Design approach to wastewater

• Where does the wastewater come from?

• How much wastewater flow is there going to be?

•How is the wastewater going to be removed and treated?

Where does the wastewater come from
• Two main categories:

• Sanitary Wastewater
➢Wastewater from residential, commercial, institutional
and industrial sources.

• Storm water Runoff

➢Wastewater resulting from rainfall running off streets,
roofs, and other impervious surfaces.
Sanitary Wastewater

Introduction

• Wastewater, or sewage, is one of the two major urban water-

based flows that form the basis of concern for the drainage
engineer.

• Wastewater is the main liquid waste of the community.

Cont’d….
• Safe and efficient drainage of wastewater is particularly
important:

• To maintain public health

(because of the high levels of potentially disease-forming
micro-organisms in wastewater)

• To protect the receiving water environment

(due to large amounts of oxygen consuming organic
material and other pollutants in wastewater).
Components of a Community’s Wastewater
• The basic sources of wastewater are summarized in Fig. 1
and consist of:

Fig. 1 Sources of wastewater

Cont’d….
• Domestic (sanitary) wastewater
–wastewater discharged from residences and from commercial,
institutional and similar facilities.

• Industrial wastewater
–wastewater in which industrial wastes predominate.

• Infiltration/Inflow (I/I)
–extraneous water that enters the sewer system from the ground
through various means, and storm water.

•Stormwater –runoff resulting from rainfall and snowmelt.

Sources and Rates of Domestic Wastewater Flows
• Small residential districts –wastewater flows determined
based on population density and average per capita
contribution of wastewater.

• Large residential districts –wastewater flows developed

based on land use areas and anticipated population density
(typically rates are based on wastewater flows from nearby
areas).

• If data is unavailable, estimate 70-90% of the domestic water-

withdrawal rate is returned to the sanitary sewer system.

• In all cases, should try to obtain local wastewater flows for a

similar area.
 Cont’d…
1. Domestic
• In many networks, the domestic component of wastewater is
the most important.

• Domestic wastewater is generated primarily from residential

properties but also includes contributions from institutions (for
example, schools, hospitals) and recreational facilities.

• Hence, in this section we shall look at the links between water

usage and wastewater discharge and, in particular, how these
vary with time.
 Cont’d…
Water use
• Important factors affecting the magnitude of per capita water
demand include the following.

• Climate
• Climatic effects such as temperature and rainfall can significantly
affect water demand.

• Water use tends to be greatest when it is hot and dry, due largely to
increased garden watering/sprinkling and landscape irrigation.

• The impact on wastewater is less pronounced, as this additional

water will probably not find its way into the sewer.
Cont’d…
Socio-economic factors
• The greater the affluence or economic capabilities of a
community, the greater the water use tends to be.

• This is probably due to greater ownership and use of water-

using domestic appliances such as washing machines,
dishwashers and power showers.

• Development type
• Dwelling type is important. In particular, dwellings with
gardens may use more water than flats or apartments.
 Cont’d…
Extent of metering and water conservation measures
• Water undertakers with metered supplies usually charge their
customers based on the quantity of water used in a given period.

• Systems with unmetered services charge a flat rate for unlimited

water use.

• In theory at least, metered supplies should prevent waste of water

by users, reduce actual water use and therefore reduce wastewater
flows.

• Water conservation measures such as low-flow taps/showers, low-

flush toilets and recycling/re-use systems reduce water demand.
How much wastewater flow is there going to
be?
Quantification
• Water consumption per head of population is extremely varied,
as shown in Fig. 2.
•
• However, average domestic water usage in England has been
estimated as 145 l/hd.d.

• It is notable that only a very small percentage of this potable

standard water is actually drunk (1–2 l/hd.d).
Fig. 2 Variation of per capita water consumption
 Cont’d…
• Table 1 Percentage of water consumed for various purposes
 Cont’d…
2. Water–wastewater relationship
There is a strong link between water usage and wastewater
disposal,
On a daily basis we can simply say:

Table 2 Percentage of water

discharged as wastewater
G water consumption per person
(l/hd.d)
G' wastewater generated per
person (l/hd.d)
x return factor, given in Table 2
 Cont’d…
• Fig. 3 shows a comparison made throughout the day
between water use and wastewater flow in a catchment.
• In general, water use exceeds wastewater flow, especially in
the early evening when gardens are being watered. At night
this situation is reversed due to sewer infiltration flows.

Fig. 3 Typical
diurnal plot of
water
consumption and
wastewater flow
 Temporal variability
• It is emphasised that both wastewater quantity and
quality vary widely from the very long-term to the short-
term.
• Hence, any particular reported value should be related to
the timescale over which it was measured.

Fig. 5. Comparison of the

effects on water consumption
in a dry summer
 Cont’d…
• Long-term
• The major long-term trend is a steady increase in per capita
consumption on an annual basis, reflecting a number of factors
such as increased ownership of water-using appliances.

• The UK rate of increase in the 1990s was approximately 1% per

annum.

• Annual
• Variations within the year due to seasonal effects can be observed
in water demand.

• The effect on wastewater flows is less clearly defined but,

typically, summer dry weather flow discharges normally exceed
winter flows by 10–20%.
 Cont’d…

Fig. 4. Comparison of the effects on water consumption in a dry

 Cont’d…
• Weekly
• Variations in water demand and wastewater production can occur
within the week, from day-to-day.

• Increased water consumption at weekends, probably due to

increased WC flushing and bathing.
• Diurnal
• A basic diurnal pattern showing variation from hour-to-hour of
wastewater
• Minimum flows occur during the early morning hours when activity
is at its lowest.
• The first peak generally occurs during the morning, it is between
09:00–10:00.
• A second flow peak occurs in the early evening between 18:00 and
19:00, and then a third can also be distinguished between 21:00 and
22:00, but this is less clearly defined in magnitude and timing.
 Cont’d…
• Appliances
• Wastewater production is strongly linked to the widespread
ownership and use of a wide range of domestic appliances,
such as those in Table 3.
• The contribution of each individual appliance depends on
both the volume of flow discharged after each operation and
the frequency with which it is used.
Table 3 Domestic appliance discharge volumes
 Cont’d…
• Fig. 5 illustrates how the discharges from the individual
appliances go to make up the general wastewater diurnal
pattern.

Fig. 5 Appliance diurnal discharge patterns

 Non-domestic
• Commercial
• This category includes businesses such as shops, offices and
light industrial units, and commercial establishments such as
restaurants, laundries, public houses and hotels.

• Demand is generated by drinking, washing and sanitary

facilities, but patterns of use are inevitably different to those
generated by domestic usage.
Cont’d…
• Industrial
• The component of wastewater generated by industrial
processes can be important in specific situations,

• But is more difficult to characterize in general because of

the large variety of industries.

• In most cases, effluents result from the following water

uses:
➢sanitary (e.g. washing, drinking, personal hygiene)
➢processing (e.g. manufacture, waste and by-product removal,
transportation)
➢ cleaning
➢ cooling.
 Cont’d…
• The detailed rate of discharge will vary from industry to
industry and will depend significantly on the actual processes
used.

• Industrial effluents can be highly variable (in both quantity and

quality) as a consequence of batch discharges, operation start-
ups and shut-downs, working hours and other factors.

• Other important factors include the size of organisation, the

availability and cost of water, and the extent of process water
recycling.
Cont’d…
• Industrial Wastewater Estimation

• Industries without internal reuse programs: approximately

85 to 95% of water used will be returned to the sanitary
sewer system.

• Large industries with internal-water-reuse programs: need

data on how much water is reused internally.
 Cont’d…
• Infiltration and inflow
• Unlike the other sources of wastewater, infiltration and inflow
are not deliberate discharges, but occur as a consequence of
the existence of a piped network.

• Infiltration is extraneous groundwater or water from other

leaking pipes that enters the sewer system through defective
drains and sewers (cracks and fissures), pipe joints, couplings
and manholes.

• Inflow is storm water that enters separate foul sewers from

illegal or misconnected yard gullies, roof downpipes or
through manhole covers.
 Infiltration to Sanitary Sewer Systems
• Groundwater/percolating water in the subsurface
entering a sewer system through:
• –Defective pipes
• –Leaking pipe joints
• –Poor connections –Cracked manhole walls –etc
 Inflow to Sanitary Sewer Systems
• Water entering a sewer system from surface sources such as:
• –Leaking manhole covers
• –Directly connected roof gutters
• –Cellar or foundation drains
• –Cross connections from storm drains and combined sewers
• –Yard and area drains
• –Cooling-water discharges
• –Drains from springs and swampy areas
• –Street wash water –Etc
 Cont’d…
• Problems
• The presence of excessive amounts of infiltration may cause
one or more of the following problems

➢ reduced effective sewer capacity leading to possible surcharging

and/or flooding

➢overloading of pumping stations and wastewater treatment works

➢higher frequency of CSO operation, possibly in dry weather during

periods of high ground water levels

➢increased entry of sediment (soil), resulting in in higher maintenance

requirements and possible surface subsidence.
 Cont’d…
• Quantification
• The extent of infiltration is site-specific but, when excessive,
is usually a result of poor design and construction and will
generally deteriorate as the system physically degrades.
 Cont’d…
• Influencing factors include:

➢ age of the system

➢standard of materials and methods
➢standard of workmanship in laying pipes
➢settlement due to ground movement
➢height of ground water level (varies seasonally)
➢type of soil
➢aggressive chemicals in the ground
➢extent of the network – total length of sewer (including house
connections);
➢type of pipe joint, number of joints and pipe size; number and
➢size of manholes and inspection chambers
➢ frequency of surcharge.
 Cont’d…
• The amount of infiltration may range widely from 0.01 to 1.0
m3 per day per mm diameter per km length (Metcalf and
Eddy, 1991).

• Infiltration can reach serious proportions in old systems.

It would subject to infiltration ranging from 15% to 50% of

average dry weather flow.
Cont’d…

• Exfiltration is the opposite of infiltration.

• Under certain circumstances, wastewater (or stormwater) is

able to leak out of the sewer into the surrounding soil and
groundwater.

• This creates the potential for groundwater contamination.

• Factors affecting the likelihood of exfiltration are similar to

those discussed for infiltration.
 Example
• A trunk sewer is to be sized for a 25 km2(2,500 ha) city. It will
be 60% residential, 30% commercial, and 10% industrial.
The residential area will have 40% large lots, 55% small
single family lots, and 5% multi-story apartments. The
average domestic wastewater flowrate is 800 L/d/capita
(9.26x10-6 m3/sec/person), the average commercial flowrate is
25,000 L/d/ha (2.89x10-4m3/sec/ha), and the average
industrial flowrate is 40,000 L/d/ha (4.63x10-4m3/sec/ha).
I&I is 1,000 L/d/ha for the entire area.

• Estimate the peak and minimum flows to be handled by the

trunk
 Cont’d…
• The saturation densities for the residential areas are given in
the adjacent table:
Cont’d…
Cont’d…