CONTENTS

• Introduction
– Preamble
– Wastewater and its Impact
– Wastewater Treatment Objectives and Methods
– Need for WWTP Design Software
• Basic Considerations
– Nature of Pollutants
– Wastewater Characteristics
– Some Wastewater Treatment Methods and their
Characteristics
– Discharge Standards
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 CONTENTS
• Theoretical Considerations for Design
– Description of Unit Operations and Processes
– Details of ASP & Other Processes
– ASP Operational Problems
• The WWTP Software
– General Considerations
– Framework for WWTP Software
– Detailed Description of Software
• Augmentation of Jaipur STP
• Conclusion
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 INTRODUCTION

• Water is important resource because

– it is essential for survival
– its use underlies all agriculture and industrial processes
– it can not be substituted for technologically

• It is becoming increasingly scarce resource

warranting careful engineering & management

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 INTRODUCTION

• Industrialization & urbanization have

– polluted the watercourses
– created a growing demand for large quantities of
protected water for public & industries

• Analysis of the available information reveals that

two-thirds of all illnesses in India, are related to
water-borne diseases
(cholera, typhoid, diarrhea, infectious hepatitis, dysentery, etc.)

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 INTRODUCTION

• In most developed countries honey wagon method

was used
– city residents used to put night soil in buckets along the
streets where workers emptied the waste into honey
wagon tanks
– waste was transported for disposal over agricultural
lands
• For rural communities in many under developed
countries, this method is still in use

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 INTRODUCTION

• Development of flush toilet in nineteenth century,

which produced large volumes of wastewater,
overtaxed agricultural lands as a final receptor of
the waste.
• This induced people to use natural channels to
convey the large volumes of liquids generated by
flush toilets into the nearest watercourse.
• This practice resulted in gross pollution of these
receiving water bodies.
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 INTRODUCTION

• In India, the situation so worsened that the

government had to launch large-scale projects
of the order of Ganga Action Plan, for
improvement of water quality of major rivers at
a cost of several crores of Rupees.

• Thus, the need for development and proper

management of water resources can not be
emphasized more.
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 WASTEWATER & IMPACT
• Main sources of wastewater are
– domestic sewage
– industrial wastewaters
– agricultural runoff
– storm water & urban runoff

• Estimated wastewater generation from 212 Class-I

cities of India is 12,145 MLD of which only 2485
MLD (about 20%) receives treatment, in some
cases only partially.
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 WASTEWATER & IMPACT
• An estimated 1298 MLD of wastewater is
generated from 241 out of 270 Class-II towns in
India.

• Further, it is reported that less than 5% of total

wastewater is collected and only 2% is receiving
some kind of treatment.

• E.g. an estimated 900 ML sewage is discharged

into the river Ganga everyday and this accounts
only for 75% of total pollution reaching the river.
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 METHODS & OBJECTIVES
• Treatment methods were first developed in
response to
– concern for public health
– adverse conditions caused by discharge of WW
– limited land available for treatment & disposal

• Purpose of developing other methods was to

accelerate the forces of nature under controlled
conditions in treatment facilities of comparatively
smaller size.
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 METHODS & OBJECTIVES
• Treatment objectives were concerned with
– removal of suspended and floatable material
– treatment of biodegradable organics
– elimination of pathogenic organisms

• Since 1980, because of increased scientific

knowledge and an expanded information base,
wastewater treatment has begun to focus on the
health concerns related to toxic and potentially
toxic chemicals released to the environment
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 METHODS & OBJECTIVES
• Contaminants in wastewater (pollutants) are
removed by:
– physical,
– chemical,
– biological or other means

• WTP utilizes a number of treatment processes to

achieve the desired degree of treatment

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 METHODS & OBJECTIVES
• The environmental design engineer must evaluate
numerous other important factors in selection of the
treatment processes:
constituents treated, effluent limitations, proximity
to build-up areas, hydraulic requirements, sludge
disposal, energy requirements, and economics
• Collective arrangement of various treatment
processes is called a flow scheme, flow diagram, a
flow sheet or a process train

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 METHODS & OBJECTIVES
• Choice of proper treatment processes and
development of flow scheme is not simple. It
requires understanding of the unit operations &
processes, operational capabilities and
environmental effects of various treatment
components
• Laboratory and pilot plant studies are often
necessary to develop design parameters for
physical, chemical, and biological treatment
processes used for treatment of wastewater
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 NEED FOR DESIGN S/W
• Over a period of time several techniques and
processes have been developed for wastewater
treatment

• These methods encompass from low-cost

wastewater treatment methods such as stabilization
ponds, to advanced wastewater treatment methods
such as activated carbon adsorption, reverse
osmosis, etc.

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 NEED FOR DESIGN S/W
• Design of wastewater treatment plant is the solution
of a very complex problem for several reasons :
– Probabilistic nature of flow and composition
– Restricted knowledge of the behavior of biological
system in regard to adaptation
– Strong influences of future developments during long
lifetime of equipment and construction
– Different definitions of effluent quality standards

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 NEED FOR DESIGN S/W

– Restricted knowledge of influences of probabilistic

effluent quality on the receiving waters
– Restricted knowledge of technical reliability of different
process configurations
– Influences of operational decisions on the treatment
efficiency
– Different cost calculation procedures (investment,
capital, operation costs)

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 NEED FOR DESIGN S/W
• Thus, to ensure that quality of our watercourses is
maintained at desirable levels, it is necessary to
treat the wastewater before discharging into water
bodies

• It is only in last few years that the design approach

for these plants has changed from empirical to
sound engineering basis

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 NEED FOR DESIGN S/W
• While much work is reported on development of
mathematical models for treatment processes such
as ASP, no or little work is devoted to
development of computer based efficient tools for
design of treatment plants

• It was towards this end that development of a

computer software for use by design engineers
was thought as a timely and apt action

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 OBJECTIVES OF S/W

• It was envisaged to develop a computer software

which would help in the
– design of a new treatment plant
– augmentation of an existing treatment plant
– operation of treatment plant through
troubleshooting guide

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 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
Enzyme Kinetics
k
E  S k 1  Complex 3  Pr oduct  E
k
2
(e  c) s c

k1(e  c)(s)  k2(c)  k3(c) Overall Velocity is

k es
At equilibrium vk c 3
3 K s
m
k1(e  c)(s)  k2(c)  k3(c)
Maximum Velocity v  ke
max 3
c  es  es s
k k 

Km  s vv
 2

3
s
max K s
m
 k1 
 
Michaelis  Menten Eq

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 ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS
Enzyme Kinetics
In Wastewater Treatment microbial growth is more important
and can be done by using Monod’s expression
 s  and noting that rate of change in
   max   microbial concentration is proportional
 K s  s  to concentration (x) dx
i.e.  x
dt
dx  s  This is related to substrate removal
 x   through yield constant (Y); Y   dx
 K s  s 
dt max
ds

 s  Mathematical Model
ds
Therefore,     x   
dt max Y 
   K  s  for Bio-oxidation
 s 
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 CHOICE OF PLATFORM
• IBM PC Compatible Computer System
- Pentium Pro processor @ 266 MHz
- 64 MB RAM, 6 GB Hard disk space
- 14” VGA color monitor
- User interface is perhaps the most important part of
an application; it’s certainly the most visible. To
users, interface is the application. No matter how
much time and effort is put in writing and
optimizing the code, the usability of the application
depends on the interface

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 CHOICE OF PLATFORM
• Why Windows has become so Popular
– Device Independent Programs
– Pre-installed Code
– Standard User Interface
• Microsoft Visual Basic Offers
– An Object Oriented Programming language
– An integrated development environment
– Powerful tools for creating GUI;
– Application as a standalone executable program
– Crystal Reports to create customized reports

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 FRAMEWORK FOR S/W
• Commensurate with objective of the research,
WWTP Design software was conceptualized to
comprise the following three modules:
– Design Module
– Augmentation Module
– Troubleshooting Module
• S/W comprises a No.of VB Forms; data files-
ASCII or MDB; and report formats

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 FRAMEWORK FOR S/W
• Static data- information on mechanical aerator
parameters; properties of water as a function of
temperature; compiled from literature are stored in
files
• Dynamic data- specific for a particular unit
operation; is restricted to forms only
• A set of linked forms is dedicated to each task
– obtaining Input Data from user
– presenting the design results on screen
– carrying out the design in an interactive mode

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 FRAMEWORK FOR S/W
• Input data and Design details are stored in Access
Database consisting of Tables corresponding to
respective units.
• Summary reports for each units are developed using
Crystal Reports instead of creating plain ASCII files.
The approach offers the advantage of pre-designed
report format and efficient linking with the database.
• A menu of reports is displayed to select the report to
be printed/saved.

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 START
A

WWTP Software Introductory Display

MAIN MENU
DDesign of New System
AAugmentation of Existing System
TTroubleshooting of ASP System
EExit

Design Module Augmentation Troubleshooting

Module Module

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 DESIGN MODULE
• WTP flow-sheet comprises a No. of treatment unit
processes / unit operations connected in series
• Choice of units depends on several factors: influent
type, flow and characteristics, available skilled
manpower, process reliability, available land area,
mode of final disposal, governing rules and local
laws, etc.

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 pH: 6.7 pH: 8.5
pH: 8.4
SS: 1110 mg/L SS: 125 mg/L
SS: 60 mg/L
BOD: 200 mg/L BOD: 85 mg/L
BOD: 26 mg/L
COD: 620 mg/L COD: 300 mg/L
COD: 164 mg/L
Chemicals
Nutrients
A B C
A Sand
Filter

Raw
Waste Grit Flow
Screen Flash Mixer
Water Chamber Measuring
Chamber
Device Clariflocculator Aeration Tank Secondary Treated
Equalization Tank Clarifier Effluent

Carbon
Recirculation Column

Excess Biosludge pH: 8.1

SS: <10 mg/L
BOD: <10 mg/L
Sludge Drying Beds
COD: 100 mg/L

SAMPLE FLOW SHEET OF TREATMENT

SCHEME
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 pH: 6.7 pH: 8.5
SS: 1110 mg/L SS: 125 mg/L
BOD: 200 mg/L BOD: 85 mg/L
COD: 620 mg/L COD: 300 mg/L

Chemical Tanks
A B C
A

Raw
Waste Screen Grit Flow
Flash Mixer
Water Chamber Chamber Measuring
Device Clariflocculator Maturation Pond
Equalization Tank
(Existing Nadi)

Filtrate

High Rate Transpiration System (HRTS)

Sludge Drying Beds

SAMPLE FLOW-SHEET OF TREATMENT

SCHEME
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 DESIGN MODULE
• In general, the treatment scheme can be divided
into the following sub-categories: Preliminary
Treatment, Primary Treatment, Secondary
Treatment, and Tertiary Treatment.
• S/W is designed in view of above sub-categories.
The choice of individual units is selectable by the
user rather than fixing the choice in the code itself.
The entire wastewater treatment plant design
procedure is thus modularized.

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 Treatment Units/ Processes

Preliminary Screen Coarse

Treatment Chamber Medium
Fine
Grit Chamber Rectangular Horizontal Flow
Aerated Grit Chamber
Flow Control Parshall Flume
Device Proportional Flow Weir
Equalization Tank Flow
Primary Plain Settling
Treatment
Physico-chemical Settling

Secondary Aerobic Extended Aeration Process

Treatment Processes Completely Mixed ASP
Aerated Lagoons
Contact Stabilization
Stabilization Ponds
Anaerobic
Processes UASB Reactor
Tertiary Biological Polishing Pond
Treatment
Physical/ Granular Activated Carbon
Chemical Disinfection by chlorination
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 Enter
A
General Input Data
Site Conditions Wastewater Characteristics
Flow Data Treated Effluent Characteristics
Selection of Treatment Units
Preliminary Secondary
Primary Tertiary

No Is Preliminary or
Primary Treatment
Selected?
No Is Secondary
Yes
Treatment Selected?
No
Is Tertiary Treatment
Selected? Yes

Yes
Specific Design Input Data for different Units
Design the Units and Processes
Display the Design Details along with sketch of Units

Display the Flow-sheet

Display Message for Selecting a
Treatment Unit / Process
Report Menu

A Display Selected Reports

Return to Main Menu

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 DESIGN MODULE
Input Data Entry -
• Flow: Average flow, peak factor
• Site Conditions: Height above MSL, ambient temperature
• Wastewater Characteristics: Temperature, Solids, pH,
BOD, COD, Nutrients, and alkalinity.
• Treated Effluent Characteristics: Discharge limits for BOD,
COD and SS under various conditions. Four options are
programmed in keeping with the standards stipulated by
regulatory body, viz. Discharge into inland surface waters,
discharge into sea waters, reuse as irrigation water, and user
defined values for other Standards.

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 DESIGN MODULE
Unit Selection -
• Options for Preliminary, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
treatment units are check marked.
• A pop-up list allows selection of a specific option, e.g.
when Screen Chamber is selected, the pop-up list displays
Coarse/Medium/Fine Screen.
• Appropriate checks are built-in so that a proper selection of
units is made.
• Appropriate error messages are generated in case ‘Next’
Button is clicked without making a selection.
• Specific design data required for each unit wherever needed
is entered next.

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 DESIGN MODULE
Unit Design Data and Design -
• On completion of selection of units, the order of displaying
rest of the Forms based on the units selected is determined
and appropriate windows are displayed sequentially.
• If any of the preliminary or primary units is selected, the
window for design input data for these units is displayed.
• Then the individual windows are displayed along with the
design of the unit and schematic diagram.

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 DESIGN MODULE
Unit Design Data and Design -
• Equalization Tank design includes the electronic
spreadsheet type data grid for entry of hourly flow
measurement data over a day in order to calculate the
volume of equalization tank required.
• The corresponding Mass diagram is also drawn along with
the design of the unit.
• Selection of type of tank and rating of aerators for mixing is
interactive, selection of different ratings modifies the
design and displays the tank dimensions and available
power per unit volume of tank.

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 DESIGN MODULE
Unit Design Data and Design -
• Tabbed Form Interface for Biological & tertiary units.
Design-input data & Design details different Tabs.
• Interactive interface for selection of aerator rating helps in
decision making during design process itself.
• Configuration of aeration tank, aerators, optimized power
provided decided judiciously through a combination of
aerator rating, number of aerators in each tank & number of
tanks provided.
• Default values for design parameters are given.
• Design details & schematic diagram of unit given on
individual Tabs.

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 DESIGN MODULE
Summary of Design -
• Menu of Design Summary Sheets displayed in window.
• Desired design summaries can be saved.
• Treatment Flow Sheet of selected units can be
displayed.
• Printout of design summaries can be taken.
• The design module execution ends at this point.

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 AUGMENTATION MODULE

• A system needs augmentation for two reasons:

– Increase in the wastewater flow, and
– Changes in wastewater characteristics.
• In the modular design of treatment plant,
duplication of modules would take care of
augmentation needs due to the first reason. Second
reason requires a careful analysis if the organic
mass loading increases significantly.

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 AUGMENTATION MODULE

• Thus Augmentation Design is specific to individual

cases.
• However, a framework for augmentation /
upgradation of treatment plant by providing pre-
treatment employing UASB or Anaerobic Pond
prior to the existing treatment plant has been
included in WWTP.

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 ENTER

INPUT SPECIFIC DESIGN DATA

General Data: Design Data for Existing ASP Plant
Changed Parameters: Flow, BOD, SS

Flow
No
Augmentation
needed?

Yes
Flow Augmentation
Modular Approach

No Characteristics
Augmentation
needed?
Yes

Characteristics Augmentation
Anaerobic Pretreatment:
UASB
Anaerobic Ponds

Display Design
Details
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 AUGMENTATION MODULE
• Design procedures for UASB and Anaerobic pond
in WWTP form the basis for designing the pre-
treatment units.
• Differential of design organic loading and increased
organic loading forms the basis for designing and
sizing the pretreatment units.
– In the case study, the wastewater flow has not increased
significantly and is within the capacity of treatment
facility but the BOD has increased significantly.

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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
• An important aspect is proper O&M
• A troubleshooting guide is an effective tool
• Field observations provide important clues to
causes & remedies as also laboratory tests like
sludge settleability test
• Common operating problems in ASP compiled in a
database
• Probable causes, checks, and remedies compiled in
the form of VB Forms
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 ENTER

Display the ASP System Problems

Aeration System
Secondary Clarifier
Return to Main Menu

Display the observation for the selected

System Problem

Display the causes, Checks and

remedies for the selected observation

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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE

• Seven problems are included in WWTP (2 cat)

• Aeration Tank
- Aeration System Problems
- Foaming Problems
• Secondary Clarifier
- Solids Washout
- Bulking Sludge
- Clumping/Rising Sludge
- Clouding Secondary Effluent
- Ashing
- Pinpoint Floc
- Stragglers/Billowing Solids
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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
Aeration System Problems (A)-
 Boiling action, violent turbulence throughout aeration tank
surface. Large air bubbles, ½” or greater, apparent.
 Uneven surface aeration pattern. Dead spots or inadequate
mixing in some areas of tank.
 Excessive air rates being used with no apparent change in
organic or hydraulic loading. Difficult to maintain
adequate D.O. level.

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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
Foaming Problems (A)-
 White, thick, billowing or sudsy foam on aeration tank
surface.
 Shiny, dark-tan foam on aeration tank surface.
 Thick, scummy dark-tan foam on aeration tank surface.
 Dark-brown, almost blackish sudsy foam on aeration tank
surface. Mixed liquor color is very dark-brown to almost
black. Detection of septic or sour odor from aeration tank.

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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
Solids Washout / Billowing Solids (S)-
 Localized clouds of homogenous sludge solids rising in certain
areas of the clarifier. Mixed liquor in settleability test settles
fairly well with a clear supernatant.
 Localized clouds of fluffy homogenous sludge rising in certain
areas of the clarifier. Mixed liquor in settleability test settles
slowly, leaving stragglers in supernatant.
Bulking Sludge (S)-
 Clouds of billowing homogenous sludge rising and extending
throughout the clarifier tank. Mixed liquor settles slowly and
compacts poorly in settleability test, but supernatant is fairly
clear.
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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
Sludge Clumping (S)-
 Sludge clumps (from size of a golf ball or as large as a
basketball) rising to and dispersing on clarifier surface.
Bubbles noticed on clarifier surface. Mixed liquor
settleability test settles fairly well, however a portion of
and/ or all of the settled sludge rises to the surface within
four hours after test is started.
Cloudy Secondary Effluent (S)-
 Secondary effluent from clarifier is cloudy and contains
suspended matter. Mixed liquor in settleability test settles
poorly, leaving a cloudy supernatant.

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 TROUBLESHOOTING MODULE
Ashing and Pinpoint / Straggler Floc (S)-
 Fine dispersed floc (about the size of a pinhead) extending
throughout the clarifier with little islands of sludge
accumulated on the surface and discharging over the weirs.
Mixed liquor, in settleability test, settles fairly well. Sludge is
dense at bottom with fine particles of floc suspended in fairly
clear supernatant.
 Small particles of ash-like material floating on surface.
 Particles of straggler floc about ¼” or larger, extending
throughout the clarifier and discharging over the weirs. Mixed
liquor, in settleability test, settles fairly well. Sludge does not
compact well at the bottom with chunks of floc suspended in
fairly clear supernatant.

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 CONCLUSION
 Urbanization & Industrialization are on the increase.
 Pressures on environment due to waste disposal grow.
 Standards for discharge become more stringent.
 Need for installation of pollution abatement becomes more
urgent.
 Need for design tools & diagnosis of operational problems
gains importance to achieve best efficiency at lesser cost.
 The software package – WWTP, developed under this
dissertation thesis had the above objective.

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 FUTURE SCOPE

• Inclusion of a cost module for pre-design estimates.

• Development of unit cost-functions and formulation of a
cost-optimization model.
• Development of an expert system for decision-making.
Given the input flow and relevant parameters such as
wastewater characteristics, site conditions and effluent
standards, the program suggests the best treatment
alternative in consideration of environment, annualized
cost, process reliability, operational ease and reuse
potential.

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 FUTURE SCOPE
• Strengthening of Augmentation Module to include better
pretreatment alternatives as well as inclusion of post-
treatment alternatives warranted by more stringent
standards.
• Strengthening of ASP troubleshooting and inclusion of
diagnosis for other treatment processes. Development of an
Expert Advisor is more desirable.
• Simulation of operating conditions of an individual
treatment unit to check the sensitivity of different variable
parameters on the efficiency of the unit during operation.

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