

Figure 1: Jackson Turbidimeter

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3.4 Bacteriological standards

Some countries use bacteria as an indication of the pollution state of a water sample.
However, because of the very many types of bacteria and other micro-organisms that
could be present, the practice is to use certain bacteria derived from the gut of warm
blooded animals as an indication of pollution, e.g. faecal coliforms. The number of
these micro-organisms is enumerated using the fermentation tube test. Five tubes
containing 10ml, five tubes containing 1 ml, and five tubes containing 0.1 ml of
sample together with the necessary growth medium are incubated for 24 hours and the
number of tubes showing positive reactions, indicated by the giving off of gas, is
determined. Then the number of bacteria is expressed as most probable number,
MPN/100 ml sample which is read from tables prepared for the purpose. Note that for
a strong sewage, extensive dilution of the sample may be necessary prior to the
incubation.

3.5 Typical Sewage Analyses

An analysis of a typical municipal sewage will produce characteristics as shown

below. The wastewater will also contain other quality parameters as shown in Table 2.

Treatment Stage
Quality Crude sewage Settled sewage Final effluent
characteristics (Arriving at works) (After primary
(mg/l) clarifier)
BOD 300 175 20

COD 700 400 90

SS 400 200 30

Ammonium-N 40 40 5
(NH4-N)

Nitrate-N <1 <1 20

(NO3-N)

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 3.6 Overall Composition of Raw Sewage

Raw Sewage

99.9% 0.1%

Water

Solids

70% 30%
Organic Inorganic

Carbohyd- salts
rates fats
metals
grit
Protein

Thus, sewage is 99.9% water but only 0.1% solids. The implication of this is that
large volumes of water must be moved around during wastewater treatment, in order
to remove only a small quantity of solid impurities. As will be seen later on,
significant savings in the size of wastewater treatment facilities can be had by
reducing the amount of water contained in sewage. Indeed, this is usually one of the
main objectives in the treatment and handling of sewage sludge.

3.7 Simple Rules for Handling Water Quality characteristics

1. Concentrations of water quality variables are normally expressed as

milligrams/litre (or simply mg/ l ). In general, 1 mg/ l is equivalent to 1 gm/m3
or 10-3 kg/m3. Also, 1 mg/ l is the same as 1 ppm (or parts per million). When
concentrations are very high, they are often expressed in %, where 1% is
equivalent to 10,000 mg/ l .

2. The load due to a given water quality characteristic is obtained by multiplying

its concentration by the flow rate, i.e.

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 L = C×Q (7)

where L is the load, C is the concentration and Q is the flow rate. If the
concentration is expressed in kg/m3 and the flow in m3/day, then the load will
be in kg/day.

3. The above equation (1) is very useful for combining water quality
characteristics from several sources/activities. For example, the inflow to a
wastewater treatment works can come from several sources: domestic houses,
commercial activities, industrial activities, agricultural activities, etc. Each of
these activities/sources has different levels of water quality characteristics and
it will be necessary to obtain the composite concentration, after they are mixed
together, to use in designing the works. Obtaining the composite concentration
for each water quality characteristic is done as follows:

• Compute the load for the characteristic of interest (e.g. BOD, SS, etc)
in each of the activities/sources using equation (1)
• Compute the total load by adding all the individual loads.
(IMPORTANT: WHILE YOU CAN ADD LOADS, YOU MUST
NEVER ADD CONCENTRATIONS!!)
• Compute the total flow by adding the flows from each of the activities
• Divide the total load by the total flow to obtain the composite
concentration.

In other words,

N
∑ Li
i =1
C composite = N
(8)
∑ Qi
i =1

where Ccomposite is the composite concentration, Li is the load due to source i,

Qi is the flow due to source i and N is the total number of sources.

For equation (2) to be valid, all flows must be in the same unit and all
concentrations must be in the same unit. In other words, it makes no sense if
the flow from the houses is expressed in m3/day while that from the industry is
expressed in l /sec OR if the BOD from the houses is in mg/ l but the BOD
from the industry is in kg/m3. You must make all the necessary conversion and
ensure that all the water characteristics (flow and quality) are expressed in
similar units across all the relevant sources/activities.

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CONTAMINANTS REASON FOR IMPORTANCE
Suspended solids Suspended solids can lead to the development of
sludge deposits and anaerobic conditions when
untreated wastewater is discharged in the aquatic
environment.
Biodegradable organics Composed principally of proteins, carbohydrates
and fats, biodegradable organics are measured
most commonly in terms of BOD (biochemical
oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen
demand). If discharged untreated to the
environment, their biological stabilization can
lead to the depletion of natural oxygen resources
and to the development of septic conditions.
Pathogens Communicable diseases can be transmitted by the
pathogenic organisms in wastewater, such as
bacteria, viruses, helminths, etc..
Nutrients Both nitrogen and phosphorus, along with carbon,
are essential nutrients for growth. When
discharged to the aquatic environment, especially
the often limiting phosphorus and nitrogen
compounds, these nutrients can lead to the
growth of undesirable aquatic life, resulting in the
rapid ageing of stagnant or slow moving water
bodies in lakes and rivers. This rapid ageing
phenomenon is known as eutrophication. When
discharged in excessive amounts on land,
nutrients can also lead to the pollution of
groundwater.
Priority pollutants Organic and inorganic compounds selected on the
basis of their known or suspected carcinogenicity,
mutagenicity, teratogenicity, or high acute
toxicity. Many of these compounds are found in
wastewater.
Refractory organics These organics tend to resist conventional
methods of wastewater treatment. Typical
examples include surfactants, phenols, and
agricultural pesticides.
Heavy metals Heavy metals, e.g. lead, zinc, are often added to
wastewater from commercial and industrial
activities and may have to be removed if the
wastewater is to be reused.
Dissolved inorganics Inorganic constituents such as calcium, sodium,
and sulphate are added to the original domestic
water supply as a result of water use and may
have to be removed if the wastewater is to be
reused.
Table 1: Water Quality Parameter Groups and their significance in Wastewater Treatment (after
Metcalf and Eddy, 1991)

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Table 2: Typical Water Quality Parameters for Fresh, Untreated Domestic Wastewater (after Metcalf
& Eddy, 1991)

Concentration
Contaminants Unit Weak Medium Strong
Solids, total (TS) mg/L 350 720 1200
Dissolved, total (TDS) 250 500 850
Fixed 145 300 525
Volatile 105 200 325
Suspended solids (SS) 100 220 350
Fixed 20 55 75
Volatile 80 165 275
Settleable solids (e.g. mL/L 5 10 20
grit)
Biochemical oxygen mg/L 110 220 400
demand, mg/L: 5-day,
20oC (BOD5. 20oC)
Total organic carbon mg/L 80 160 290
(TOC)
Chemical oxygen mg/L 250 500 1000
demand (COD) #
Nitrogen (total as N) ~ mg/L 20 40 85
Organic 8 15 35
Free ammonia 12 25 50
Nitrites 0 0 0
Nitrates 0 0 0
Phosphorus (total as P) mg/L 4 8 15
Organic 1 3 5
Inorganic 3 5 10
Chlorideso mg/L 30 50 100
Sulphateo mg/L 20 30 50
Alkalinity (as CaCO3) mg/L 50 100 200
Grease mg/L 50 100 150
6 7
Total coliform o
No./100 ml 10 - 10 10 – 108
7
107 – 109
Volatile organic µg/L <100 100-400 >400
compounds (VOCs)
o
Values should be increased by amount present in domestic water supply.
# Usual COD/BOD ratio is approximately 2.0
~ This is for fresh wastewater. As time progresses and the wastewater comes into
contact with air, the ammonia form of the nitrogen is gradually oxidised into the
inorganic forma (nitrite-N and nitrate-N) by a process known as NITRIFICATION.

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