Wastewater Characteristics
Wastewater Characteristics
Wastewater Characteristics
Sewage is a dilute mixture of the various types of wastes from residential; public and industrial
places. Sewage contains 99.9% of water and small portion of solids present in the sewage pose
threat as they are offensive in nature, undergo changes by bio-degradation causes nuisance and
pollution. The extent and type of treatment required depends on the characteristics and quality of
sewage and source of disposal.
In the oldentimes,thewaste waters from a community were not so much contaminated as theyare
today.The urbanization,industrial growth,andthe provedstandardsofliving,havehowever, increased
the strengthand quantity of municipal sewage in recent years to a point where dilution alone no
longerbe relied upon to prevent the undesirable effects of pollution. In any cases, more advanced
treatment of wastewater is essential to prevent undue pollution. This is much more so, when the
disposed sewageis likely to contain industrial wastewaters. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to
study the characteristicsand behavior sewage, to ensureits safe disposal.
Before we study the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of sewage let us discuss as
to how the sewage gets decayed, andwhathappens to it with the passage of time.
Aerobic Decomposition:If air or oxygen is available freely to the wastewater in dissolved form,
then the biodegradable organic matter will undergo aerobic decomposition caused by aerobic
bacteria and facultative bacteria (operating aerobically). Stable end products are formed at the end
of oxidation process like nitrates, carbon dioxide, sulphates from the three forms of matter namely,
nitrogenous, carbonaceous and sulphurous matter. Water, heat and additional bacteria will also be
produced in this biological oxidation, which can be represented by the following equations:
The intermediate products formed in the aerobic oxidation of three types of organic matter are
shown in their respective cycles. These cycles are known as nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle and
sulphur cycle for nitrogenous, carbonaceous and sulphurous organic matter.
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogenous organicmattergetoxidised toammonia, thento nitrites, and finally to nitrates, which
whenconsumed by plants, through photosynthesis, form plant proteins (plant life). The plant
proteins, when consumed by animals, form animalproteins. The wastes produced by animals and
their dead bodies, will again form nitrogenous organic matter, thus completing the nitrogen cycle.
There may be some short circuits of the cycle, as shown bydotted lines; say for example, the dead
plants may also, on death, lead to formation of organic matterdirectly, without changing into
animalproteins. Similarly, nitrates on denitrification may get converted into free nitrogen (and
sometimes to ammonia), which may be converted into plant proteins, as it may be used by
certainbacteria residing in the plant roots. This is called nitrogen fixation. Blue - green algae also
cause nitrogen fixation.
Carbon Cycle
The carbonaceous organic matter, on oxidation, releases carbon dioxide, which is its final end
product. This CO2, whenused by plants through photosynthesis,getsconverted into
plantcarbohydrates, fatsand proteins (sugars); which when eatenby animals, changeinto animal fats
andproteins.The wastes producedby animalsandtheir dead bodies willagain form carbonaceous
organic matter, thus completing thecarbon cycle.
There maybeshort circuits inthe cycle, as shown by thedottedlines. Organic carbonaceous matter
may be directly formed by the death of plants. Similarly, the plantlife gives off CO2at night, and
the animal lifegives off CO2during respiration. Both theserespiration processes are shown by the
dottedlines inthe above figure.
Sulphur Cycle
Thiscycleissimilartonitrogencycle. The sulphurous organic matter, on oxidation,producesH2Sgas,
whichon furtheroxidation, changes to sulphur, andthenfinallyto sulphates (SO4--). Sulphates,
whenconsumed by plants through photosynthesis, change into plant proteins; which when eaten
by animals, change into animal proteins. The wastesproduced by animals and theirdead bodies will
again form sulphurous organic matter, thuscompleting the sulphurcycle.
Theremay be short circuits in the cycle, as shown by the dotted lines: organic sulphurous matter
may be directly formed by the death of the plants, without the formation of animal proteins.
Similarly, sulphates in the absence of oxygen will be converted into H2S, by the process of
reduction.
Anaerobic Decomposition: If free dissolved oxygen is not available to the sewage, then anaerobic
decomposition, called putrefaction, will occur. Anaerobic bacteria as well as facultative bacteria
operating anaerobically, will then flourish and convert the complex organic matter into simpler
organiccompounds of nitrogen, carbon, and sulphur. These anaerobic bacteria, infact, survive by
extracting and consuming the bounded molecular oxygen present in compounds like nitrates(NO3)
and sulphates (SO4).Gases like ammonia, nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide, methane, etc. are also
evolved in this decomposition, producing obnoxious odours. The various stages, at whichthese
gases are evolved, are shown in Fig., which represents nitrogen, carbon and sulphur cycles
together,for theabove anaerobicdecomposition. The final equations, representing this
decomposition, are given below:
The organic acids including alcohols produced in above Eq., are further converted intomethane
gas (CH4), carbon dioxide gas (CO2),etc., if methane-forming bacteria are also present in the
sewage. This conversion is represented by the equation:
The strength sewage is itspotential to produce nuisance to the man and his environment. Itis
expressed in terms of B.O.D. The nuisance is caused by theoxidizable organic matter, which is
unstable in nature, undergoesbiodegradation produces very bad odour and causes insanitaryand
unhealthy environment. If the sewage contains more organicmatter is stronger and if the sewage
contains less organicmatter is considered as less strong.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SEWAGE
Oxygen Demand
The oxygen is demanded in wastewater for oxidation of both organic as well as inorganic matter.
The demand of oxygen may be expressed in the following ways:
1) Biochemical Oxygen Demand. (BOD) 2) Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
3) Total Oxygen Demand (TOD) 4) Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD)
In addition to this the total amount of organic matter present may also be determined by Total
Organic Content (TOC) test.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): The BOD can be defined as the oxygen required for
biochemical oxidation of organic matterpresent in the water under aerobic conditions. This test is
based on the premise that all thebiodegradable organic matter contained in a water sample will be
oxidized to CO2 and H2Oby microorganisms using molecular oxygen. The BOD may be defined
as the oxygen required for the micro-organisms to carry out biological decomposition of dissolved
solids in wastewater under aerobic conditions at standard temperature. The BOD test results are
used in the following purposes:
i) Determination of approximate quantity of oxygen required for the biological stabilization of
organic matter present in wastewater.
ii) Determination of size of wastewater treatment facilities.
iii) Measurement of efficiency of some treatment processes.
iv) Determination of strength of sewage.
v) Determination of amount of clear water required for the efficient disposal of wastewater by
dilution.
The organic matter present in wastewater may belong to i) Carbonaceous matter, ii) Nitrogenous
matter. The ultimate carbonaceous BOD of a liquid waste is the amount of oxygen necessary for
the micro-organisms in the sample to decompose carbonaceous materials. This is the first stage of
oxidation and the corresponding BOD is called as first stage demand or first stage BOD. In the
second stage, the nitrogenous matter is oxidized and the corresponding BOD is called as second
stage BOD or nitrification demand.
Biochemical oxidation is slow process and theoretically takes an infinite time to go tocompletion
i.e. complete oxidation of organic matter. During the first few days the rate ofoxygen depletion is
rapid because of the high concentration of organic matter present. As the concentration of organic
matter decreases, so does the rate of oxygen consumption. Alsoinitially concentration of easily
biodegradable organic matter will be more and as the timeproceeds fraction of this component will
deplete faster as compared to total organic matterreduction. Hence, during initial days the rate of
BOD exerted will be more as compared tolater days. During the last part of the BOD curve, oxygen
consumption is mostly associatedwith the decay of the bacteria that grew during the early part of
the test. For wastewater likesewage, within 20 day period, the oxidation of carbonaceous organic
matter is about 95 to99% complete, and in the first five days, the period used for BOD
determination, 60 to 70% oxidation is complete. The 20oC temperature used is an average
temperature value typicallyfor slow moving streams in temperate climate. Different results would
be obtained atdifferent temperatures because biochemical reaction rates are temperature
dependent.
The biochemical oxygen demand is represented as BOD5 20oC, which indicates the totalamount
of oxygen consumed for biochemical oxidation of organic matter for first five days at20oC
incubation temperature. Under Indian conditions, the BOD values are acceptable for 3 days
incubation at 27oC temperature. BOD is determined by dilution method. In this, the sample is
diluted with dilution water. The dilution water(distilled water) is aerated for sufficient time to
correct DO close to the saturation value.Nutrients and buffer solutions are added to the dilution
water to provide nutrient for bacterialgrowth and maintain pH near neutral. The initial DO of this
diluted sample is measured. The diluted sample is then incubated for 5 days at 200C in air tight
vessel. The DO of the sample is again measured. The loss of oxygen or the oxygen consumed
during incubation is then found out by calculating the difference between the initial and final
content of DO. BOD is then computed from the relation,
BOD5 = oxygen consumed X dilution factor
Where, =
Say for example, 1% diluted sample means, 1ml of sewage is diluted to make 100 ml of test
sample, and hence dilution factor is 100, as 1 ml has been diluted by 100 times to make 100 ml.
The carbonaceous demand or the first stage BOD of a sewage sample may be represented as shown
in figure called the 1st stage BOD curve. The rate at which BOD is satisfied at any time (i.e., rate
of deoxygenation) depends on the temperature and also on the amount and nature of organic matter
present in sewage at that time.
( ) =
0
Using K = rate constant on base 10, K = rate constant on base e
=
2.303
L0 repesents the organic matter present at the start of BOD reaction (expressed as oxygen
equivalent), and Lt is the organic matter present left after t days.
The amount of organic matter oxidized = L0 Lt
If Yt represents the total amount of organic matter oxidized in t days (i.e., the BOD of t days)
then,
Yt = L0 Lt
Or substituting Lt/ L0 and simplifying
= 0 (1 10 )
This is an important equation. Yt is the oxygen absorbed in t days, i.e., BOD of t days.
The ultimate first stage BOD (Yu) would be obtained by substituting t = days.
Simplifying,
Yu = L0
Hence, ultimate first stage BOD (Yu) of a given sewage is equal to initial oxygen equivalent of
organic matter present in the sewage (L0). This is a fixed quantity, and does not depend upon the
temperature of oxidation.
However, the value of K is highly sensitive to the temperature and this relationship is given by,
= 20 1.047(20)
Where, KT is the rate constant at T temperature in 0C
K20 is the rate constant at 200C and value varied from 0.05 to 0.2.
The portion OA in the above curve represents the first stage BOD and the curve AC represents the
nitrification stage, which follows the carbonaceous stage. The oxygen demand associated with the
oxidation of ammonia to nitrate is called thenitrogenous BOD. Due to low growth rate of nitrifying
bacteria, this BOD demand normally occurs from 6 to 10 days. This is one of the reasons to use
incubation period of5 days for BOD determination to eliminate oxygen demand for nitrification
and to find outonly carbonaceous oxygen demand. The BOD curve for the complete oxidation is
represented by OAC.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of a wastewater is
determined by performing a laboratory test using strong oxidant like dichromate solution.
In order to perform this test, a known quantity of wastewater is mixed with a known quantity of
standard solution of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), and the mixture is heated. The organic
matter is oxidized by K2Cr2O7 (in the presence of H2SO4). The resulting solution of K2Cr2O7is
titrated, and the oxygen used in oxidizing the wastewater is determined. It measures the Total
organic matter (biodegradable and non-biodegradable) present in sewage.
Theoretical Oxygen Demand (ThOD): Organic matter is often assessed in terms of oxygen
required to completely oxidize the organic matter to CO2, H2O and other oxidized products. The
oxygen required can be theoretically computed, if the organics present in wastewater are known.
Thus, if chemical formulas and the concentrations of the chemical compounds present in water are
known to us, we can easily compute the theoretical Oxygen Demand of each of these compounds
by writing the balanced reaction for the compound with oxygen to produce the oxidized end
products. For example, for glucose, the theoretical oxygen demandcan be worked out as below:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 ---------------6CO2 + 6H2O
Total Oxygen Demand (TOD): It is another method to measure organic content in wastewater.
This method is based on quantitative measurement of amount of oxygen used to burn the organix
substances and to some extent inorganic substances. It is the direct measure of oxygen demand of
the sample. The test is conducted in a platinum-catalyzed combustion chamber. The oxidizable
components in a liquid sample are introduced into combustion chamber which are converted to
oxides by reaction this disturbing oxygen equilibrium in the wastewater. This depletion of oxygen
is recorded by an oxygen recorder. The recorded depletion peak of oxygen is compared with
standard peak from TOD calibration chart. This test is carried out rapidly.
Total Organic Carbon (TOC): Another important method of expressing organic matter is in
terms of its carbon content. Carbon is the primary constituent of organic matter. The TOC test
consists ofacidification of wastewater sample to convert inorganic carbon to CO2. The sample is
then injected to high temperature furnace where it is oxidized in presence of catalyst. The CO2 that
is produced is quantitatively measured by using infrared analyser and converted to original organic
carbon content. The major obstacle in using this method is the cost of equipment and the skill
necessary in its operation.
BOD/COD Ratio
Ultimate BOD (BODu) is the oxygen required in oxidizing the biodegradable organics of a given
wastewater. COD, on the other hand, is the oxygen required to oxidize both biodegradable as well
as non-biodegradable organics. Hence, the value of COD will always greater than BODu. The ratio
of BODu/COD ratio will, therefore, always be less than 1.0. If this ratio is found to be between
0.92 to 1.0, the wastewater can be considered to be virtually fully biodegradable. Since, BODu is
not generally measured, the ratio of BOD5/COD, usually referred as BOD/COD ratio, is more
important.
Since, BOD5 is about 68% of BODu, it can be seen that BOD5/COD ratio varied between 0.63 to
0.68. Any wastewater having BOD/COD ratio more than 0.63, can be considered to be quite
amenable to biological treatment, since, it contains very little to zero non-biodegradable organics.
The average standard BOD (BOD5) of domestic sewage is worked out to be about 0.08
kg/day/person. Hence, if the BOD5 of sewage coming from an industry is worked out be 300
kg/day, then,
/
=
0.08 //
300
= = 3750
0.08
The value 3750 is the equivalent population producing 300 kg/day of BOD. The population
equivalent, thus, indicates the strength of industrial wastewaters for estimating the treatment
required at the municipal sewage treatment plant, and also helps in assessing the realistic charges
for the treatment to be charged from the industries.
The above test for determining relative stability is suitable only in case of polluted stream waters
or sewage effluents (i.e., treated sewage). This test is very simple and quickly gives a rough
indication of the character of the treated sewage.