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Waste Water Characteristics (Mattu University)

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 Studying the characteristics of sewage will help us in determining the type

of treatment required to remove the impurity to the required level that

does not harm the environment
 Sewage characteristics include:

1. Physical Characteristics

2. Chemical Characteristics
3. Biological Characteristics

By Instructor Segni W. (MSc in Hydraulic Engineering)

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 Cont. …….
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1. Physical Characteristics Of Sewage

 include those items that can be detected using physical senses.it includes:

a. Color c. Temperature e. Turbidity

b. Odor d. Solids
a. Color
 Color of sewage can be detected by naked eye, and it indicates the type of

the sewage
 If the color is gray, yellowish or light brown, it indicates fresh sewage
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 Cont. …….
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 If the color is black or dark brown, it indicates stale and septic sewage

 Color of sewage sometimes indicates the source of sewage

Sewage Color Probable source

Gray Domestic

Black Septic condition or industrial sewage flow

Red or other soil color Surface run-off entering to sanitary sewage or industrial flow

Green, yellow, others Industrial wastes not pretreated (paints,…)

Red Blood from abattoir or sewage from other industries

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 b. Odor

 Fresh sewage is practically odorless.

 Sewage starts to become stale when its dissolved oxygen is exhausted

which starts after three to four hours of production.

 When the dissolved oxygen is exhausted, it starts emitting offensive odor,

especially due to hydrogen sulfide gas produced due to decomposition of

the sewage

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 c. Temperature
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 The normal temperature of sewage is slightly higher than the temperature

of water supply
 Effects of temperature variations on the behavior of the sewage:

i. Affects the solubility of gases in the sewage

ii. Affect biological activity of bacteria found in the sewage

ii. Affect viscosity of the sewage thereby influencing the settling rate
of solids found in the sewage

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 d. Solids

Sewage
 is normally 99.9% water and 0.1% solids

There
 are different types of solids in sewage

1. Suspended solids- solids that are not dissolved in wastewater.

2. Floatable solids -solids that float in waste water

3. Settle able solids - solids that settle in waste water

4. Colloidal particles -Very small suspended solids that neither float nor settle

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 e. turbidity

is
 a measure of water clarity how much the material suspended in water decreases the

passage of light through the water

2. Chemical Characteristics of Wastewater

The
 chemical characteristics of wastewater of special concern are:

a. pH d. Chloride content

b. DO (Dissolved Oxygen) e. Nitrogen Content

c. Oxygen Demand (COD and BOD)

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 Cont. …….

 Knowing the chemical characteristics of wastewater helps us in

indicating:

i. Sewage strength
ii. Extent and type of treatment required

iii. The stage of sewage decomposition

a) pH
 describe the acid or base properties of waste water

 If the pH < 7 = acidic or septic sewage

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 Cont. …….

 If the pH > 7 = alkaline sewage

 Fresh sewage is generally alkaline. But as time passes and the sewage

gets septic, its pH tends to fall due to production of acids by bacterial

action

 Since the efficiency of certain treatment plants depends upon the

availability of suitable pH, we have to know the pH of the sewage to

apply appropriate treatment system

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 Cont. …….

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pH values less than 5 and more than 10 indicate presence of industrial

wastes and are not compatible with biological wastewater operations

For proper treatment, wastewater pH should normally be in the range of 6.5

to 9.0

Pre-treatment system should be applied at the source to bring the pH to the

required range before discharging it to sanitary sewages

extreme pH values damage biological treatment units

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 Cont. …….

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 If the pH value of a sewage coming to a wastewater treatment plant is

from 5 to 10, no pretreatment is required at the sources

 For sewages with pH values less than 5 and more than 10, pretreatment is

required at sources

b) Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

 DO should be sufficient for the normal operation of microorganisms and

living matters found in the sewage and treated sewage (effluent) receiving
water body
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 Cont. …….
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 While discharging treated sewage into river or any other water body, it is

necessary to insure at least some amount of DO in the sewage to be

disposed

c) Oxygen Demand
 Amount of oxygen required to oxidize organic matter completely to CO2,

H2O and other products.

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 Cont. …….

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 There are two methods of determining the oxygen demand of sewage

1. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and

2. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

1. Biological Oxygen demand (BOD)
 BOD is the amount of oxygen consumed to aerobically oxidize the

biodegradable organic compounds of sewage

 determined in laboratory by mixing or diluting a known volume of

sample of sewage with a known volume of aerated pure water and then
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calculating the DO of the diluted sample
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 The diluted sample is then incubated for 5 days at 20C0 and its DO is

again measured
 The difference between the initial DO and the final DO indicates the

oxygen consumed for biological oxidation of organic compounds found

in the sewage and it is called BOD5
 The BOD value is most commonly expressed in milligrams of oxygen

consumed per liter of sample during 5 days of incubation at 20 °C

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 Cont. …….

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BOD5 is the oxygen equivalent of organic matter. It is determined by measuring



the dissolved oxygen used by microorganisms during the biochemical oxidation

of organic matter in 5 days at 20oC. The BOD5 is calculated as follow:

Where: V1= volume of diluted sample, V2 = Volume of undiluted sewage



sample, and = dilution factor. DO consumed = DO I-DOF, DOI = initial DO and

DOF = final DO and also BOD5 can be expressed as 0.68 – 0.8 COD
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 Cont. …….

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 Determination of BOD has the following important applications in the field of

sanitary engineering:
a. To measure the strength of sewage
b. To measure amount of pollution in a stream
c. To determine efficiency of treatment plant
d. For design of waste water treatment units

e. To establish stream and effluent standards for pollution regulatory

agencies
f. To establish sewage charge rate (Polluter pays principle) 02/10/2023
 Cont. …….

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 From the figure the following correlations are derived:

 If progressive exertion of BOD is plotted against time we get the

following curve

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 Cont. …….

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 Let,

 L 0  or (BOD ultimate) or UBOD

 Yt = BODt (BOD exerted or absorbed)

 Lt = L0 e -kt (BOD remain)

 BODt = L0 - Lt = L0 – L0e -kt = L 0 (1-e -k ⅹ t)

 BOD5 = L0 (1-e –k ⅹ 5) ………………oxygen demand during 5 days

 K = 0.23d -1 usually, K, reaction constant

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 Cont. …….

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 The constant K varies with temperature as follows

 K T = k20 () T-20 ,  = 1.047 or as given

 The initial BOD (Biological oxygen demand), L, varies with temperature

as follows

 BODT or LT = L20 *(0.02T + 0.6)

 Where LT = oxygen demand (BOD) at T°C and L20 = oxygen demand

(BOD) at 20 °C

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 2. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

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 COD is the amount of chemical oxidation required to convert organic

matter in water and wastewater to carbon dioxide

 The laboratory determination of COD, lies in using a strong oxidant like

potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) or potassium permanganate (KMnO4)

solution to stabilize the organic matter to determine the molecular oxygen

used from the oxidant solution in oxidizing the organic matter present in
the given wastewater

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 In order to perform this test, a known quantity of wastewater is mixed

with a known quantity of standard solution of potassium dichromate, and

the mixture is heated
 The advantage of COD measurements is that they are obtained very

quickly (within 3 hours), but they have the disadvantages that they do not
give any information on the proportion of the wastewater that can be
oxidized by bacteria, nor on the rate at which bio-oxidation occurs

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 d. Chloride Content

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 Chlorides are driven from kitchen wastes, human excreta and urinary

discharges.
 The normal chloride content of domestic sewage is 120 mg/lit

 When the chloride content of sewage is found to be higher, it indicates the

presence of industrial wastes or infiltration of sea water, there by

indicating sewage strength

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 e. Nitrogen Contents

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 The presence of nitrogen in sewage indicates the presence of organic

matter and may occur in one or more of the following forms:

 Free ammonia indicates recently staled sewage

 Presence of nitrites indicate the presence of partly decomposed (not

fully oxidized) organic matter and shows incomplete treatment of organic
wastes
 The presence of nitrates indicate the presence of fully oxidized
organic matter and show well oxidized and treated sewage

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 3. Biological Characteristics of Waste water
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 The biological characteristics of sewage are due to the presence of

bacteria and other living microorganisms, such as algae, fungi, protozoa,

etc. The former are more active
 Wastes are usually treated by supplying them with oxygen so that bacteria

can utilize the waste as food

 The routine bacteriological tests, as performed for water supply samples,

are generally not performed because of the high concentration of bacteria

present in it, The general equation is
Waste + Oxygen bacteria Treated waste + new bacteria
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 Strength of Sewage
Concentration
Contaminants
Unit Weak Medium Strong
Total solids (TS) mg/l 25 350 720 1200
Total dissolved solids (TDS) mg/l 250 500 850

Fixed mg/l 145 300 525

Volatile mg/l 105 200 325
Suspended solids mg/l 100 220 350
Fixed mg/l 20 55 75
Volatile mg/l 80 165 275
Settle able solids mg/l 5 10 20
BOD5, 20 c o mg/l 110 220 400
TOC mg/l 80 160 290
COD mg/l 250 500 1000
Nitrogen (total as N) mg/l 204 40 85
Organic mg/l 81 153 35
Free ammonia mg/l 12 25 50
Nitrites mg/l 0 0 0
Nitrates mg/l 0 0 0
Phosphorus (total as P) mg/l 4 8 15

Organic mg/l 13 3 5
Inorganic mg/l 3 5 10
Chlorides mg/l 30 50 100
Sulfate mg/l 20 30 50
Alkalinity (as CaCO3) mg/l 50 100 200
Grease mg/l 50 100 150
Total coliforms No/100 ml 10 - 10
6 7
10 - 10
7 8
107- 109

Volatile organic compounds µg/l < 100 100 - 400 > 400
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THE END!!

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