CHAPTER 2

Wastewater Characteristics
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What is Wastewater?

1. Used water from residential,

commercial, and industrial areas
2. Dirty and unwanted
3. Contains pathogenic
microorganisms,
4. Potentially harmful compounds
5. Harmful to health
6. Breeding sites for insects, pests
and microorganism
7. Environmental pollution and
affect ecosystem
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Municipal Water Demand

▪ It was found that the demand for water in Malaysia has

increased steadily from 8.9 billion m3 in 1980 to 15.5 billion
m3 in 2000 for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes.
• Growth in population and urbanization as well as improved
living standard is imposing additional pressure on the water
resources in the country. As a result, the per capita availability
of water is decreasing.
• On the other hand, national coverage of water supply has
increased from 80% of the total population in 1990 to 95% in
2000.

Source:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287929596_Water_resources_in_Malaysia_Issues_and_challenges#:~:text=It%20was%20foun
d%20that%20the,agricultural%2C%20industrial%20and%20domestic%20purposes.&text=It%20was%20also%20revealed%20that,as%2
0compared%20to%20urban%20people.
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Wastewater Flow
1. Average daily flow
Occurring over a 24-hour period based on annual flow rate. The average daily flowrate is
used in evaluating treatment plant capacity and in developing flowrate ratios used in design.
2. Maximum daily flow
Calculate on over a 24-hour period based on annual operating data. The maximum daily
flowrate is important particularly in the design of facilities involving retention time such as
equalization basins.
4. Minimum daily flow
The flow rate occurs over a 24-hour period based on annual operating data. Minimum flow
rates are important in the sizing of the conduits where solids deposition might occur at low
flow rates.
3. Peak hourly flow
The peak sustained hourly flowrate occurring during a 24-hour period based on annual
operating data. Data on peak hourly flows are needed for the design of collection and
interceptor sewers, wastewater-pumping stations, wastewater flow meters, sedimentation
tanks and channels in the treatment plant.
5. Minimum hourly flow
The minimum sustained hourly flow rate occurring over 24-hour period based on annual
operating data. Data on the minimum hourly flow rate are needed to determine possible
process effects and for sizing of wastewater flow-meters, particularly those that pace
chemical-feed systems.
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Types of Wastewater

1. Domestic
2. Industrial
• Residential, shop houses, offices, schools etc. Manufacturing processes
• Toilets, sinks and bathrooms
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Characteristics of Domestic Wastewater

1.Physical
2.Chemical
3.Biological
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Physical Characteristics

1. Colour
Depends mainly on the wastewater constituent

2. Odour
Not significant if aerobic
Anaerobic releases hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg)

3. Temperature
High due to the microbial activities

4. Solids (Clay, sand, human waste, plant, fibres)

Suspended Solids (SS) + Dissolved Solids (DS) = Total Solids (TS)
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Measurement of Total Solids

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Measurement of Total Solids & Total Volatile Solids

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Measurement of Suspended Solids

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Measurement of Suspended Solids & Volatile

Suspended Solids
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Measurement of Suspended Solids
1. Total Solids (TS) = Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) + Total Suspended Solids
(TSS)

2. Total Solids (TS) = Total Fixed Solids (TFS) + Total Volatile Solids (TVS)

3. Total Suspended Solids (TSS) = Fixed Suspended Solids (FSS) + Volatile

Suspended Solids (VSS)

Highly
concentrated!
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Measurement of Suspended Solids

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Chemical Characteristics

1. Organic compounds
2. Inorganic compounds
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Example of organic compounds

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Properties of organic compounds

1. Usually combustible
2. Have lower melting and boiling points
3. Less soluble in water
4. High molecular weight
5. Most serve as source of food for microorganisms
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Sources of Organic
Compounds
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Effects of Organic Compounds

1. Deplete the dissolved oxygen in water

2. Destroy aquatic life
3. Damage the ecosystem
4. Can cause health hazards
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Classification of Organic Compounds

Biodegradable Non-biodegradable
organics organics
1. Easily degraded by 1. Difficult to biodegrade
microorganisms 2. Longer time to biodegrade
2. Food for microorganisms 3. Toxic to microorganisms
3. e.g. carbohydrate, starch, fat, 4. e.g. plastic, PVC, pesticide,
protein, alcohol, human and cellulose, some industrial
animal waste wastewater
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Measurements of Organic
Compounds

1. Biological oxygen demand (BOD)

2. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
3. Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

Typical chemical characteristics of domestic wastewater:

1. BOD: 100 to 400 mg/L or more (depends on the sources)

2. COD ≅ 2 to 3 times higher than BOD value
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Definition of BOD

“Quantity of oxygen utilized by micro-organisms to

biologically degrade the organic matter in the water
under aerobic condition”.

✓ Important parameters in water pollution control

✓ Estimate oxygen needed for biological processes

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Measurement of BOD: Main apparatus

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Measurement of BOD: Procedures

1. Place water sample in BOD bottle
2. If needed, add dilution water (known quantity)
3. Dilution water is prepared by adding phosphate buffer (pH 7.2),
magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride and ferric chloride into distilled
water. Aerate the dilution water to saturate it with oxygen before use.
4. Measure DO in the bottle after 15 minutes (DOi)
5. Close the bottle and place in incubator for 5 days, at 20oC
6. After 5 days, measure the DO in the bottle (DOt)

Measurement of BOD: Calculation

BODt =
(DOi -DOt )
DF
BODt = Biochemical Oxygen Demand, mg/L

DOi = initial DO of the sample about 15 min. after preparation, mg/L

DOt = final DO of the sample after incubation for t days, mg/L

sample volume
DF = dilution factor = ( sample volume + volume of dilution water )
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What happen in BOD bottles?

BOD Bottle = Biological Reactor

=
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Biological process
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Biological process

BOD curve
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Ultimate BOD (L0)
Ultimate BOD = Maximum BOD exerted by the waste.

The carbonaceous oxygen demand curve can be expressed mathematically as

BODt = L0 (1 - 10-Kt)
BODt = L0 (1 - e-kt)
Where,

BODt = BOD at time t, mg/L

L0 = ultimate BOD, mg/L
t = time, days
K, k = reaction rate constant, day-1

1. Speed of the reaction

2. Biodegradability of the compound

Examples:
1. Simple compounds (eg. sugars and starches) easily degraded by microorganisms
- High K value
2. More complex (eg. phenols and cellulose) difficult to degrade
- Low K values
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Determination of BOD Rate Constant, K

1. Conduct a series of BOD test.

t (day) BODt (mg/L)

1 W
2 X
3 Y
4 Z

2. From the experiment results of BOD for various values of t,

calculate [time/BODt]1/3 for each day.

t (day) BODt (mg/L) [time/BODt]1/3

1 W [1/W]1/3
2 X [2/X]1/3
3 Y [3/Y]1/3
4 Z [4/Z]1/3
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Determination of BOD Rate Constant, K

3. Plot calculate [t/BODt]1/3 versus t.

4. Determine the intercept (A) and slope (B) from the plot. K = 2.61 (B/A)
BODt
K (base 10) L 0 = where,
1-10-Kt
k
BODt K = or k = 2.3K
K (base e) L0 = -kt
2.3
1- e

Effect of Temperature (T) → K increases as the T increases

KT= K20 x 1.047(T-20)

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Definition of Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
“The quantity of equivalent oxygen needed to chemically oxidize the
organic compound in sample, converted to carbon dioxide and water”.

Measurement of COD

Traditional COD test apparatus

HACH apparatus
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Relation between BOD and COD
COD

COD > BOD

Typical condition

COD/BOD5 ≈ 2 to 3,
Biodegradable organic

COD >> BOD5,

Non-biodegradable organic
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Inorganic compounds
Dissociate in water into electrically charged atoms (ions).

Examples:

Sources of inorganic compounds

1. N and P – Domestic & industrial wastewater

2. Alkalinity (HCO3-) - Natural
3. Chlorides (Cl-) - Natural
4. Sulphur (S) – Natural
5. Metals (eg. Fe2+, Cu2+, Pb2+) – Industrial wastewater
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Wastewater quality standards

1. Environmental Quality Act, 1974

2. Regulations in Environmental Quality (Sewage), 2009

3. Standards for sewage treatment plant effluent (Standard A and Standard B)

End of Chapter 2

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