Section 3

Sewage Characteristics and

Effluent Discharge
Requirements
Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

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 Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

3.1 Introduction

The Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 specifies two standards

for effluent discharge: Standard A for discharge upstream of any raw
water intake, and Standard B for discharge downstream of any raw
water intake.

The current Third Schedule of the Environmental Quality Act 1974,

under the Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents)
Regulations, 1979, regulations 8 (1), 8 (2) and 8 (3) has been revisited
and the Department of Environment has proposed 8th Schedule for the
Act which stipulate effluent discharge limits for parameters specific
to domestic wastewater. The effluent discharge limits in 8th Schedule
are summarised in Table 3.2. All sewage treatment plants design shall
take into consideration of the 8th Schedule and shall comply with the
proposed limits.

3.2 EQA Effluent Standards

3.2.1 Purpose of Effluent Standards

Effluent standards are used to regulate the disposal of effluent from

STP to any receiving waters. The regulation of such discharges will
protect receiving waters and their associated aquatic ecosystems, and
will also protect public health from the harmful effects of untreated
sewage.

The need for these standards has been influenced by the fact that sewage
discharges contribute a significant amount of the biodegradable organic
matters, suspended solids and ammoniacal nitrogen to the nations
waterways.

3.2.2 Interpretation of EQA Effluent Standards

The EQA effluent standards have the following characteristics:

a) They represent maximum or absolute values which may not be

normally exceeded. For this reason, EQA effluent standards are
also referred to as absolute standards
b) Measurement of effluent quality is to be taken using a single
grab sample rather than a time averaged composite sample
c) Generally, effluent standards do not allow the flexibility for
them to be compromised through dilution and the assimilative
capacity of receiving water.

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Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

3.3 Design Requirements to Achieve EQA Effluent

Standards

3.3.1 Purpose of Design Requirements

The purpose of design requirements is to ensure that the effluent standards

can be met under the normal operations of a sewage treatment plant. The
quality of effluent from a STP is expected to vary due to the natural
variability in the flows and loads into the plant. Therefore, the design
effluent parameter shall be less than the required effluent standards to
ensure that, when the plant is under normal operation, any grab sample
of effluent will comply with the consent EQA effluent standards.

3.3.2 Design Values

Typical composition of untreated domestic sewage is given in Table

A.2, while Table 3.1 tabulates the design influent values to be adopted
in the design of a treatment plant.

Table 3.1 - Design Influent Values

Value (g/
Parameter Value (mg/l)
capita.day)
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) 56 250
Suspended Solids (SS) 68 300
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 113 500
Total Nitrogen (TN) 11 50
Ammoniacal nitrogen (AMN) 7 30
Total Phosphorus (TP) 2 10
Oil and Grease (O&G) 11 50

These design values allow for transient reductions in treatment efficiency,

due to periodic plant maintenance and unforeseen high impulse of
hydraulic and organic loadings on sewage treatment process units. All
STP shall be designed to produce final effluents with BOD5, SS, COD,
O&G and AMN values less than or equal to the design effluent values.
This is to ensure a high degree of consistent compliance with the
required effluent standards. The effluent E.Coli compliance is subject
to the sensitivity of the receiving watercourse and of the Commissions
directive.

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 Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

Table 3.2 - Design Effluent Values

Effluent Discharge to
Effluent Discharge to Rivers / Stream
Stagnant Water Bodies*
Parameter
Standard A Standard B Standard A Standard B
Absolute Design Absolute Design Absolute Design Absolute Design
BOD5 20 10 50 20 20 10 50 20
SS 50 20 100 40 50 20 100 40
COD 120 60 200 100 120 60 200 100
AMN 10 5 20 10 5 2 5 2
Nitrate
20 10 50 20 10 5 10 5
Nitrogen
Total
N/A N/A N/A N/A 5 2 10 5
Phosphorus
O&G 5 2 10 5 5 2 10 5

Notes:
NA = Not Applicable
All values in mg/l unless otherwise stated.
* Stagnant Water Bodies refer to enclosed water bodies such as lakes, ponds and
slow moving watercourses where dead zone occur.

In cases where treatment plant discharge capacity is higher than the

receiving river flow rates, the final effluent quality has to be designed
to ensure minimal environmental impact.

3.4 Sewage Pollutants Removal

3.4.1 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5)

BOD5 is used to measure the biodegradable organic fraction in raw sewage.

Based on standard BOD5 measurement, the oxygen demand measured
is usually influenced by the following three (3) phenomena:

a) Oxygen demand by breakdown of soluble carbonaceous matter

b) Oxygen demand by breakdown of suspended particulate carbonaceous
matter
c) Oxygen demand by oxidation of ammonia to nitrate by nitrifying
bacteria present in the effluent sample

After undergoing biological treatment in the secondary reactor, residual

soluble carbonaceous BOD 5 matter present in the effluent reduces
in concentration to below 15 mg/l. Subsequently, nitrifying bacteria
populations tend to grow rapidly feeding on ammonia which is present

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Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

in the partially treated sewage. Nitrification may not be complete at

levels of 5 mg/l of residual soluble carbonaceous biodegradable matter.
It depends on whether sufficient oxygen is available for the oxidation
of ammonia to nitrate. Hence, all BOD 5 measurements shall adopt
nitrification inhibition step to ensure that the carbonaceous oxygen
demand is reflected accurately in the overall BOD5 measurement.

3.4.2 Total Suspended Solid (TSS)

Sewage contains solid materials that can settle at the bottom and also
give impact on the benthic life. They can also appear in suspension
solids form that can increase turbidity and affect the light availability
for aquatic life. The amount of solids in sewage is usually measured as
total suspended solids or TSS. The desired solid removal in sewage
treatment plants should not exceed the absolute TSS discharge limit of
50mg/l and 100mg/l for Standard A and Standard B, respectively.

To ensure effluent consistently complies with Department of Environments

Effluent Limits, provisions must be made to allow for future incorporation
of a flocculator in the clarifier. This will enhance clarification performance.
Chemical (polymer) can also be added in flocculation clarifiers to
further enhance solids settlement in the clarifiers. Otherwise, a dual
media filtration system following conventional secondary clarifiers can
also be used to ensure that TSS concentration of 20 mg/l to 40mg/l is
consistently achieved.

3.4.3 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

COD content reflects the chemically oxidized organic matter. Hence,

it includes refractory fractions of organic matter as well as reduced
inorganic constituents present in the wastewater. The COD measurement
offers quick estimate of carbonaceous material compared to conventional
BOD measurement. Additionally, high COD reflects inert reduced
inorganic elements and also unbiodegradable organic that comes from
industrial contamination. Based on the bi-substrate hypothesis, COD
fractions comprising of readily biodegradable, slowly biodegradable
and unbiodegradable estimates are adopted in advanced modeling for
STP design. Such advanced modeling takes into consideration the
treatment process requirements of different COD fractions as it varies
in susceptibility to microbial respiration and degradation.

3.4.4 Oil and Grease (O&G)

O&G that is detected in domestic sewage refers to the fraction of organic

matter that is soluble in organic solvents such as hexane.

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The composition comprise primarily of wax, edible oils and fatty

matter of animal or vegetable origins. O&G (mixture of tri, di and
mono-glycerides) in its liquid form results in floatable scum formation
in treatment systems whilst its solid form causes the clogging of
systems.

O&G is separated from raw sewage by provision of grease chambers (be

it manual or mechanized scum skimmer removal) at primary treatment
stage. Removal at the primary stage is essential to prevent interference
of oil particles on biological reactions in the secondary treatment. It
also prevents undesirable organic load of extremely slow biodegradable
constituents into aerobic systems. Such first line oil and grease removal
protects against contamination in the treatment plant as well as in the
receiving water.

3.4.5 Nitrogenous Compound

Removal of nitrogenous compounds needs to be considered in STP design.

These compounds found in various forms (ammonia or ammoniacal
nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen) could be detrimental to
natural water bodies and potable consumption. Total organic nitrogenous
compounds in raw sewage typically comprise of nitrogen in the form
of proteins, amino acids and urea along with ammoniacal nitrogen.
Ammoniacal nitrogen results from the decomposition of organic nitrogen
particularly from hydrolysis of urea. Total Kjedhal Nitrogen (TKN)
analysis determines the organic nitrogen and the ammoniacal nitrogen
fractions.

There are two main biological processes for removing nitrogenous

compounds, namely the assimilation of ammonia nitrogen into the
microbial biomass and the nitrification-denitrification process. The
latter involves two conversion steps. Firstly, nitrification followed
by denitrification by microbial heterotrophs that convert nitrates into
nitrogen gas. Nitrification comprises two-step oxidation of ammonia
nitrogen into nitrate by nitrifying bacteria. All treatment systems shall
provide full nitrification and denitrification in the secondary biological
reactors with sufficient air supply to facilitate nitrification. This will
ensure that effluent discharge complies with the required discharge
limits.

3.4.6 Phosphorus Compound

The constituents of total phosphorus compounds in raw sewage are

organically bound phosphorus and inorganic phosphorus (orthophosphates
and polyphosphates).

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Sewage Characteristics and Effluent Discharge Requirements

Some fractions of the essential phosphorus nutrients from the influent

will be assimilated for microbial growth during secondary biological
treatment. However, excessive phosphorus nutrient will occur when above
the assimilated with stagnant receiving water bodies (e.g. ponds), which
will result in nutrient enrichment and produce harmful algae blooms.
Hence, the design for sewage treatment plant effluent that discharges
into stagnant water bodies should take into considerations the impact
of excess phosphorus contamination.

3.5 Sludge Characteristics and Treatment Requirements

Sludge treatment and management are as important as the sewage

treatment to minimise impacts to the environment. Sludge produced
from treatment process is usually in liquid form, which typically
contains 0.25 to 4.0% of solids, depending on the type of treatment
process being used. It also contains grease, fats, organic and inorganic
chemicals. High concentrations of certain components will determine
the type of sludge treatment process to be used.

Sludge shall be thickened, stabilized, conditioned and dewatered before

it is finally disposed off in accordance to requirement stipulated by
Department of Environment. The dried sludge must attain a minimum
of 20% dry solid content before off-site disposal. Close attention is
required when planning and designing sludge treatment processes to
ensure bio-solid to be disposed do not contain any harmful substance
that will affect the environment. Additionally, stabilization process should
be designed to reduce any potential presence of microbial pathogens.
Options of ultimate disposal include landfill and land application.

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Industry Guidelines