Class : B.

Tech Civil
Subject: Water and wastewater Treatment
Unit-IV
SEWAGE QUANTITY

Sanjivani College of Engineering, Kopargaon, 423603

INTRODUCTION:
• Waste water engineering is the branch of environmental engineering in which
basic principles of science and engineering are applied to the problem of water
pollution control.

• The end of water supply scheme ,in a sense ,is the starting point of waste
water engineering or sanitary engineering.

• Purpose of Sanitation: The main purpose of sanitation is to maintain such

environment, which will not affect the public health.

• Thus, it is a precautionary measure for the preservation of health of

community.
Important Terms:
•Refuse: It is the general term used to indicate what is rejected or left out as worthless.
The refuse may be liquid, semisolid or solid form and divided into six categories:
Sullage, sewage ,domestic sewage, industrial wastewater, sanitary sewage and
storm sewage.
•Sullage: Sullage is a term used to indicate the wastewater from bathroom, kitchen,
wash basins etc. it does not creates bad smell since organic matter in it is either absent
or is of negligible amount.
•Sewage: Sewage indicates the liquid waste from the community. It includes Sullage,
discharges from latrines, urinals, stables, industrial waste and also the ground water
and storm water that may be admitted into the sewer. It is extremely putrescible, its
decomposition produces large quantities of malodorous gases and it may contain large
nos of pathogenic or disease producing bacteria.
• Domestic Sewage: It consists of liquid waste originating from urinals, latrines,
bathrooms, kitchen sinks, wash basins etc., of residential area, commercial or
institutional buildings. Since it contains human excreta and urine, it is extremely foul
in nature.
• Industrial sewage: It consists of liquid waste originating from the industrial
processes of various industries such as distillery, dairy, paper and pulp mill, textile etc.
• Sanitary sewage: It is the sum total of domestic and industrial sewage.
• Sewer: It is an under conduit through which sewage is carried to a point of disposal
or treatment.
• Lateral sewer: it is a sewer which carries sewage directly from houses.
• Sewerage: The term sewerage means the structures, devices, equipments and
appurtenances intended for the collection, transportation and pumping of the sewage,
excluding the treatments units is called sewerage system
Systems of sanitation:
1. Conservancy system 2. Water carriage system
Conservancy system:
• This is old system in which various types of wastes, such as night soil, garbage
etc. are collected separately in a vessels or deposited in a pools or pits and then
removed periodically at least once in 24 hours.
• The conservancy system is highly unhygienic and causes insanitary condition.
• Transportation of night soil takes place in open carts through street and other
crowded localities, this is highly undesirable.
• The working of the system entirely depend on the mercy of labour if they go on
strike at least one day foul matter start creating smell which highly unhygienic.
• In present day world, when men has progressed much it is highly humiliating to
ask human being to transport night soil in pails on their head.
Water carriage system:
• In this system, collection and conveyance and disposal of various wastes are carried
out with the help of water.
• Thus water is used as a medium to convey the waste from its point of production to
point of final disposal.
• Sufficient quantity of water is required to be mixed with waste so that dilution ratio
is so great that the mixture may flow just like water.
• This system is very hygienic as night soil and other waste carried out through closed
conduit which is not directly exposed to atmosphere.
• There is no chance of outbreak of epidemic because flies & other insect do not have
direct access to the sewage.
• The labour required for the operation and maintenance is extremely small.
• Initial cost of installation of this system is very high, the running cost are very small
WATER CARRIAGE SYSTEM:

•In this system, the collection, conveyance and disposal of

various type of wastes are carried out with the help of water.
•Water is used as medium to convey the waste from its point
of production to the point of its treatment or final disposal.
•Sufficient quantity of water is required to be mixed with the
wastes so that dilution ratio is so great that the mixture may
flow just like water.
•In this system, specially designed latrines, called water closets (W.C)
are used which are flushed with 5 to 10 litres of water after its use by
every person. The human excreta is thus flushed away and led to
suitable designed and maintained sewers.
• The wastes form kitchens, baths, wash basins etc. are also led to the
sewers.
•The system requires large initial cost of installation and it requires
large quantity of water for efficient flow conditions. However, this is
the most efficient system of sanitation.
• Advantages of water carriage system: The water carriage system is
the most modern system of drainage, and has the following advantages:
1. Hygiene and sanitary aspect: The system is very hygienic since the night
soil and other wastewater is conveyed through closed conduits which are not
directly exposed to the atmosphere. There is no bad smell because of
continuous flow.
2. Epidemic aspect: There are no chances of outbreak of epidemic because
flies and other insects do not have direct access to the sewage.
3. Pollution aspect: The liquid wastes etc. are directly conveyed through the
sewers, and therefore there are no changes of the waste water being soaked
in the ground. There are no chances of pollution of groundwater.
4. Labour aspect: The labour required for the operation and maintenance is
extremely small.
5. Compactness in design: The latrines can be attached to the living and bed
rooms. This permits a compact design. The lavatories (W.C.) can be
accommodated in any part of the house.
6. Treatment aspect: The system permits the use of modern methods of
treatment of the sewerage collected through the sewers. The treated waste
water and sewage can be safely disposed off without any risk.
7. Land disposal requirements: Because of treatment facilities, the land
required for the disposal of the treated wastewater is very much smaller than
that required for the conservancy system.
8. Cost consideration: Though the initial cost of installation of the system are
very high, the running costs are very small since manual labour is very much
reduced.
Demerits of water carriage system

The following are the demerits of water carriage system.

1) This system is very costly in initial cost.

2) The maintenance of this system is also costly.

3) During monsoon large volume of sewage is to be treated whereas very

small volume is to be treated in the remaining of the year.

CLASSIFICATION OF WATER CARRIAGE SYSTEM
• The water carriage system can be divided into the following types:
1) Separate system
2) Combined system
3) Partially separate system
1. Separate system:
•The separate system provides two separate systems of sewers, one for the
conveyance of foul sewage and the other for the rain water, including the
surface washing from certain streets, overflow from public baths and fountains
etc.
•The sewage from the first system of sewers can be led to the treatment works,
while the flow form the second system of sewers can be discharged directly to
natural streams etc. without any treatment.
• Advantages of separate system:
• The cost of installation is low.
• The storm water can be disposed off through the open channels along the
road sides. Thus, the actual sewers carrying foul sewage will be of smaller
size.
• The load on the treatment units will be lowered, since only the foul sewage
carried by the separate sewers need be treated.
• The sewage in the separate system will be of more uniform characteristics,
so it can be treated more easily.
• Sewers of smaller section can be easily ventilated than those of larger
section.
• Rain water can be discharged into streams or rivers without any treatment.
Disadvantages of separate system
• Since the sewers are of small size, it is difficult to clean them.

• They are likely to get chocked.

• Two sets of sewers may ultimately prove to be costly.

• Strom water sewers or drains come in use only during the rainy season. And
During other part of the year, these may be used as dumping place for
garbage, and may get chocked.

• Because of lesser air contact in small size sewers, foul smell may be there
due to the sewage gases formed.
2. Combined system:

• The combined system provides only one sewer to carry both the foul sewage as well as the rain
water. The sewage and rain water are carried to the sewage treatment plant, before its final disposal.
• The combined system is advocated on the ground that the street surface washings are as impure as
the sewage itself, and should therefore be suitably treated before being allowed to enter the natural
stream.

Advantages: 1.The system requires only one set of sewers. Hence the maintenance costs are
reduced.
2. The sewers are of lager size, and therefore the chances of their choking are rare. Also, it is
easy to clean them.
3. The strength of the sewage is reduced by dilution.
4. There is more air in the larger sewers than in smaller ones of the separate system. Hence the
sewer gases that may be formed gets diluted. Thus the chances of foul smell are reduced.
• Disadvantages of combined sewer
1. The cost of construction is very high because of large dimensions of the
sewers.
2. Because of large size of sewers, their handling and transportation is difficult.
3. Due to the inclusion of the storm water, the load on the treatment plant
increases.
4. The system is uneconomical in the circumstances when pumping is required
for lifting of sewage.
5. During heavy rains, the sewers may overflow, and may thus create
unhygienic conditions and cause pollution problem.
6. Storm water is unnecessarily get polluted.
7. Large sewers are more difficult to be ventilated than the smaller ones.
3. Partially combined system
• In this system, only one set of underground sewers is laid. These sewers admit the foul
sewage as well as the early washings by rains.
• As soon as the quantity of storm water exceeds a certain limit, the storm water overflows,
and is thus collected and conveyed in open drains to the natural streams. The foul sewage,
however, continues to flow in the sewers.
Advantages: 1. Due to reasonable size of sewer, cleaning is easy.
2. It combines the advantage of both separate and the combined system.
3. The storm water permitted in the sewer eliminates its chances of chocking. The sewers
are completely cleaned during rainy season.
4. The problem of disposing off storm water from homes is simplified.
Disadvantages: 1. During the dry weather, when there is no rain water, the velocity of
flow will be very low. Thus self-cleansing velocity may not be achieved.
2. The storm water increases the load on treatment units.
3. The storm water also increases the cost of pumping.
• In order to design the section of the sewer, it is essential to know the
total quantity of waste water or sewage that would flow through the
sewer.
• The total waste water is divided in two parts:-
1. Dry weather flow
2. Storm water flow
 Dry Weather Flow (D.W.F)

• Dry weather flow refers to the waste water flow in a sewer system
during periods of dry weather when no storm water is in the sewer.
• The dry weather flow is also sometimes called as sanitary sewage.
• It consists of mainly:
1. Domestic sewage
2. Industrial waste water
 Factors Affecting D.W.F

The dry weather flow or the quantity of sanitary sewage depends upon
the following factors:-
1. Rate of water supply
2. Population growth
3. Type of area served
4. Infiltration of ground water
 1. Rate of water supply
• The rate of water supply to a city/town is expressed in litres/capita/day.
• The quantity of waste water entering the sewers would be less than the
total quantity of water supplied. This is because of the fact that water is
lost in domestic consumption, evaporation, lawn sprinkling. Fire fighting.
• Hence for design purpose quantity of sewage may considered to be 75%
to 80% of water supplied.
2. Population growth

• The quantity of sanitary sewage directly depends on the population.

• As the population increases the quantity of sanitary sewage also
increases.
• The sewage quantity which will be produced in the town due to future
developments of the town and population should be taken into
account.
3. Type of area served
• The quantity of sanitary sewage also depends on the type of area to be
served, whether it is residential, industrial or commercial.
• The quantity of sewage produced in residential areas directly depends
on the quantity of water supply to the area.
• The quantity of sewage produced by various industries depends on
their various industrial, processes, and it is different for each industry.
This quantity can be determined by doing a survey of that area and
collecting the data.
 4. Infiltration of ground water
• Ground water or sub-soil water may infiltrate into the sewers through the leaky joints.
• Exfiltration is the reverse process which indicated the flow of waste water from the
sewer into the ground.
• While due to infiltration the quantity of flow through the sewer increases and
exfiltration results in decrease in the flow which may increase in the pollution of
ground water.
• Both infiltration as well as exfiltration are undesirable and take place due to imperfect
joints. Infiltration unnecessarily increases the load on the treatment works.
 Per capita sewage generation

• The entire consumed water of a community should normally contribute to

the total flow in a sanitary sewer. However, the observed Dry Weather
Flow quantities usually are slightly less than the per capita water
consumption, since some water is lost in evaporation, seepage into
ground, leakage etc.
• In arid regions, mean sewage flows may be as little as 40% of water
supply and in well developed areas, flows may be as high as 90%.
• However, the conventional sewers shall be designed for a minimum
sewage flow of 100 litres per capita per day or higher as the case may be.
 Peak flow estimation
• The flow in sewers varies from hour to Contributory Peak factor
hour and also seasonally. But for the Population
purpose of hydraulic design estimated Up to 20,000 2.50 3.00
peak flows are adopted. The peak factor
or the ratio of maximum to average
Above 20,001 to 50,000 2.50
flows depends upon contributory
population.
Above 50,001 to 7,50,000 2.25

• The peak factors also depend upon the Above 7,50,001 2.00
density of population, topography of
the site, hours of water supply and
therefore individual cases may be
further analyzed if required..
 Typical design thumb rule

• Maximum daily flow • Minimum daily flow

= Average annual daily flow x 2 = Average daily flow x 0.67

• Maximum hourly flow • Minimum hourly flow

= Maximum daily flow x 1.5 = Minimum daily flow x 0.5
= Annual average daily flow x 3 = Average daily flow x 0.33
 Storm Water Flow
• The amount of rainwater flowing over the ground surface, pavement, roofs
of various building etc. is known as storm water or runoff.
• The amount of peak storm water flow is several times more than D.W.F.
• In Combined system the sewers are normally not designed for the peak
storm water flow; otherwise the size of the sewer would be much more
large.
• Storm water flow is also known as wet weather flow (W.W.F).
Factors affecting storm water flow
1. Catchment area
2. Ground slope
3. Permeability of ground
4. Extent of impervious area (Paved yard, buildings, non adsorbent
road surface etc.)
5. Extent of vegetation growth
6. Rainfall duration
7. Climatic condition such as humidity, temp. , wind etc.
 Estimation of Storm water flow

1. Rational Method:-
• This is most commonly used method for the design of storm drains.
• It takes into account the three factors
1. Catchment area (A)
2. Impermeability factor (I)
3. Intensity of rainfall (Ri)
The rational formula can be expressed as..
Q = K.A.I.Ri
Where, Q = Storm water flow
K = Constant which permits the expression of the factor A, I and R
in convenient units
Let, Q = Runoff in cubic meters per second
A = Catchment area in hectares
Ai = Impervious area = A * I
Ri = Intensity of rainfall in mm per hr.
In order to find corresponding value of factor K, we have
Q = 104 A* I*(Ri/1000*3600)
Q = AIRi/360 = Ai Ri /360
In Other words, K = 1/360
Design of sewer:
•General approach for design of sewer is similar to the design of water mains.
•However there are two differences in the design of sewer and water mains

1. Sewage contains particles of solid matter (both organic and inorganic) the heavier of
which may settle down at the bottom of the sewers, as and when the flow velocity
reduces, resulting to clogging of the sewer.
To avoid the clogging of sewer they must be laid at such a gradient that self cleansing
velocity is achieved.

2. The sewer pipe carry sewage as gravity conduit or open channel hence they must be
laid at continuous downstream gradient.
Hydraulic formulae
To determine the velocities, the following empirical hydraulic formulae's are used

1. Chezy’s formula:
V = C √ RS
where,
V= velocity if flow;
C= Chezy’s coefficient;
R= Hydraulic mean depth; R=A/P
P = Wetted perimeter
A = Area of cross section
S= Slope or gradient of sewer
Constant (C) is very complex. Depends on size, shape and smoother roughness of the channel, the mean
depth etc..
Different formulae can be used for the calculation of
Chezy’scoefficient:

a) Bazin’s formula:
C=
where,
K is Bazin’s coefficient

Sr. No. Inside nature of the sewer K values

1 Very smooth 0.11

2 Smooth: bricks & concrete 0.29
3 Smooth: rubble masonry 0.50
4 Good, earthen material 0.83
5 Rough: bricks & concrete 1.54
6 Rough earthen material 3.17
 b) Kutter’s formula:

Where,
C = Chezy's roughness coefficient
S = slope
R = Hydraulic radius (m,)
n = Kutter's roughness (unit less)
 2. Manning’s formula:

Where,
N = Manning coefficient, N value are given in table below.

3. Crimp and Bruge’s formula:

Hydraulic elements of circular sewer
• Most commonly used sewer section is circular sewer.
• Advantages of Circular sewer:
1. It is easy to manufacture circular section.
2. Circular section gives the maximum area for a given perimeter, and thus
gives greatest hydraulic mean depth.
3. It is the most economical section, as it utilizes minimum quantities of
materials.
4. The circular section has uniform curvature all round, and hence it offers
less opportunities for deposits.
a) Circular sewers running full: Let D be the internal diameter of circular sewer,
then various elements for sewer running full are as:
Hydraulic elements for circular sewers running partially full:

• Figure show circular section running partially full.

• Let ‘d’ be the depth at partial flow, and ‘θ’ be the

central angle subtended as shown in figure.
• Let ‘a’ be the area of cross section.
• ‘p’ be the wetted perimeter,
• ‘r’ be the hydraulic mean depth or radius and
• ‘v’ be the velocity of flow at partial flow
condition.
b) Circular sewers running partially full:
Minimum Velocity
• Sewage consists of considerable amount of organic and inorganic solids, which remain
floating or suspended.
• If velocity of flow in the sewer is less, these solids get deposited at the invert of the
pipe and cause obstruction to the flow of sewage.
• Hence, it is necessary to maintain a minimum velocity of flow at which no solids get
deposited in the sewer.
• The velocity of flow which prevents settlement of solids is known as self cleansing
velocity.
• This velocity should be maintained at least once in a day during the peak flow at all
sections of the sewerage system.
• Generally, self cleansing velocity of more than 0.75 m/s is useful.
 Self cleansing velocity:
To calculate minimum velocity of flow following formula is used.

where,
𝑉 𝑠=
8β
𝑓
Vs = self cleansing velocity
√
  ( 𝐺 𝑠 −1 ) 𝑔 . 𝑑 𝑠

= dimensionless constant whose value depends upon the characteristics of sediments.

f = Darcy‘s Weisbachfriction factor;
Gs = Specific gravity of sediments;
g = acceleration due to gravity;
ds = diameter of solid particles

According to Badwin Latham self-cleansing velocity depends upon the diameter of

sewers.
Maximum Velocity:
• Similarly, the velocity of flow in sewer should not be too high, as the suspended solids will cause wear
to contact surface of the pipe and erode the pipe material of sewer.
• This will reduce the life of the sewer. The permissible maximum velocity to prevent eroding is
termed as non-scouring velocity and it should be limited to 3.0 m/s.
• Maximum velocity is depend on the material of sewer.
Following table shows maximum velocity in m/sec for the different Sewer material:
Wastewater Sampling
• Sampling is the process of collecting the portion of wastewater sample and
measurement for the characteristics to determine its quality.

• It must be collected in such a manner that nothing is added or lost in the portion
collected before laboratory examination.

• These results are compared against wastewater quality standards in regulations

and guidelines to determine its use and/or the treatment required to make the
wastewater suitable for its intended purpose.
Methods of sampling
1. Grab Sampling:
• Grab sample consist of a portion of wastewater all taken at one time.
• Grab samples are not representative of the average wastewater since they
reflect only the condition at the time of sampling.
2. Composite sampling:
• Composite sampling involves taking a number of small samples, called
sub-samples, over a period of time.
• These are then combined to reflect the overall condition of a source of
wastewater.
• Composite samples indicates the character of wastewater over a period of
time.
 Characteristics of Wastewater

The characteristics of wastewater can be classified under following three

heads:

• Physical Characteristics
• Chemical Characteristics
• Biological Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
Total Solids
 Physical Characteristics

1. Total solids:
• Wastewater normally contain 99.9 % water and only 0.1 % of total solids that may
composed in any of the four: suspended solids, dissolved solids, colloidal solids, and
settle able solids.
• Suspended solids are those solids which remain floating in sewage, dissolved solids are
those which remain dissolved in sewage just as a salt in water. Colloidal solids are finely
divided solids remaining either in solution or in suspension . Settle able solids are that
solids which settles out, if sewage is allowed to remain undisturbed for a period of 2 hrs.
2. Colour:
The colour of the sewage indicates the freshness of sewage. If it’s colour is greyish brown
or yellowish, it indicates fresh sewage. With passage of time, as putrefaction starts it begins
to get black. The colour of stale and septic sewage is black.
3. Odour:
• The odour of a fresh sewage is not offensive, but as it become stale, will begins to
give offensive odour. Within 3 to 4 hours, all oxygen present in the sewage gets
exhausted and it starts emitting offensive odour.

4. Temperature:
• The normal temperature, of sewage is slightly higher than the temperature of the water
supply because of the additional heat due to utilization of water. Also when the
wastewater flows in a closed pipes, its temperature future increases.
• The average temperature of sewage in India is about 200C which is near about ideal
temperature of sewage for biological activities.
5. Turbidity:
• Turbidity is the measure of relative clarity of a liquid. It is an optical
characteristic of water and is a measurement of the amount of light that is
scattered by material in the water/wastewater.
• The higher the intensity of scattered light, the higher the turbidity.
• Material that causes water to be turbid include clay, silt, very tiny inorganic and
organic matter, algae, dissolved coloured organic compounds, and plankton and
other microscopic organisms.
• Dissolved oxygen: Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen in the
dissolved state present in water or waste water.
• Generally waste water does not have DO, its presence in untreated sewage
indicates, the waste water is fresh.
• While discharging the treated sewage/wastewater into receiving water, it is
essential to ensure that at least 4 mg/l dissolved oxygen is present in it.
• If the DO is less than 4 mg/l, the aquatic animals like fish, are likely to be
killed due the lack of DO.
•Presence of DO is essential for the livelihood of organisms.
•Aerobic condition will continue only till the oxygen is present in waste
water.
•Thus oxygen is demanded in the waste water for the oxidation of both
inorganic as well as organic 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 (Th.OD)
Biochemical Oxygen Demand

• There are two types of organic matter present in wastewater.

i) Biodegradable or biologically active
ii) Non biodegradable or biologically inactive
• Organic matter is often assessed in terms of oxygen required to oxidize the
organic matter to CO2, H2O, and other end products of Oxidation.
•Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is defined as the amount of oxygen
required by the microorganisms to carry out decomposition of
biodegradable organic matter under aerobic conditions at 20⁰C for 5
days periods.
Importance of BOD
The BOD test is widely used to determine the pollution strength of domestic and industrial wastes
in terms of the oxygen that they will require if discharged into natural watercourses. It is the one of
the most important test in stream pollution control activities.
• The BOD is determined for following purpose

1. Determination of approximate quantity of oxygen required for a biological stabilization of

organic matter in wastewater

2. For determination of size of wastewater treatment facilities

3. Measurement of efficiency of some treatment processes

4. Determination of strength of sewage

5. Determination of amount of clear water required for the efficient disposal of waste water by
dilution
• The organic matter present in the wastewater may belong to
two groups:
1. Carbonaceous matter
2. Nitrogenous matter.
• The ultimate carbonaceous BOD of a waste is the amount of oxygen necessary for
microorganisms in the sample to decompose the biodegradable carbonaceous material.
This is the first stage of oxidation and the corresponding BOD is called as first stage
BOD.
• In the second stage the nitrogenous matter is oxidized and corresponding demand is called
second stage or nitrification demand.

• In fact these two types of organic matter are the sources of food for most of the
microorganism present in waste water.

• Microorganism takes up oxygen to carry out conversion of complex organic matter into
simple one, (CO2 and H2O).

• More addition of organic matter leads to more degradation of water quality and more
depletion of oxygen in wastewater.
• In fact wastewater will continue to absorb oxygen for long time. Biological oxidation is
slow process and takes infinite time for completion.

• Generally 5 day period is chosen for the standard BOD test during which about 60 to
70% oxidation will complete, while 95 to 99% degradation will complete within 20
days. Also in first 6 to 7 days oxygen is consumed rapidly and then slows down until the
end of about 20 days.

• At a given temperature the rate at which BOD is satisfied at any time (i.e rate of
deoxygenating) maybe assume to be directly proportional to the amount of organic
matter present in sewage at that time.
 ……(1)
Minus sign indicates as the time passes decreases.
Where = amount of first stage BOD remaining in the samples at any
time t (oxygen equivalent of carbonaceous oxidisable organic
matter present at any time t) in mg/L.
= rate constant satisfying the rate of oxidation of organic matter
having unit per day or reaction rate constant
t = time in days
Integrating the eq. (1) between time t= 0 (=) to t = t we get

i.e. = …………(2)
Here is the organic matter present in the beginning of BOD
reaction and is organic matter left after t days. This means organic
matter oxidized =
• If we assume = organic matter oxidized in t days then we
get

Putting this value of in equation (2) we, get

=
=
=
• Where = amount of organic matter oxidized= amount of BOD exerted in
mg/L
L0= amount of organic matter in beginning= ultimate BOD in mg/L
= de-oxygenation constant
t= time in days
The value of is depend upon temperature of oxidation reaction and
determines the speed of BOD reaction. Range of Kd typically vary between
0.05 to 0.3 at 20⁰ C

Where = deoxygenation constant at any temp. T⁰C

= deoxygenation constant at 20⁰ C
= 1.056 for temperature 20⁰ C to 30⁰ C
= 1.135 for 4⁰ C to 20⁰ C
Usually = 1.047 is adopted
Limitation of BOD Test
• It measures only the biodegradable organic matter.
• Time duration of the test is very long i.e. 5 days, so if quick results are
needed it is not useful.
• Pretreatment is needed if the sample contains toxic waste.
• Nitrifying bacteria can cause interferences and could give higher results.
To avoid them proper care must be taken.
• Chemical Oxidation Demand (COD): COD is a test that measures the amount of

oxygen required to chemically oxidize the biodegradable and non biodegradable

material present in waste water.
• The most commonly adopted method involves the addition of potassium
dichromate with known quantity of wastewater and mixture is heated. Organic
matters are oxidised in presence of H2SO4.

• Oxygen used in oxidising the wastewater is known as COD. Due to chemical

oxidation, COD value is always greater than BOD and time required for this test is
3 hour only.
• Treatability index:
TI is the ratio of BOD divided by COD minus BOD.

Treatability index (T. I.) = BOD/(COD-BOD).

TI value tells about treatment type required for the waste.

• If TI less than 0.5- chemical treatment.

• If 0.5 < TI < 1.0, Biological treatment with nutrient addition .

• If TI > 1.0, Biological treatment

 Stream Sanitation

Contents
1. Stream sanitation
2. Self purification of natural stream
3. Factors responsible for self purification
• Stream Sanitation: After conveying the waste water through sewer the next step is its
disposal either after treatment or even before treatment.

• Methods of disposal of waste water may be classified under the following categories

• Natural method – 1. By dilution

2. By land treatment

• Artificial method – 1. Primary treatment

2. Secondary treatment

• Combined method - 1. Primary treatment

2. Effluent disposal by natural method

• Dilution: Dilution is a prominent method of natural disposal consists of discharging the
waste water into receiving water body such as a river, lake and sea.

• This is done on the assumption that sufficient dissolved oxygen is available in the water
body so that biochemical oxygen demand is satisfied.

• If however the dilution water is not sufficient to supply the biological oxygen demand to
oxidize the entire matter present, there will be nuisance of organic matter and unsightly
Condition. In addition, depletion of oxygen would kill aquatic life and danger to public
health.
Self Purification of Natural Stream
• When wastewater is discharged into a natural stream, it pollute the stream water in various
ways by depleting the oxygen level in the water.
• The organic matter is broken down by bacteria to ammonia, nitrate, sulphate and carbon
dioxide.
• In this process of oxidation the dissolved oxygen content of natural water is utilized, and
due to this, deficiency of dissolved oxygen is created.
• As the excess organic matter is stabilized, a normal cycle will be re-established in the
process known as self purification, where in the oxygen is replenished by reaeration due to
wind currents.
• Also the stable by-product of oxidation mentioned above are utilized by plants and algae
to produce carbohydrates and oxygen.
Self purification of stream involves various physical chemical and biological
action in the nature which are explain as below:

1 Dilution: When wastewater is discharged into the receiving water dilution

takes place due to which the concentration of organic matter is reduced and
potential nuisance of sewage is also reduced.
• When dilution ratio is quite high, large quantity of DO are always available
which will reduce the chances of putrefaction and pollution effects.
• Aerobic condition will always exist because of dilution.
• when large quantity of effluent is discharged into small stream then dilution
ratio is small.
The concentration ‘C’ of the resulting mixture is given by
C = (Cs.Qs + Cr.Qr) / (Qs + Qr)
Where,
Cs = concentration of sewage
Qs = flow rate of sewage
Cr = concentration of river
Qr = flow rate of river
This equation is applicable separately to concentrations of different
impurities such as oxygen content, BOD, suspended sediments etc.
2. Dispersion due to current : When the organic matter is discharged into
river-stream, it gets rapidly dispersed and diluted. This results in lowering of
waste concentration and thus reduces the potential nuisance of sewage.
•Self purification of stream largely depend on current which will readily
disperse the wastewater in the stream.
•High velocity improve reaction which reduce the concentration of pollutants.

3. Sedimentation:  If the stream velocity is lesser than the scour velocity of

particle, sedimentation will takes place, thus helping for self purification.
4. Oxidation:  The organic matter present in wastewater is oxidized by aerobic bacteria
utilizing dissolved oxygen of the natural water. The process of oxidation will continue till the
organic matter has been completely oxidized. This is very important action for the self
purification of rivers.

5. Reduction: The reduction occurs in the stream due to hydrolysis of organic matter
biologically or chemically. Aerobic bacteria will split the organic matter into liquid and gases
thus paving way for their ultimate stabilization by oxidation.
6. Temperatures   At low temperature the activities of bacteria is low and
hence rate of decomposition will also be slow. Though DO will be more
because of increased solubility of oxygen in water. At higher temperature
however the self purification takes less time (though the quantity of DO
will be less). 
7 Sunlight:   Sunlight helps certain microorganism to absorb and gives out
oxygen. Thus assisting in self purification. Also sunlight act as a
disinfectant and stimulate the growth of algae which produce oxygen
during daylight (but utilizes oxygen in night). Hence whenever there is
algal growth the water maybe supersaturated with DO during daylight
(though anaerobic conditions exist at night).
Contents
1. Zone of pollution in the stream
2. Oxygen sag curve
3. Streeter-Phelps Equation
Zone of Pollution in the Stream
The self –purification process of stream polluted by wastewater can be divided in to
following zones
1. Zone of degradation
2. Zone of active decomposition
3. Zone of recovery
4. Zone of clear water
Zone of Pollution in the Stream
1. Zone of degradation
• This zone is found for a certain length just below the point where sewage is
discharged into the river-stream.
• This zone is characterised by water becoming dark and turbid with formation of
sludge deposits at the bottom. D.O is reduced to about 40% of the saturated value.
• There is an increase in carbon dioxide content. Re-oxygenation occurs but is slower
than de-oxygenation.
• These conditions are unfavourable to the development of aquatic life, algae may dies
out, but some fish life may be present feeding on fresh organic matter.
2. Zone of active decomposition:
• This zone is just after the degradation zone and marked by
heavy pollution.
• The water is grayish and darker than previous zone.
• The DO concentration falls down to zero in this zone.
• Active anaerobic decomposition results in formation of S, and
which leads to objectionable odour.
• Scum may also be seen on the surface.
• Fish life is absent but aerobic bacteria at upper and anaerobic
bacteria at lower can be observed this leads reaeration with rise
in DO conc. to 40%.
3. Zone of recovery:
• In this zone the process of recovery starts from its degraded condition to its
former condition.
• The stabilization of organic matter takes place and BOD of water is reduced.
• DO content rises to above 40% of saturation DO.
• The bacterial load decreases as the food supply of bacteria reduces.
• Near the end of the zone microscopic aquatic life reappears.
4. Zone of clear water:
• In this zone, the natural condition of stream is restored with result of
water becomes clear and attractive in appearance.
• DO rises to saturation level and oxygen balance is attained.
• Aquatic life prevails in this zone.
Oxygen Sag Curve
• Do - Initial DO deficit
• Dt - DO deficit at any time ,T
• Dc - Critical DO deficit
• Cs - Saturation DO concentration, mg/l
• Ct – Do concentration at any time, mg/l
• Cc - Critical DO concentration, mg/l
• Oxygen sag or oxygen deficit in the stream at any point of
the time during the self purification process is the difference
between the saturation DO content and the actual DO content
at that time.

• Normal saturation DO value for freshwater depends upon

temperature and it is 14.62 mg/L at 0 ⁰C and 7.63 mg/L at 30
⁰C respectively.
• When wastewater is discharged into stream or freshwater, the DO content of the
stream goes on depleting.

• This depletion of the DO content is known as deoxygenation.

• The rate of deoxygenation depend upon the volume of organic matter, time available
for decomposition and temperature of the stream water.

• The depletion of the DO content of the stream with time is represented by de-
oxygenation curve shown by curve-II (Red curve) in absence of aeration.

• The ordinates below the curve indicate oxygen remaining in the natural stream after
satisfying BOD.
• Though the DO content of the stream is gradually consumed due to BOD load, atmosphere
supplies oxygen continuously to the water through the process of re-oxygenation.
• Along with the oxygenation, re-oxygenation also continuously takes place.
• The rate of oxygenation depends on
1. Depth of the water in the stream
2. Velocity of flow in the stream
3. Oxygen deficient below saturation DO
4.Temperature of water
Streeter-Phelps Equation
• The rate of re-oxygenation is expressed by Streeter-Phelps
equation as follow

Where K = BOD reaction constant to the base 10

R = Re-oxygenation constant to the base 10
= Initial oxygen deficit at the point of waste
discharged at time t = 0
It is classic Streeter-Phelps oxygen sag equation, which is most
commonly used in river analysis.
Thanks…..