CH4214: Environmental

Engineering & Management

Introduction to Environmental Engineering
and Management

Dr. Dilhara Sethunga; PhD(NTU, Singapore), BSc. Eng (UOM, Sri Lanka)
E mail: dilharap@uom.lk
22 July 2021
 Course Assessment Criteria
4 Credits
Continuous Assessment 40%
3 Quizzes
1 Assignment from air pollution control

End of Semester Examination 60%

(MPA or 3-hour test depending on the situation)
 Course Structure
Topic Week/s Lecturers
Wastewater Engineering Week 1-Week 3 Dr. Dilhara Sethunga
Week 4-Week 5 Prof. P.G. Rathnasiri
Air Pollution Control Week 6-Week 7 Dr. Manisha Gunasekera
Solid Waste Management & Week 8-Week 9 Dr. Manisha Gunasekera
Engineering
Hazardous Waste Management Week 10 Dr. Dilhara Sethunga
Environmental Management Systems Week 11 Dr. Dilhara Sethunga
International Protocols Week 12 Dr. Dilhara Sethunga
Environment Impact Assessment Week 13 Dr. Manisha Gunasekera
Basics of Environmental Accounting Week 14 Dr. Manisha Gunasekera
 Recommended References

1. Wastewater Engineering: Treatment, Disposal and Reuse;

Metcalf and Eddy, inc.
2. Handbook of air pollution prevention and control; Nicholas P.
Cheremisinoff; Butterworth Heinemann
3. Environmental Engineering; Ruth E. Weiner and Robin A.
Matthews
Why Environment Engineering
& Management ???
Why Environment Engineering
& Management ???
Environmental Impacts Through Social Evolution Stages

Source: Rozsa, Peter. "Attempts at qualitative and quantitative assessment of human impact on the landscape." Geogr Fiz Dinam Quat 30.2 (2007): 233-
238.
Journey to Environment Sustainability
 Environment Engineering &
Management
Objective
Seeking long-term solutions to various
environmental problems, including wastewater
treatment and disposal systems, air pollution, solid and
hazardous wastes, waste minimization and life cycle
assessment, environmental impact assessment etc.
to
the rational adjustment of man with nature involving
judicious exploitation and utilization of natural
resources without disturbing the ecosystem balance
and ecosystem equilibrium.
 CH4214: Environmental
Engineering & Management
L01: Wastewater Engineering

Dr. Dilhara Sethunga; PhD(NTU, Singapore), BSc. Eng (UOM, Sri Lanka)
E mail: dilharap@uom.lk
22 July 2021
 Wastewater Engineering
01 Introduction

02 Wastewater Quality Parameters

03 Wastewater Pollutants
04 Treatment Technologies
05 Process and Technology Selection
06 Physical Unit Operations
 Introduction
Global water availability

01
Global status of wastewater treatment

02
Importance of wastewater treatment
1. To minimize the environmental impacts

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2. To protect the human health

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➢ Untreated wastewater cause septic conditions in water reservoirs
(depletion of oxygen, thus aquatic life is affected)
➢ Malodorous gases may be emitted due to decomposition of organic
components in the wastewater
➢ The pathogenic microorganisms and hazardous chemicals can harm
human health which can be mortal
➢ The nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous can cause for excessive
growth of aquatic plants
➢ Thus, to protect both environment and human health, wastewater
treatment is essential

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Water Discharge Legislations

➢ Each country has setup its own wastewater discharge regulations. i.e.
Clean Water Act (CWA 1972, USA)
• Objective: to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological
integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibilities of the states
in addressing pollution and providing assistance to states to do so, including
funding for publicly owned treatment works for the improvement of
wastewater treatment; and maintaining the integrity of wetlands
• The CWA introduced the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES), a permit system for regulating point sources of pollution. (i.e
technology-based standard and water quality standard)
➢ In Sri Lanka, the discharge wastewater quality standard is given in
“National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980”.

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Wastewater discharge regulations Sri Lanka

07
 Wastewater Quality Parameters
➢ Water quality affects the existence of aquatic life as well as the well
being of environment.
➢ Major wastewater quality parameters
❖ Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Temperature, pH, Salinity, Turbidity, Solid content,
Biodegradability, Nutrient content, Heavy metal content, Oil and Grease
content, Microorganisms, etc.
➢ Different standard laboratory tests are conducted to quantify those
parameters
➢ Exceeding the wastewater quality to that of the standard specified
by the government may require down stream treatments before
discharging to the environment.

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 Wastewater Pollutants
➢ Wastewater quality may vary depending on the point source it originated
❖ Industrial facilities (chemical, petrochemical, petroleum refining, food and
consumer product, metal, and pulp and paper industry)
❖ Municipal facilities (water generated from households, offices and
nonindustrial facilities)
➢ According to CWA, 126 priority industrial pollutants has been identified
for controlled discharge to sewer systems
➢ Those pollutants can be broadly categorized as,
❖ Metals
• i.e. As, Hg, Pb, Cr, Cd. Note that metals cannot be degraded or broken-
down through treatment

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❖ Organic compounds
• i.e. volatile organic compounds (VOC), semi volatile organics, persistent
organic pollutants (POP) including trichloroethylene, aromatics such as
toluene and benzene, pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
• Many can be degraded to harmless compounds or to carbon dioxide and
water. However, some compounds such as PCBs can be recalcitrant
❖ Other pollutants
• Acid/alkalis – i.e. nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and caustic soda. They have
low or high pH and are corrosive but can be neutralized.
• Inorganic salts – i.e. harmless ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride,
and sulfates, but they increase the total dissolved solids of the receiving
water.
• Suspended solids – May come in various forms; inorganic or organic
solids from processing of raw materials such as ores or raw products.

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Source: Kutz, Myer, ed. Handbook of Environmental Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.

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➢ The discharge standards vary depending on the type of the wastewater,
type of industry and specially the type of aquatic body the wastewater to
be discharged.
➢ Because of this reason, the down stream treatments that may require is
deferent from one industry to the other.
➢ Also, treatment technology may vary even in similar industries with respect
to the processing technology adopted by that Industry.
➢ The treatment technology should be able to treat all the pollutants present
in the wastewater and align with the discharge limits

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 Treatment Technologies
➢ The wastewater treatment is achieved by sequencing the unit operations and
unit processes in groups to obtain various levels of treatment.
➢ Depending on the wastewater discharge standards and/or ultimate use of
wastewater one or more treatment level may be required.
➢ Unit operations and unit processes can be broadly categorized into
• Physical unit operations – Use of physical forces (e.g. mixing, screening,
flocculation, sedimentation, filtration).
• Chemical unit processes – Use of chemical agents to remove or convert
pollutants to less harmful or innocuous compounds (e.g. chemical oxidation,
precipitation, adsorption).
• Biological unit processes – Use of microbial or biological agents to remove
or degrade pollutants to innocuous compounds (e.g. microbial degradation,
nitrification)

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Unit processes/operations based on the pollutant

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 Source: Kutz, Myer, ed. Handbook of Environmental Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.

➢ Since a unit process may affect the performance of another unit process
or a certain pollutant must be removed before a unit process can be
applied, each unit process must be carefully selected and placed
sequentially for optimal removal of pollutants from the wastewater.

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Wastewater Treatment Levels

➢ Mainly there are 5 levels; preliminary treatment, primary treatment,

secondary treatment, tertiary treatment, advanced treatment
➢ Preliminary Treatment: Removal of wastewater constituents such as rags,
sticks, floatables, grit and grease that may cause maintenance or operational
problems with the downstream operations, processes, and ancillary systems
➢ Primary Treatment: Removal of a portion of the suspended solids and
organic matter from the wastewater
➢ Advanced Primary Treatment: Enhanced removal of suspended solids and
organic matter from wastewater. Typically, by chemical addition or filtration
➢ Secondary Treatment: Removal of biodegradable organic matter and
suspended solids. Disinfection may also come under this in conventional
secondary treatment
➢ Secondary with Nutrient Removal: Removal of biodegradable organic
matter, suspended solids and nutrients.

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➢ Tertiary Treatment: Removal of residual suspended solids (after secondary
treatment) usually by multimedia filtration/ microfiltration, nutrient removal and
disinfection
➢ Advanced Treatment: Removal of dissolved and suspended materials
remaining after normal biological treatment when required for various water reuse
applications
Exercise: Based on unit operations and unit processes available for treating different
pollutants in the previous table, identify the unit operations and unit processes that
belongs to each treatment level discussed just now.

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Wastewater collection systems

➢ Wastewater collection systems collect and convey wastewater to the

treatment plant.
➢ The complexity of the system depends on the size of the community and
the type of system selected.
➢ Methods of collection and conveyance of wastewater include gravity
systems, force main systems, vacuum systems, and combinations of all three
types of systems

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Gravity Collection System
➢ The collection lines are sloped to permit the flow to move through
the system with as little pumping as possible.
➢ The slope of the lines must keep the wastewater moving at a velocity
(speed) of 0.61 to 1.22 m/sec. At lower velocities, solids will settle
out and cause clogged lines, overflows, and offensive odors.
➢ To keep collection system lines at a reasonable depth, wastewater
must be pumped periodically so that it can continue flowing downhill
to the treatment plant. Pump stations are installed at selected points
within the system for this purpose.

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Force main collection system
➢ wastewater is collected to central points and pumped under pressure to
the treatment plant.
➢ The system is normally used for conveying wastewater long distances.
➢ The force main system allows the wastewater to flow to the treatment
plant at the desired velocity without using sloped lines.
➢ Extra care must be taken when performing maintenance on force main
systems since the content of the collection system is under pressure

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21
Vacuum collection system
In a vacuum collection system, wastewaters are collected to central points
and then drawn toward the treatment plant under vacuum. The system
consists of a large amount of mechanical equipment and requires a large
amount of maintenance to perform properly. Generally, the vacuum type
collection systems are not economically feasible.
Pumping stations
Pumping stations provide the motive force (energy) to keep the
wastewater moving at the desired velocity.
They are designed in several different configurations and may use different
sources of energy to move the wastewater (i.e., pumps, air pressure or
vacuum).

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Conventional wastewater treatment facility

Source: Kutz, Myer, ed. Handbook of Environmental Engineering. John Wiley & Sons, 2018.

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