Unit – 5 (SEWAGE DISPOSAL)

GENERAL COMPOSITION OF SEWAGE: - In sewage suspended solid and soluble solid

find out and in both solids carbonic and in carbonic materials are find out. In one lakh parts of
sewage 100 parts are solid. Composition of Carbonic sold, in carbonic solid, gases and bacteria
are as:-

[1] Organic Matter: - In this carbohydrates, fats and nitrogen solids are find out. Cellulose, parts
of cloth, starch, etc are carbohydrates solid. Oily materials which come out from kitchens,
laundries, garage and factories are fatty materials. Nitrogenous materials are dead animals,
urea, acids and hydrocarbon.

[2] Inorganic Matter: - Sand, grit, gravel, ash, sandy clay etc are find out in inorganic matter.

[3] Gases: - At the time of disintegration of sewage Hydrogen sulphide (H 2S), Methane (CH4),
Carbon – di – oxide (CO2), Amonia (NH3) etc gases are produced. In which Methane gases are
most sensitive.

[4] Bacteria: - Many types of bacteria are present in sewage. Some are as:

(i) Aerobic: - This type of bacteria disintegrates carbonic and nitrogen fitted substances in
presence of air. (ii) Anaerobic: - This type of bacteria is active only in absence of air. (iii)
Facultative: - This type of bacteria is active in both presence and absence of liberated Oxygen.

DEFINITION & IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (B.O.D)

Biochemical oxygen demand or B.O.D is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic
biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given
water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a
chemical procedure for determining this amount. The BOD value is most commonly expressed
in milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C.
BOD can be used as a gauge of the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants. BOD is similar
in function to chemical oxygen demand (COD), in that both measure the amount of organic
compounds in water. However, COD is less specific, since it measures everything that can be
chemically oxidized, rather than just levels of biologically active organic matter.
METHOD OF DETERMINATION OF B.O.D OR B.O.D TEST

There are two methods for determination of B.O.D.

[1] Direct Method and [2] Indirect method.

Indirect Method: - (i) Firstly we take four B.O.D bottles 1,2,3 and 4. (ii) Now take 30ml sewage and
270ml diluted water in bottles number 1 and 3. (iii) And take 300ml diluted water in bottle number 2
and 4. (iv) Quantity of oxygen is calculated in bottle number 1 and 3 by Winklers Method. (v) And bottle
number 2 and 4 keep in incubator at 20 0C for 5 days. (vi) After 5 days the we find out the quantity of
dissolved oxygen for both bottles. (vii) Then we find out B.O.D of given sewage sample by this formula

B.O.D (mg/lit) = (I - F) - (I’ – F’) (X/Y) whole divided by D

I = Quantity of dissolved oxygen (mg/lit) in bottle number 1.

F = Quantity of dissolved oxygen (mg/lit) in bottle number 2.
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I’ = Quantity of dissolved oxygen (mg/lit) in bottle number 3.
F’ = Quantity of dissolved oxygen (mg/lit) in bottle number 2.
X = Quantity of diluted water (mg/lit) which mixed in sample of sewage.
Y = Quantity of diluted water in bottle number 3 & 4.
D = Dilution factor.
In this test X = 270ml & Y = 300ml. And D = 30/300 = 0.1

DEFINITION & IMPORTANCE OF CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (C.O.D)

In environmental chemistry, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to
indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water. Most applications of COD
determine the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water (e.g. lakes and rivers)
or wastewater, making COD a useful measure of water quality. It is expressed in milligrams per
liter (mg/L) also referred to as ppm (parts per million), which indicates the mass of oxygen
consumed per litre of solution.
METHOD OF DETERMINATION OF C.O.D OR C.O.D TEST

For oxidisation of carbonic materials heated Potassium-di chromate (K 2Cr2O7) and Sulphuric
acid (H2SO4) is mixed in sewage sample. Potassium-di chromate (K 2Cr2O7) is a fast oxidiser. It’s
some quantity is expand in oxidisation. Some times for inducement of oxidisation process
Silver Sulphate (Ag2SO4) is mixed as a catalyst. Quantity of left Potassium-di chromate is
measured by Titration when chemical reactions are completed. Quantity of carbonic matter
which is present in sewage is calculated by computations of expend oxygen.

DISPOSAL METHODS: - The method of disposal of sewage may be classified into the
following categories.

[1] DISPOSAL BY DILUTION: - Dilution, a prominent method of natural disposal. Consist of

discharging the sewage into receiving water body (such as river, sea, Lake Etc). Disposal by
dilution is the process whereby the treated sewage from treatment plant is discharged either in
large static water bodies (such as lake or sea) or in moving water bodies such as river or
streams. Condition favouring dilution without treatment: - (1) Sewage will be fresh. (2)
Where sewage is mixed in water accurately. (3) Village or town will be established at the edge
of river. (4) Where flow of river is continue. (5) Where dissolved oxygen is available in
required quantity. (6) Tides of river are not creating at high velocity because sewage is
collected on the edges of river. (7) At the time of flood, back flow of sewage is not done.

[2] LAND DISPOSAL OR IRRIGATION DISPOSAL: - Where dilution condition is not available,
and where climate is hot and excess land for irrigation is available then this land disposal is
applied. The irrigation of sewage form is done by sewage. Sewage which come from septic tank
is used for irrigation if sewage. There are two method of land disposal.

[A] Surface or Broad irrigation: - In this method heavy areas land is used. Sewage is flowing in
land by preparing of trenches. Some part of sewage is absorbed by land and some part is
vaporised. So for this method useful elements are mixed in land which is necessary for
irrigation. There are different methods for irrigation of sewage forms are as:

(i) Surface irrigation: - Where necessary slope is available in land this method is used. In this
method parallel drains are constructed in land which is connected to a distribution drain by
regulating device. One advantage from this method is that sewage is flow in choice trench.
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(ii) Spray Irrigation: - In this method firstly sewage is collected in tank in which colloidal
substances are settled down. Then this sewage is filled in pipe and spray in land by pump.
(iii) Ridge and Furrow method: - In this method furrow is constructed one after one and a ridge
is constructed. Crop is prepared on the ridge and irrigation of crop is done in furrow. Sewage is
left in furrow. Furrow and ridge constructed straight and in zig zag form.
(iv)Basin method: - In this method big trees are planted in land and a basin is constructed by
digging of land around the tree and Sewage is filled in this basin. This method is suitable for
fruit gardening.
(v) Flooding: - In this method full form is divided into small bed and each bed is filled by
sewage. The quantity of sewage is kept in bed is approximately 3cm to 5cm.

[B] Sub soil Irrigation: - This method is used where quantity of sewage is less. In this method
porous pipe is laid down 10cm below the ground. A layer of gravel and sand is laid around the
pipes. Sewage is flow in these pipes which come out from Septic tanks. Pipes are porous so this
sewage is absorbed by gravel and sand itself. This method is suitable for underground crops
such as Potato, Onion etc.

[3] Disposal into Sea: - The saturation and concentration of dissolved oxygen in water
decreases with increasing salt content. Due to this reason, the saturation concentration in sea
water is approximately 80% of that in water. In addition to this efficiency, the temperature of
sea water is lower than the sewage temperature, whereas the specific gravity is higher. Due to
these reasons, when sewage is discharged into the seas water, the lighter and warmer sewage
will rise up to the surface of sea in a thin film or ‘sleek’. The following points should be kept in
mind when sewage is disposed into sea. [i] The sewage should be discharged deep into sea,
preferably 1 to 1.5km away from the shore. [ii] Sewage is disposed into sea at places where it
will not come back from tides of sea. [iii] While deciding the position of outfall, the direction of
wind velocity and direction of ocean currents should be carefully taken into consideration.

ADVANTAGES OF DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE ON SEWAGE FARMS

[1] Better fertilizer if formed due to disposal of sewage. Due to better fertilizer good and
hygienic crops will be grow.

[2] The cost of disposal of sewage is low, because in this method any machine or instruments is
not needed.

[3] The fertility of sewage form is increased by sewage disposal.

[4] If any river or canal is available in city then its water is safe for other works of city.

[5] This method is useful where river water is not available whole year.

[6] By disposal of sewage we prevent river, natural drain and canal from pollution.

[7] In this method muck is less and exhaustion of sewage is done easily.

[8] Useless land is used for grow crops and exhaustion of sewage.

DISADVANTAGES OF DISPOSAL OF SEWAGE ON SEWAGE FARMS

[1] Many major lands should be needed for sewage farms, if it is not available then this method
is not apply.
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 [2] Every types of crop are not growing in this method only limited crops will be grown.
Unripe eaten crops such as Carrot, Tomato, and Radish etc should not be grown in this method.

[3] The crops which are grow on sewage farms are not purchased by human being because he
thinks that it is not suitable for eating.

[4] If sewage farming is not done very carefully then its result is very dangerous.

SELF PURIFICATION OF STREAMS

When the sewage is discharged into natural stream, the organic matter is broken down by
bacteria to Ammonia, Nitrates, Sulphates, Carbo-di-oxide etc. In this process of oxidation, the
dissolved oxygen content of natural water is utilised. Due to this, deficiency of dissolved oxygen
is created. As the excess organic matter is stabilized, the normal cycle will be re-established in
a process known as self purification. There are different actions involved in self purification are
as :-

(i) Dilution:- When sewage is discharged into the receiving water, dilution takes place due to
which the concentration of organic matter is reduced and the potential nuisance of sewage is
also reduced.

(ii) Disposal due to currents: Self purification of streams largely depends upon currents
which will readily disperse the waste water in the streams, preventing locally high
concentration of pollutants.

(iii) Sedimentation: If the stream velocity is lesser than the scour velocity of particles,
sedimentation will take place.

(iv) Oxidation: - The organic matter, present in the waste water is oxidised by aerobic
bacteria utilising dissolved oxygen of the natural water.

(v) Reduction: - The reduction occurs in the streams due to hydrolysis of the organic matter
biologically or chemically. Anaerobic bacteria will split the organic matter into liquids and
gases, thus suitable way for their ultimate stabilization by oxidation.

(vi) Temperature: - At low temperature, the activities of bacteria is low and hence rate of
decomposition will also be slow. At higher temperature, the self purification takes lesser time,
though the quantity of dissolved oxygen will be less.

(vii) Sun light: - Sunlight helps certain micro-organism to absorb carbon-di-oxide and give out
oxygen, thus assisting in self purification. Sun light acts as a disinfectant and stimulates the
growth of algae which produce oxygen during daylight but utilise oxygen in the night.

PROCESSES OF SEWAGE TREATMENT: - There are three processes of sewage treatments are:

[1] Primary Treatment: - In primary treatment only insoluble and floated materials are
removed by mechanical methods. In this treatment chemical reaction and biological reaction is

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not take place. By this treatment cloth, wood, mud, grit, sand, grease and coarse sand etc are
removed. In this treatment screening, grit chamber, sciming chamber etc tank is used.

[2] Secondary Treatment: - By secondary treatment only fine soluble and colloidal
substances are removed. In this treatment only simple and chemical sedimentation reaction
are take place.

[3] Biological Treatment: - Biological treatment used for removing and stabilizing of very fine
soluble and colloidal substances. This treatment performs on effluent of sedimentation tank.

SCREENING:- Screening is the first unit operation in sewage treatment. A screen is a device
with openings generally of uniform size. The screening elements consisi of parallel bars, rods
gratings or wire mesh or perforated plates. It is a process for removing insoluble and floated
particles such as paper, wood, kitchen sewage material, piece of cloth, cork etc. Screening is
done in a chamber which is called screening chamber. Depending upon size of the openings,
screen may be classified as coarse screen, medium screen, and fine screens.

Coarse screens are usually bar screen which may be used in conjuction with
communicating devices. It is usual to provide a bar screen with relatively large openings of 5 to
150mm ahead of pumps for raw sewage while those preceeding the primary sedimentation
tanks have smaller openings of 50mm.

Medium bar screens have clear openings of 20 to 50mm. Bars are usually 10mm on
upstream side and taper slightly to the down stream side. These mechanically raked units are
used before all pumps or treatment units. The bars used for screens are rectangular in cross
section usually about 10mm x 50mm and are placed with large dimension parallel to the flow.
The design velocity through the screens should be such as to permit 100% removal of material
of certain size without undue depositions. Velocities of 0.6 to 1.2m/sec through the open area
for the peak flows have been found satisfactory.

Fine screens are mechanically cleaned devices using perforated plate, woven wire cloth
or very closely spaced bars with clear openings of less than 20mm. They are used for
pretreatment of industrial waste to remove materials which tend to produce exceesive scum or
foam on the top of digestion tank contents.

GRIT CHAMBER: - Grit channels, grit chambers or grit basins are intended to remove the grit
present in waste water. There are two general types of grit chambers.

[1] Horizontal flow grit chamber: - Grit chambers are designed to maintain a velocity as close
to 0.3m/sec as practical. The most important consideration in the design of grit chambers is
that the flow velocity should neither be low as to cause settling of lighter organic matter, nor
should it be so high as not to cause the settlement of entire silt and grit present in the sewage.
A grit chamber consists of 10 to 18 metres long narrow open channel with a depth of liquid
between 1 to 1.3 meter. In order to maintain a constant velocity of flow, with in the
recommended range, a control section is placed at the end of the channel. Such a control
section varies the cross-sectional areas of flow in the section in direct proportion to the flow.

[2] Aerated grit chamber: - An aerated grtit chamber is a special form of grit chamber
consisting of a standard spiral flow aeration tank provided with air diffusion tubes placed on
one side of the tank, o.6 to 1 mt from the bottom. Aerated grit chambers control the separation
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of inorganic and organic solids by producing a rolling flow patterns. The grit particles tend to
settle down to the bottom of the tank at the rates dependent upon the aprticle size and their
specific gravity, and the bottom velocity of roll of the spiral flow. The heavier grit particles with
their higher settling velocities drop down to the floor whereas lighter organic particles are
carried with the roll of spiral motion and eventually out of the tank. Air flow is regulated to give
the separation desired.

TRICKLING FILTER: - Trickling filter are als known as percolating filters or sprinkling filter
are similar to contact beds in construction, but their operation is continuous and they allow
constant aeration.

CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAIL:-

[1] Tank:- A water proof tank is made underground by concrete or brick. The shape of tank is
kept circular, rectangular or square. The size of rectangular tank is kept generally 15mt x 30mt
to 20mt x 40mt, and the radius of circular tank is kept generally 20mt to 30mt. It is kept open
at top for taking oxygen in large quantity.

[2] Filter Medium:- In this a layer of 2.5cm to 7.5cm stone ballast is spread and after this layer
an another layer is spread 15cm to 30cm stone ballast. Sewage is spread on this layer at which
bacterias are generated on this layer.

[3] Under Drainage System:- Below the filter medium half circular drain are constructed in
floor and in which hole type tile is laid. Through this hole sewage is flow with contact of
oxygen.

[4] DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM:- The distribution system spreads primary sedimentatin tank
effluent over a bed of filter media supported by a tile under – drain system which also provides
adequate ventillation.

[5] Filter walls:- Filter walls may be either of fully plastered stone or brick masonary, or of
reinforced concrete. For flooding operation, reinforced concrete is preferred. The walls of the
filter are made honey combed or otherwise provided with openings for circulation of air, all
through.

[6] Ventillation:- In properly designed beds, adequate natural ventillation is induced by the
difference in temperature of air and sewage. The air displacement is at the rate of about 0.3
m3/sec/m2 of filter bed where the difference of temperature is about 6 0C, but there will be no
displacement of air when the difference drops down to about 1.9 0C.