Sanitary Engineering

Examples of rotating blade flocculators. 1) Vertical paddle (courtesy

Amwell); 2) horizontal (reel) paddle (courtesy WesTech); 3) Philadelphia
Mixers).
Example
A rapid mixing basin is to be designed for a water coagulation plant, and the design
flow for the basin is 15140 m3/d. The basin is to be square with a depth equal to 1.25
times the width. The detention time is 30 s. determine the basin dimensions.

Solution

V = Q.T
V = 15140 m3/d. ( 1 d/24 hr) . (1 hr/ 3600 sec) . 30
= 5.257 m3
Volume = L . W . D
D = 1.25 W , L = W
V = 1.25 W 3
W = (5.257 / 1.25 ) 1/3 = 1.61 m = 1.75 m
L = 1.75 m
D = 2.187 m = 2 m
V = 1.75 . 1.75 . 2 = 6.125 m3
Example
The design flow for a water treatment plant (WTP) is 3.8x103 m 3/d. The rapid mixing
tank will have a mechanical mixer and the average alum dosage will be 30 mg/L. The
theoretical mean hydraulic detention time of the tank will be 1 minute. Determine the
following:
a) The quantity of alum needed on a daily basis in kg/d,
b) The dimensions of the tank in meters for a tank with equal length, width, and depth.
Solution

a) The quantity of alum needed on a daily basis in kg/d

Quantity needed = Q . dose
= 3.8x103 m 3/d . 30 mg/l (1kg/106 mg) (1000 L /m3)
= 114 kg / d
b) the dimensions of the tank in meters for a tank with equal length, width, and depth
V = Q.T
= 3.8x103 m3/d . 1 min ( 1d / 1440 min)
= 2.64 m3
V = L . D . W = 2.64
L = 1.4 m = D = W
Example
Flocculation tanks are to be designed for a total flow rate of 49 200 m3/d. Total mean
detention time of 45 min, 3 parallel trains of flocculators (each train receives one third
of the total flow),basin depth of 3.5 m, 3 flocculation stages of the same dimensions
for each train (so a total of 9 flocculators). Determine the dimensions of the tank for
each stage as well as the overall dimensions, in meters.
Solution
V = Q.T
T = 45 min for 3 stages, so, T = 15 min
Q = 49200 m3/d for 3 stages, so, Q = 16400 m3/d for each one
V = 15 min (16400 m3/d) ( d/ 1440 min) = 171 m3
So, volume of each tank is 171 m3
Volume overall = 171 x 9 = 1538 m3

If the depth must be 3.5 m, then the product of the length and width must be:
LxW overall = V overall / D
= 15380 / 3.5 = 439 m2 = 440 m2
Or,
LxW tank = V tank / D
= 171 / 3.5 = 48.8 m3 = 50 m3