HO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DESGN OF SEPTIC TANK FOR A RESIDENCE

GROUP TWO
NAMES INDEX NUMBERS
ABOK DENNIS AWONATE 0320040016
ASSIGEH DELANYO KUDZO 0320040013
AKLOYO PROSPER KOFI 0320040028
LOCATION OF SEPTIC TANK ON BLOCK PLAN

Septic
Tank
Reasons for location
I. The septic tank was located in the lawn near the gate for easy desludging
and access to main sewer systems
II. Away from the mechanized borehole to prevent contamination of borehole
water.
III. It is located on the lawn to allow infiltration of surface water into the ground
and surface runoff towards the gate.
DESIGN OF SEPTIC TANK
Assumptions for design
1. Depth of tank = 1.2m(reason: due to smaller family size)
2. 21600 litres of water supply per annum
3. Length of septic tank is twice its breadth
4. Free board = 300mm
Data from problem
Type of building: residential
Number of occupants: 6 people
Retention time: 48hrs
Emptying period: 3years
Site condition: flood prone
21600
Daily water supply (DWS) = 365 =59.2l/day

Since DWS is known, we use 90% of sewage for design

Daily flow (DF) =0.9 × DWS=0.9 ×59.2=53.28l
Capacity = DF×RT = 53.28 ×2=107.16l
Designing for warm climatic conditions, volume of sludge B is determined by
B=P × N × S × F , where P is the population, N is the emptying time, S is the scum
accumulation rate and F is the warm climate factor.
B=6 × 3 ×40 ×1=720 l
Total volume of waste to be accumulated
V =B+(DF × RT )

V =720+ ( 53.58× 2 )=826.56 litres = 0.82656m3

This implies that, the septic tank will receive a waste volume of 0.83m3
From the assumptions made above, area of the septic tank is calculated as
volume
A = depth

Actual depth = 1.2+0.3 = 1.5m

volume 0.82656 2
A = depth = 1.5 =0.55 m

Given A = 0.55 m2, length and breadth of the tank is calculated as

A =l ×b, but l=2 b
A = 2 b ×b=2 b2

breadth(b)=
√ √
A
2
=
0.55
2
=0.524 m

length(L)=2 ×0.524=1.048 m

Volume of septic tank

V = L × B× H
V = 1.048 ×0.524 × 1.5=0.824 m3 =824 l
But since minimum capacity is 1000l, the septic tank will be designed to meet this
volume.

DESIGN FOR 1m3 CAPACITY SEPTIC TANK

 volume
A = depth

1 2
A = 1.5 =0.67 m

breadth(b)=
√ √
A
2
=
0.67
2
=0.578m

length(L)=2 ×0.578=1.16 m

Therefore the dimensions for actual design are A¿ 0.67 m2,

breadth=0.578 mlength=1.16 m and depth 1.5m.