Design Criteria

Introduction
Sewer system must be properly planned, designed and operated in order
to protect the environment and people from serious diseases, as more than 50 diseases spread from
sewage. Some of the important and relevant terms for sewer system are discussed below….

Sewage

It is Liquid Waste or Waste Water produce as a result of water use.

Sewer

It is the pipe or conduit for carrying sewage. It is generally closed and flow takes place under
gravity (Atmospheric Pressure).

Sewerage

Sewerage is the system of collection of waste water and conveying it to a point of final
disposal with or without treatment.

Sources of waste water

Following are the principal sources of waste water

Domestic

It is the waste water from houses, offices, other buildings, hotels and institutions.

Industrial

It is the liquid waste from the industrial places from their different industrial processes like dying,
paper matting, tanneries, chemical industries, etc.

Storm Water

It includes surface runoff generated from rainfall and the street wash.
 Types of Sewer Systems
Following are the types of sewerage.

Separate System
It is the system in which storm water is carried separately from domestic and industrial waste water.
This system is preferred when

 There is an immediate need for collection of sanitary sewage but not for storm water
 When sanitary sewage needs treatment but the storm water does not.

Combined System
It is the type of system in which sewer carries both the sanitary and storm water. Combined system is
favored when

 Combined sewage can be disposed off without treatment

 Both sanitary and storm water need treatment
 Streets are narrow and two separate sewers can not be laid Partially Combined System.

Sewage flow

It is flow derived from the sanitary and industrial sewage that is the raw water from these industries
and houses, so it means it has direct relation with the amount of water consumed.

Generally 80 to 90 % of the water consumption is taken as sewage or waste water flow.

Variation in sewage flow

Like water supply, sewage flow varies from time to time. Since sewers must be able to accommodate
Maximum Rate of Flow, the variation in the sewage flow must be studied.

Generally Herman Formula is used to estimate the ratio of Maximum to Average Flow
𝑄𝑚𝑎𝑥 14
𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑀 = 𝑄𝑎𝑣𝑔
= 1 + (4+ 𝑃)
√

; P is population in thousands

WASA Lahore Design Considers the following relationship for sewer design

Average Sewage Flow (m3 /day) Peak Factor

≤ 2500 4.0
2500 – 5000 3.4
5000 – 10000 3.1
10000 – 25000 2.7
25000 – 50000 2.5
50000 – 100000 2.3
100000 – 250000 2.15
250000 – 500000 2.08
> 500000 2.0
Infiltration

It is amount of water that enters into the sewers through poor joints, cracked pipes, walls and covers
of manholes.

 It is nonexistent during dry weather but increases during rainy season.

Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Lahore uses the following infiltration rates for the design of
sewer system.

Sewer Diameter Infiltration

225 mm to 600 mm 5 % of Avg. Sewage Flow
> 600 mm 10 % of Avg. Sewage Flow

Sewer System

Period of design is indefinite. The system is designed to take care for the maximum development of
the area. But we take design period of 20 years for our sewer system.

Sewer Pumping Station

 Design period is 10-years.

 Rate of Flow are average daily, peak and minimum flow including Infiltration.

First of all calculate the average sewage flow on the basis of water consumption and the population at
the end of the design period. i.e at the full development of the area. Then the design flow for sanitary
sewer and partially combined sewers can by calculated by using the following formulae.

For Sanitary Sewer

Qdesign = Peak sewage flow + infiltration

For partially combined sewer (WASA Criteria)

Qdesign = 2xPeak sewage flow + infiltration

Design Equation

Manning’s Equation is used for sewers flowing under gravity

𝟏 𝟐/𝟑 𝟏/𝟐
𝐕= 𝐑 𝐒
𝐧
Where

V = Velocity of flow in m/sec

R = Hydraulic mean depth (A/P)

D/4 = when pipe is flowing full or half full

S = Slope of the sewer

n = Coefficient of roughness for pipes

Minimum (Self Cleansing) Velocity

Sewage should flow at all times with sufficient velocity to prevent the settlement of solid matter in the
sewer. Self Cleansing Velocity is the minimum velocity that ensures non settlement of suspended
matter in the sewer.

The following minimum velocities are generally employed

 Sanitary sewer = 0.6 m/sec

 Storm sewer = 1.0 m/sec
 Partially combined sewer = 0.7 m/sec

Maximum velocity
The maximum velocities in the sewer pipes should not exceed more than 2.4 m/sec. This max velocity
in the sewer should not exceed this limit of 2.4 m/sec. It is to avoid the excessive sewer abrasion and
also to avoid steep slopes.

Minimum Sewer Size

225mm is taken as the minimum sewer size. The reason being that, the choking does not take place
even with the bigger size particles, which are usually thrown into the sewer through manholes.

Minimum Cover of Sewer

1m is taken as the minimum cover over the sewers to avoid damage from live loads coming on the
sewer.

Spacing of Manhole (WASA, Criteria)

For (Sewer Size) 225mm to 380mm

spacing not more than 100m
For (Sewer Size) 460mm to 760mm
spacing not more than 120m
For (Sewer Size) greater than 760mm
spacing not more than 150m

Design of Sewer
Size of Sewer

Use the following relation to find the diameter of sewer

Qf = A x V
Slope of Sewer

Select the minimum velocity value and use the Manning’s formula

1 2/3 1/2
V= R S
n

Invert Level
The lowest inside level at any cross-section of a sewer pipe is known as Invert Level at that Cross-
section.

NGSL / Road Level

Depth of Sewer

Sewer Thickness
Crown

Diameter
Dia. of Sewer

Invert Level
Invert Level

Invert Level = NGSL/Road Level – Depth of Sewer – Thickness of Sewer – Dia. of Sewer

Sewer pipes and Connection

Different types of pipes that are used in the sewer system are

 PCC pipes (100mm-600mm diameter)

 RCC pipes (225mm-4500mm diameter)
 PVC pipes
 AC pipes
 C.I pipes
 CLAY
We use the concrete pipes with Bell and Spigot Joints in our scheme and different sketches for these
pipes are given below

Joints in sewer pipes

Two types of joints in PCC pipes (up to 300mmФ) and RCC pipes (>300mmФ) are used.

Bell and Spigot Joints

Employed for sewer from 225mm to 600mmФ

Bell 1:2 Cement

Sand Mortar

Flow Spigot

Rubber Ring Jute Dipped in

Cement Slurry

Tongue and Groove Joints

Employed for sizes > 600mmФ

Jute Dipped in Cement Slurry

Flow

1:2 Cement Sand Mortar Rubber Ring

ManHoles
ManHoles are built with lateral, branch, main, trunk, and inteceptor sewer lines for the
purpose of allowing access to the sewer lines by people and equipment for maintenance and repair
functions. They are the round metal lids that you see mostly in streets. They are not just used for
access to sewers but also for acess to water, These are provided for

 Cleaning
 inspection and
 house connection Provided at each,
 Change in Sewer direction
 Change in sewer diameter
 Change in slope
 One man hole to be provided for 2-4 plots
Manhole
 Sewage Pumping Station
Sewage Pumping Stations are used externally to Sewage Treatment works to assist gravity
in getting the raw sewage from its places of origin to the works for
treatment. Sewage can only travel down hill so far before it has to be
lifted back to a higher level to start its down hill run again.

Sewage Pumping Stations exis ts all around the sewage

network for this purpose and have stand alone controls which keep
these unmanned stations operational or warn engineers by telemetry at
a central remote computer when something has gone wrong.The
incoming flow enters into one or more wet wells (dependent on the
size of the district) and is pumped from these on its way to the next
station but if the pumps fail the wells will overflow to the outside world with dire consequences,
therefore level and flow monitoring, along with the machinery status is essential. There are also many
more functions that often take place and are continually monitored.

 To elevate and transport waste water when

 Continuation of gravity flow is no longer feasible.
 Basements are deep.
 Any obstacle lies in the path of sewer.
 Receiving stream is higher than the sewer.
 Sewage is to be delivered to an above ground treatment plant.

Pump Station Components:

Property:

An entire pump station generally requires more footprint than merely the pumps and wet well or
sump. Other necessary parts of the station include the electrical service, system controller, motor
control center cabinets, which must be in a separate, dry room, and standby power generation. Other
considerations may be on-site storage and parking.

Screening chamber:

The purpose is to remove large suspended and floating particles.

Wet Well:

The wet well receives the inflow of storm water prior to pumping. It must also be designed with a
trash collection rack, room for sedimentation collection without diminishing the design capacity, and
a sump pump to remove the bottom storage below the main pump level.

Dry well:

It is used for the installation of pumps, motors and switches etc.

Pumps:

Pump selection depends on station layout, required pump rate, wet well depth, and pump maintenance
considerations. Pump selection includes the size, type, and number of pumps. For the most part,
department pump stations use vertical propeller and submersible pumps. Pump sizes are usually
selected to use multiple pumps rather than a single pump of appropriate size. Smaller pumps are
usually less expensive to buy and operate, and with multiple pumps the loss of one will not shut down
the entire pump station.

Wet Well
 Design Procedure
 Find the present population of the project area. Then find the design population from the
given design period. Afterwards find average sewage flow for the design population. Using
this average sewage flow for design population, select peak factor ( i.e 4 )
 Draw the layout of the sewer system keeping in view the layout of the roads and streets
(represent each sewer with a line and manhole with a dot).
 Number the manhole and identify each sewer line (Like M1M2, M2M3, etc).
 Allocate “Plots “or “Area” to each sewer Line. (col 6,7,8)
 Measure the length of each sewer line as scale of your map. Also show direction of flow in
sewer line with an arrow.
 By adopting per capita sewage flow as 80-85%of water consumption, calculate average
sewage flow (col 11) and infiltration (col, 12.) for each sewer line. For this design problem
take infiltration rate as 10% of average sewage flow.
 Calculate peak sewage flow (col, 13) and finally the design flow (col, 14 ) for the sewer lines.
 Using the method of back calculation, find approximate diameter (col, 17) and slope (col, 20)
for your sewer assuming that the sewer is flowing frill. For back calculation choose a suitable
design table with a suitable self cleansing velocity (0.7 m/sec).
 In the end find the invert level (col,30 & 31) for all the sewers and complete the table of
calculation called “Hydraulic Statement”
 Design of Wet Well

 No of pumps = 2
 Capacity of the Pump= Peak Hour Flow =Qmax = 18560.82 m3/day
 Pump must run for at least 2-min
 Cycle time must not be less than 5 minutes but preferably 15 min.
 The detention time in the wet well at average flow should preferably be not more than 30mint.

According to given data

Qavg =2291.46m3/day = 1.59m3/min

P = Qmax = 18560.82m3/day = 12.89m3/min

Qmin = 50% of Qavg =1145.73m3/day = 0.7956m3/min

Minimum Cycle time must not be less than 5-minutes

P×tmin
Volume(V) = 4
V = 32.225m3

Pump must run for at least 2-min

Now check for Qmin

V
t=
P−Q

t = 2.66 >2 min (ok)

Cycle Time
V V
t= +
P−Q Q

For Minimum Flow

t = 43.12 min >10 min (ok)

For Average Flow

t = 23.06 min > 10min (ok)

For Detention Time

V
t=
Q

t = 20.21min < 30 min (ok)

Dimensions of Wet Well

Depth = 2 m Width = 4 m Length = 6 m

Recommendation
 When actual velocity is less than 0.5m/s, we will provide flush tank or increase the slope.
 When lateral or sub-mains join a deeper sewer, we can save the cost of excavation by
providing Drop Manhole.Drop Manhole is provided when drop is greater than 0.6m.
 Minimum self cleansing velocity was not maintained in most of the pipes so it is
recommended to make a provision of septic tank for every house.
 At the disposal station the minimum cover of 1m was not being satisfied so the ground level
at disposal station must be increased for this purpose.

Comment
Following are the different criteria’s that I consider while designing the sewer system

 Taking into consideration of economy, we designed for the partially combined sewerage.
 The design flows are based on the WASA standards (Peak factor and infiltration is taken from
the WASA table).
 Minimum velocity is taken as 0.7 m/sec and velocity must not be more than 2.4 m/sec.
 Minimum diameter is taken as 225 mm and other diameters are considered according to
WASA standard (locally available).
 Minimum rate of sewage flow is taken as 50% of average sewage flow.
 Minimum clear cover of 1-m is provided above the sewer in order to avoid from impact of
live loading.
 We use the concrete pipes with Bell and Spigot Joints in our sewer system.
 Spigot joint should be used because the maximum diameter was coming out to be 600mm.

References
 Wate Supply and Sewarege by E.W.Steel
 All the Pictures are taken from Internet
 Class Lectures by Prof. Dr. Javeed Anwar Aziz