Cleaning and Maintenance of sewers

Definitions & Objectives

Maintenance of sewers

Involves removal or prevention of stoppages, cleaning sewers and other

appurtenances and repair work

Problems in sewer maintenance

- Clogging of sewers
- Hazards
 Construction of Sewers
Definitions & Objectives

Structural strength Static load calculated from Marston’s

Forces on sewers equation
 Internal pressure of sewage Safe supporting strength and bedding conditions
Magnitude of supporting strength of a conduit
Most flow under gravity – due to overflow or change depends upon
surcharge, sewers maybe subject to internal pressure.
Internal pressure causes hoop stress(tensile)- sewers
should be designed to withstand this
 Temperature stresses
If laid above the ground - counteract with special
expansion joints at intervals of 20 – 30m – however
most are buried, thus not subject to these stresses
 Loads due to backfill loads and super
imposed loads
 Sewers are usually not pressurized and often buried
deeper than water main. Since they are made of
brittle, weak material, the effect of soil and other
external forces is important
 Construction of Sewers
Definitions & Objectives

Construction

Involves
 Setting out Testing of sewer lines
 Alignment and gradient
 Excavation of trenches, timbering of
trenches Involves
 Laying and jointing  Test for straightness of alignment
 Dewatering of trenches and obstruction
 Testing and  Water test – water tightness
 backfilling  Smoke test – mainly in buildings
 Air test – large dia pipe
 Construction of Sewers
Definitions & Objectives

Sewer Appurtenances Inverted siphons

 when sewer dips below the hydraulic grade line
 Inlets –Catch basins  Carry sewage under an obstruction – railway, stream
 Cleanouts road and regain as much elevation as possible
 Manholes  It flows under pressure greater than atmospheric
 Drop manholes pressure
 Lamp holes While designing it the following should be kept in mine
 Flushing tanks • Simple construction; change in direction should be easy and
 Grease and oil traps gradual
 Inverted siphons • Self cleansing vel of 1m/s for minimum flow
 Storm regulators • Two or three pipes of different sizes laid parallel such that 1
pipe takes up to average flow when above average the second
and subsequent pipes take up flow
• Consider min, average and max. flows for pipe selection
• Total length of pipe includes bend fall and rise. Make
allowance for loss of head due to bends and increased friction
on account of roughness
• Avoid or minimise possibility of silting
 Construction of Sewers
Definitions & Objectives

• Inlet and outlet chambers should allow

room for entry. Inlet designed to prevent
back flow of sewage into pipes not in use
at minimum flow
• Proper bypass arrangements should be
provided from inlet chamber to nearby
stream if permitted else provision for
pumping
• If long provide hatch boxes at intervals of
100m- for rodding. A vent pipe in hatch
box to prevent formation of airlocks in the
siphon

Lateral weirs with height kept in accordance

with depth of flow in which the pipe is to
function
Examples
Examples
 Construction of Sewers
Definitions & Objectives

Disadvantages

1. Down gradient of the siphon pipes is continuous thus silting is likely if not
properly design to maintain self cleansing velocities at all flows. Once
silted, it is very difficult to remove the silt- at times a chain extending from
inlet to out let is permanently installed to keep silt in suspension
2. If the inlet chamber is not properly designed to pass all the contents of the
sewage, the floating matter present may separate out and accumulate in
the chamber – this in turn will affect the working of the inlet chamber and
reduce the hydraulic efficiency of the siphon
3. It is not possible to give side connections to the inverted siphon
4. If not properly anchored, it maybe subject to flotation when empty.
 Semi-centralised treatment technologies Systems and Technologies

User Interface Collection Conveyance (Semi-) Reuse and

and Storage Centralised Disposal
Treatment

• Dry Toilet • Single Pit • Human-Powered • Anaerobic • Application of

• Urine Diverting • Single VIP Emptying and Baffled Reactor Urine
Dry Toilet • Dehydration Transport • Anaerobic Filter • Application of
• Urinal Vaults • Motorized • Trickling Filter Dehydr. Faeces
Emptying • Compost
• Pour-Flush Toilet • Septic Tank • Waste
and Transport • Irrigation
• Flush Toilet • Composting Stabilisation
• Simplified Sewers Ponds
• Urine Diverting Chamber • Aquaculture
• Small-Bore Sewer • Activated Sludge
Flush Toilet • Anaerobic • Soak Pit
Baffled Reactor • Conventional • Constructed • Leach Field
• Anaerobic Filter Gravity Sewer Wetland
• Land Application
• Jerry Can/Tank • Co-composting
etc. • Surface Disposal
etc. etc.
etc.

Sandec Training
 Overview of wastewater treatment systems
WASTEWATER COMPOSITION

• Design of a WWTP, necessitates knowing the

composition of WW
• All compounds cannot be determined
• Utilise indirect parameters that represent
the character or the polluting potential of
WW
• divided into three
• physical,
• chemical and
• Biological
 Cont’d
Main characteristics of wastewater

Temperature, Colour, Odour, Turbidity, Ph, Alkalinity, Total Solids

Organic Matter; Total Nitrogen; Total Phosphorus;

Chlorides; Oils And Grease

Organisms ( Bacteria, Archaea, Algae, Fungi, Protozoa, Viruses,

Helminths)

Metals (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se And Zn)
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
Solids

• Classification by size and state

• Suspended solids (non-filterable)
• Dissolved solids (filterable)

• Classification by chemical characteristics

Volatile solids (organic
Total matter)
solids
Fixed solids (inorganic
matter)
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
Solids

• Classification by settleability

are considered those that are able to settle in a period of 1 hour

• Settleable suspended solids

• Non-settleable suspended solids
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
indicators of organic matter •classification: in terms of form and size
• Protein compounds (˜ 40%) • Suspended (particulate)
• Carbohydrates (˜ 25 to ˜ 50%) • Dissolved (soluble)
• Oils and grease (˜ 10%) •classification: in terms of biodegradability
• Inert
• Urea, surfactants, phenols, pesticides
and others (lower quantity) • Biodegradable
In practice it is usually unnecessary and often difficult to classify organic matter as
above
Thus direct and indirect methods
Indirect methods: measurement of oxygen Direct methods: measurement of organic
consumption carbon
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
Ultimate Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
indicators of organic matter
• effect of organic pollution in a water body is
the decrease in the level of dissolved oxygen.
• Oxygen is also essential for stabilisation of
the organic matter.
• We infer the “strength” of the pollution
potential of a WW by measurement of the
oxygen consumption
In the Lab
• determine consumption of oxygen exerted
by a standard volume of sewage or other
liquid, in a predetermined time
Cont’d
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
quantity of oxygen required to stabilise, through
biochemical processes, the carbonaceous
organic matter.
It is an indirect indication, therefore, of the
biodegradable organic carbon.
• stabilisation takes, in practical terms, after a
no. of days (around 20 days or more for domestic sewage)
Ultimate Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BODu)
• in Lab take 5th day at 20◦C
BOD520
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) Exertion of BOD (first order rxn)
BOD5 = Oxygen consumed x dilution ratio
Dilution ratio = Vol. of diluted sample Lt = Lo(10-kt) – after time t
Vol of undiluted sewage sample
Remaining BOD
Nature of sewage 5day BOD at 20oC (ppm or mg/l) yt = L o – Lt
Strong 450 – 500
= Lo(1-10-kt)
Average 350
Thus
Weak 250
yu = Lo (initial oxygen)
Standard filter effluent 20
V.Good filter effluent 5 - 10
Examples
Handout
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
• Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
measures the consumption of oxygen occurring as a result of the chemical oxidation of the organic
matter
raw domestic sewage, the ratio COD/BOD5 varies between 1.7 and 2.4.
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
• Nitrogen
importance in terms of generation and control of the water pollution

Water pollution

• an essential nutrient for algae - eutrophication of lakes and reservoirs;

• can lead to dissolved oxygen consumption in the receiving water body
(conversion of ammonia to nitrite and this nitrite to nitrate)
• In form of free ammonia is directly toxic to fish;
• In form of nitrate is associated with illnesses such as methaemoglobinaemia
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
• Nitrogen
importance in terms of generation and control of the water pollution
Sewage treatment
• an essential nutrient for the microorganisms responsible for sewage treatment;
• in the processes of the conversion of ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate
(nitrification), which can occur in a WWTP, leads to oxygen and alkalinity
consumption;
• in the process of the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas (denitrification), which
can take place in a WWTP, leads to
(a) the economy of oxygen and alkalinity (when occurring in a controlled form)
(b) the deterioration in the settleability of the sludge (when not controlled).
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
• Nitrogen
prevailing form of nitrogen in a water body can provide indications about the
stage of pollution
• Recent pollution and raw domestic sewage - organic nitrogen (amina groups) or
ammonia
• if not recent - nitrate (nitrite concentrations are normally low).
Organic nitrogen and ammonia =Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
• Ammonia exists in solution in the form of the ion (NH4+) and in a free form NH3,
• pH < 8 Practically all the ammonia is in the form of NH4+
• pH = 9.5 Approximately 50% NH3 and 50% NH4+
• pH > 11 Practically all the ammonia in the form of NH3
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
Phosphorus
present in the form of phosphates,
• inorganic (polyphosphates and orthophosphates) – main source from detergents and
other household chemical products
• organic (bound to organic compounds) – physiological origin
Importance of phosphorus is associated with:
• an essential nutrient for the growth of the microorganisms responsible for the
stabilisation of organic matter.
• Domestic sewage -sufficient levels
• Industrial wastewaters - may lack
• an essential nutrient for the growth of algae, - eutrofication of lakes and
reservoirs.
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
indicators of faecal contamination
• Organisms responsible for biogeochemical cycles
• special interest those responsible for faecal–oral diseases transmission
(associated with proper excreta and wastewater treatment and disposal)
Organisms coliform group
• present in large quantities in human faeces
• present a slightly higher resistance
• removal mechanisms for coliforms from water bodies, water treatment
plants and WWTP are the same mechanisms used for pathogenic bacteria
• detection techniques are quick and economic compared with those for
pathogens
 Cont’d
Main parameters defining quality of wastewater
indicators of faecal contamination
• The indicators of faecal contamination most commonly used are:
• total coliforms (TC)
• faecal coliforms (FC) or thermotolerant coliforms
• Escherichia coli (EC)
 Cont’d
Relationship between load and concentration
 Cont’d
Relationship between load and concentration
Example
 Cont’d
Characteristics of domestic sewage
 Wastewater treatment systems
Why treat wastewater
• To reduce the transmission of excreta-related diseases
• To reduce water and environmental pollution and the consequent damage to
aquatic biota and plants
In planning studies for the implementation of the WW treatment, the following points
must be clearly addressed:
• environmental impact studies on the receiving body
• for the evaluation of the compliance with the receiving body standards
• treatment objectives
• WW treatment is done for a specified purpose which relates to its disposal/end
use, e.g suitability of agriculture or aquaculture reuse or discharge into the
water (refer to effluent quality requirements
• treatment level and removal efficiencies
• Important for plant design
 Cont’d

Classification
 Cont’d

Characteristics of
main WW
treatment levels
 Cont’d
Physical unit operations: treatment methods in which
physical forces are predominant (e.g. screening, mixing,
flocculation, sedimentation, flotation, filtration

Chemical unit processes: treatment methods in which

the removal or the conversion of the contaminants
WW Treatment occurs by the addition of chemical products or due to
Operations, Processes chemical reactions (e.g. precipitation, adsorption,
and Systems disinfection).

Biological unit processes: treatment methods in which

the removal of the contaminants occurs by means of
biological activity (e.g. carbonaceous organic matter
removal, nitrification, denitrification)
 Cont’d
Treatment operations, processes and systems frequently used for the removal of
pollutants from domestic sewage
 Cont’d
Treatment operations, processes and systems frequently used for the removal of
pollutants from domestic sewage

System is made up of different operation and processes

 Cont’d

Common WW
treatment
systems
 Cont’d

Common WW
treatment
systems
 Cont’d

Common WW
treatment
systems
 Cont’d
Common WW
treatment
systems
 Cont’d

Analysis and Selection of the

Wastewater Treatment
Process

balance between technical

and economical criteria, taking
into account quantitative and
qualitative aspects of each
alternative.
 Cont’d

Waste treatment units design

Preliminary and Primary

treatment

Refer to handout
 Cont’d
Waste treatment units design Pond Systems
Advantages  
Lowest operation and maintenance costs for
required treatment efficiency (unskilled labourers
required for cutting grass round the pond and
removing scum from the pond surface)
Greater pathogen removal.
Flexibility with respect to hydraulic and organic
shock loads (over short time intervals)
Ability to treat a wide variety of wastes (industrial,
agricultural, etc.)
Can be designed for easy alteration of treatment
efficiency.
Easy reclamation of land if later required.
Algae produced in ponds are a potential for high
protein food that can be exploited for fish farming.
Waste stabilisation Pond Systems
Cont’d
Characteristics of main pond systems
Waste stabilisation Pond Systems
Cont’d
Characteristics of main pond systems
Waste stabilisation Pond Systems
Cont’d
Characteristics of main pond systems
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• process consists of the retention of
wastewater for a period long enough,
so that the natural organic matter
stabilisation processes take place
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
retention of The suspended organic matter
(particulate BOD) tends to settle, constituting
the bottom sludge (anaerobic zone).
undergoes a decomposition
The dissolved organic matter (soluble BOD),
together with the small suspended organic
matter (finely particulate BOD) does not settle
and remains dispersed in the liquid mass. In the
upper layer, an aerobic zone is present. In this
zone, the organic matter is oxidised by aerobic
respiration.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• stabilisation takes place at slow rates thus
high detention time in the pond (usually
greater than 20 days).
• Photosynthesis, to be effective, requires a
high exposure area for the best use of the
solar energy by the algae, thus of large units.
• Characteristics of effluent from a facultative
pond
• green colour due to the algae
• high dissolved oxygen concentration
• high suspended solids concentration,
although these practically do not settle
(the algae practically do not settle in the
Imhoff-cone test)
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
INFLUENCE OF ALGAE
• Algae play a fundamental role in facultative ponds – (giving the greenish appearance)
• As dry suspended solids conc. lower than 200 mg/L,
• as numbers 104 to 106 organisms per ml
• presence measured in the form of chlorophyll a.
• conc. depends on load and temperature, (500 to 2000 µg/L)
• The main types of algae found in stabilisation ponds algae photosynthesise during the hours of
the day that are subject to light radiation
• they produce the organic matter necessary for their survival, converting the light energy into
condensed chemical energy in the form of food
• During the 24 hours of the day, they respire, oxidising the organic matter produced, and
release the energy for growth, reproduction, locomotion and others.
• The balance between oxygen production (photosynthesis) and consumption (res- piration)
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• Owing to the requirement of light energy, most of the
algae are located close to the pond surface, a location
of high oxygen production.
• There is a position in the pond depth in which the
oxygen production by the algae equals the oxygen
consumption by the algae and the decomposing micro-
organisms. This point is called oxypause
• Above the oxypause, aerobic conditions prevail, while
below it, anoxic or anaerobic conditions predominate.
At night, the oxypause level rises in the pond, while
during the day it lowers down
• The thickness of the aerobic zone, besides varying
along the day, also varies with the loading conditions of
the ponda greater BOD load tend to have a larger
anaerobic layer, which can practically take up the
whole pond depth during the night.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds

• The pH in the pond also varies with the depth

and along the day. The pH depends on the
photosynthesis and respiration
• Photosynthesis:
• Consumption of CO2
• Bicarbonate ion (HCO3) of the wastewater is
converted to OH-
• pH rises
• Respiration:
• Production of CO2
• Bicarbonate ion (HCO3) of the wastewater is
converted to H+
• pH decreases
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• During the day, in the hours of maximum
photosynthetic activity, the pH can reach values
around 9 or even more
• Conditions of high pH, the following phenomena can
occur
• Conversion of the ammonium ion (NH4+) to free
ammonia (NH3), which is toxic, but tends to be
released to the atmosphere (nutrient removal)
• Precipitation of the phosphates (nutrient removal)
• Conversion of sulphide (H2S), which may cause bad
odours, to the odourless bisulphide ion (HS-)
• At pH levels greater than 9 there is practically no
(H2S)
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Mixing and thermal stratification
• occurs mainly through wind and temperature difference.
• important for
• Minimisation of the occurrence of hydraulic short circuits
• Minimisation of the occurrence of stagnant zones (dead
zones)
• Homogenisation of the vertical distribution of BOD, algae
and oxygen
• Transport to the photic surface zone of non-motile algae
that would tend to settle
• Transport to the deeper layers of the oxygen produced by
photosynthesis in the photic zone
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Mixing and thermal stratification
• To maximise the influence of the wind, the pond should not
be surrounded by natural or artificial obstacles that could
obstruct the wind access. Additionally, the pond should not
have a very irregular shape, which could hinder the
homogenisa- tion of the peripheral areas with the main pond
body
• pond is also subject to thermal stratification, in
which the upper layer (warm) is not mixed with
the lower (cold) layer.
• deepening down in the pond, there is a point with
a great decrease in the temperature, accompanied
by high density and viscosity increases. This point
is called the thermocline.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Mixing and thermal stratification
• The behaviour of the algae is influenced by the stratification
according to:
•  The non-motile algae settle and reach the dark zone of the
pond, where they stop producing oxygen, leading, on the
other hand, only to its consumption.
• The motile algae tend to escape from the upper surface layer
(30 to 50 cm) of high temperature (occasionally 35 ◦C or
more), and form a dense layer of algae, which hinders the
penetration of the solar energy.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Mixing and thermal stratification
• in shallow lakes, such as stabilisation ponds, the mixing can happen once a day, according
to the following sequence (Silva and Mara, 1979):
•  • Beginning of the morning, with wind. Complete mixing. The temperature is uniform
throughout the depth.
• • Middle of the morning, with sun, without wind. Increase of the temperature in the
surface layer (above the thermocline). Little variation of the tem- perature at the bottom
(below the thermocline), which is influenced by the ground temperature. Stratification.
• • Beginning of the night, without wind. The layer above the thermocline loses heat more
quickly than the bottom layer. If the temperatures of the layers become similar, mixing
occurs.
• • Night, with wind. The wind aids in the mixing of the layers. The upper layer sinks and
the bottom layer rises.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Mixing and thermal stratification
• point out that the stratification leads to a loss of the net volume
of the pond, and that the volume of the upper layer may be
insufficient for the completion of the desired biochemical
reactions
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
• Relationship between the air and the liquid
temperature
• average temperature of the liquid in the coldest month is usually
considered in many designs.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• DESIGN CRITERIA

• main parameters for the design of facultative ponds

are:
• Surface organic loading rate
• Depth
• Detention time
• Geometry (length / breadth (L/B) ratio)
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
DESIGN CRITERIA
• Surface organic loading rate. The surface organic loading
rate (organic load per unit area) is the main design
criterion for facultative ponds. It is based on the need to
have a certain exposure area to the sun light in the pond,
so that the process of photosynthesis may take place.
• The objective of guaranteeing photosynthesis and algal
growth is to have enough oxygen production to
counterbalance the oxygen demand. Thus, the surface
loading rate criterion is associated with the need of
oxygen for the stabilisation of the organic matter.
Therefore, the surface loading rate is related to the
activity of algae and the balance between oxygen
production and consumption
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
DESIGN CRITERIA
• Surface organic loading rate.
• The area required for the pond is calculated as a function of the surface loading rate Ls . The
rate is expressed in terms of the BOD load (L, expressed in kgBOD5 /d) that can be treated
per unit surface area of the pond (A, expressed in ha).

Where
Af = facultative pond area, m
2

factor 10 arises from the units used:

LiQ is the mass of BOD entering the pond, g/day;
so 10–3LiQ is in kg/day and area in ha is 10–4Af
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• DESIGN CRITERIA
• Surface organic loading rate.

Allows factor of safety

T = mean air temperature in the coldest month

 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
• DESIGN CRITERIA
• Depth

• aerobic zone of the

facultative pond
depends on the
penetration of sun
• light to give support to
the photosynthetic
activity.
 Cont’d
Facultative ponds
DESIGN CRITERIA
• Depth

H = V/A
 Cont’d
Geometry of the pond (length / breadth ratio)
Facultative ponds Governed by hydraulic regime
DESIGN CRITERIA
Complete-mix regime
• Detention time Plug-flow
• More suitable when the
• most efficient in terms of the
wastewater is subject to highly
removal of constituents
• reactors are also subject to a variable loads and the presence
of toxic compounds,
high oxygen demand close to
• As they provide an immediate
the pond inlet, as a result of
dilution of the influent in the
the arrival of raw wastewater,
liquid mass
without dilution,
• Anaerobic conditions can
occur as a consequence of the
localized organic overload
(high organic loading rate in
the inlet portion of the pond).
• b)
• not need any equipment. For this reason, the stabilisation of the
organic matter
• takes place at slow rates, implying the need of a high detention time in
the pond
• (usually greater than 20 days). Photosynthesis, to be effective, requires
a high
• exposure area for the best use of the solar energy by the algae,
justifying the need
• of large units. Consequently, the total area required by facultative
ponds is the
 Cont’d
Waste stabilisation Pond Systems
• Waste treatment units design