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Drinking Water Treatment Basic Design Calculations:
Coagulation; Flocculation;
Sedimentation; Filtration
Ch. 6.1 – 6.4
Objectives for Lessons 13 – 15:
• L13: Describe Primary and Secondary standards for drinking water
and know if they’re regulated
– Be able to give examples of both Primary and Secondary contaminants
• L13: Know the typical characteristics of surface water vs.
groundwater, and the type of treatment usually required for each
• L14: Be familiar with the typical layout of a water treatment plant
(WTP)
• Describe each of the unit processes in a typical WTP in detail:
– L14: Screening, Coagulation, Flocculation
– L15: Sedimentation, Filtration (15b)
• Perform basic calculations to design these unit processes
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Introduction to Municipal Water
• In the USA, we are fortunate that our tap water is safe to
drink
– This is not true for > 2 billion people in developing countries
• But even in the USA, we still have problems:
– Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, WI
– E. coli outbreaks in New York & Washington D.C.
– Periodic high levels of disinfection byproducts (trihalomethanes)
– Therefore, drinking water disinfection is one of the highest
priority research topics of the EPA
• To protect water, we need: legislative branch to establish
laws for drinking water standards; & scientists and
engineers for technical guidance
Municipal Water & WW Systems
Municipal (drinking) water may come from
rivers, reservoirs, groundwater
– Typically, big cities use surface water,
small towns use groundwater
Spread of waterborne diseases controlled by two processes:
1. Water collection, treatment, & distribution
– Regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act
2. Wastewater collection & treatment
– Regulated by the Clean Water Act
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Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), 1974
• Established to protect drinking water quality
– Applies to all systems serving ≥ 25 customers
• SDWA Goals:
– Required EPA to establish national standards for drinking water
quality
– Required operators of drinking water systems to monitor and
treat to meet compliance with standards
• 1986 Amendments to SDWA
– Requires filtration, disinfection, lead‐free pipe & solder (was
~50% Pb, now < 0.2% Pb), annual report to customers
Drinking Water Standards
• Primary Standards
– Specifies Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) based on health
related criteria (risk vs. cost)
• Ex., Lead, mercury, nitrate, hydrocarbons, pesticides, solvents, etc.
• Also establishes Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs)
– These are unenforceable goals for preventing health effects
– Ex., For carcinogens, MCLG = 0.
– See Table 6.1
• Secondary Standards
– Unenforceable standards related to aesthetics
• Ex., taste, odor, color, corrosivity, & hardness
– See Table 6.2
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Introduction to Drinking Water Treatment
• Purpose: convert raw water to drinking water quality
• Type of treatment depends on source of water
– Surface water
• Characteristics: turbidity (suspended solids), potential for microbial
contamination
• Requires filtration & disinfection
– Groundwater
• Characteristics: low turbidity, usually low microbial contamination, but has
hardness (Mg2+ + Ca2+ from mineral dissolution) & dissolved gases (H2S)
• Filtration may not be required, but typically hardness removal is needed
Typical Surface Water Treatment Plant Schematic
Chemical Physical
treatment treatment
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Screening
Purpose: to remove relatively large floating and suspended
debris (sticks, leaves, plastics, etc.)
Typically located at/near the intake (in a river, lake, or reservoir)
Ex., Intake tower in a river:
Mixing (Coagulation)
Purpose: To add a chemical coagulant to the water to encourage
suspend solids (particles of color, turbidity, bacteria, etc., which are
0.001 – 1 m in diameter, a.k.a. “colloids”) to coagulate into larger
particles in the flocculator
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The Chemistry of Coagulation
• Most colloids have a negative (‐) surface charge, so they repell
each other
• A positively (+) charged coagulant is added to the water to
neutralize the charge, so the colloids can come together and form
larger particles that can be more easily removed
• Example coagulants:
– The most popular is Alum, Al2(SO4)3∙18H2O which dissociates in water
• The Al3+ cations neutralize colloids, and also form Al(OH)3 which attracts colloids
as it precipitates:
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Basic Rapid Mix Tank Design
• Coagulants are added to the rapid mix tank to
“instantaneously” mix the chemical and the water
– Typical detention times, td = < 30 seconds
– The volume of the tank, V = Q
– Design guidelines:
• V < 8 m3
• Liquid depth = 0.5 1.1 * diameter of tank
• Impeller diameter = 0.3 0.5 * diameter of tank
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FE Problem: Rapid Mix Tank
Determine the number of cylindrical rapid mix tanks (H:D = 1.5:1), running in parallel
flow configuration, necessary for a total plant flow of 6 MGD. Assume the design
detention time is 30 seconds and the maximum tank dimension is 1.8 m.
Answer = 4 tanks.
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Flocculation
Purpose: To gently mix the water and coagulant, allowing
the formation of large particles of floc which will be
removed in the sedimentation basin
– Ex., Paddle flocculator (below)
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Basic Flocculation Tank Design
Flocculation is the gentle stirring of the rapid mix tank
effluent to form floc
– Typical detention times, td = ≈ 0.5 hours
– The volume of the tank, V = Q
– Design guidelines:
• Must have baffles between each compartment/chamber to prevent short
circuiting
• Velocity of water = 0.3 0.45 m/s (1 – 1.5 ft/s)
• Compartment size range:
– Length = 6 30 m (20 – 200 ft)
– Width = 3 5 m (10 – 16 ft)
• Also, need an “end baffle” between flocculation basin and clarifier to prevent
residual energy from being transferred to the clarification stage
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Sedimentation (Clarifier)
Purpose: to slow the flow rate of water enough so that the
floc will settle out of water by gravity
– Occurs in large rectangular or circular concrete tank/basin
– Rectilinear flow (left) or Radial flow (right)
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Settling Zones within a Sedimentation Basin
• Most sedimentation tanks are horizontal flow with 4 basic zones:
inlet zone, sedimentation zone, outlet zone, and sludge zone
– Theoretical
path of a
settling
particle:
– Actual path:
(install
finger weirs
to prevent
short
circuiting)
https://youtu.be/X7wLQQrYS-Q 17
Clarifier Weirs
Overflow velocity, vo
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Basic Sedimentation Tank Design
• In a sedimentation tank, water has a long enough
retention time that particles (floc) can settle out
– Typical detention times, td = ≈ 1 10 hours
• (Longer td = better performance, but more $$)
– The velocity of water through the tank is called the “overflow
rate”, vo = Q/As (units of v: m3∙day‐1∙m2)
• Where As is the surface area of the tank = length * width
– Design tank so that the settling velocity of floc, vs > vo
– To prevent short‐circuiting:
• Install finger‐weirs (surface outlet troughs) to ~1/3 of the end of the basin
• Cover basin to prevent mixing due to wind
– Remove sludge with a bottom scraper
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Example problem: Sedimentation Basin (Clarifier)
If a 1.5 m3 s‐1 flow water treatment plant uses 8 sedimentation basins with an
overflow rate of 20 m3 day‐1 m‐2, what should be the surface area (m2) of each tank?
Answer = 810 m2
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10
FE Problem: Sedimentation Basin (Clarifier)
Determine the length of a rectangular clarifier for a flow of 3 MGD if the design
detention time is 2 hours, the tank has a depth of 8 ft, and the L:W = 4:1.
Answer = 129.3 ft.
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Rapid Sand Filter
Purpose: To clean the clarified water (final polishing step)
Typical loading 230 ? 300 800
rates (m3/d•m2):
~ 5 – 7’ deep
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Basic Sand Filter Design
The most common type of filter used is a “rapid sand filter”
– The velocity of water through the filter:
v = Q/As (units of v: m3∙day‐1∙m2)
• Where As is the surface area of the tank through which water flows (width *
length)
– ~1X/day, must shut down and backwash to remove trapped
particles
• Causes fluidization of the bed, but then settles back down
• Backwash duration: 10 – 15 minutes
• Usually have duplicate sand filters so can have continuous operation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLYLd3Bldkw (start at 33 sec.)
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FE Problem: Sand Filter
Determine the minimum number of rapid sand filters necessary to treat a flow of 20
MGD if the maximum design hydraulic loading is 5 gpm/ft2. Assume the maximum
dimension is 24 feet and the L:W = 1.2:1.
Answer = 6 filters.
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Sludge Processing
Purpose: To dewater and dispose of the mixture of solids
and liquids collected from the settling tank
– Animation of sludge collection from settling tank/clarifier:
• https://youtu.be/X7wLQQrYS‐Q
– We’ll cover sludge processing when we discuss wastewater
treatment
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