cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng.

, NUST 9/26/2006 6-1

Chapter 6
PRELIMINARY TREATMENT:-GRIT REMOVAL

Grit removal
Grit removal is accomplished in channels or retention tanks. The objective is to
settle out inorganic matter (particles with diameter above 0.2mm) whilst avoiding
deposition of putrescible organic material and during this process, the organic
matter must be kept in suspension. The average specific gravity of grit particles
and organic matter are 2.5 and 1.2 respectively and therefore grit particles have a
higher settling velocity than organic matter. The settling velocity of grit is
approximately 0.03 m/s. The horizontal flow velocities in grit channels are normally
0.3m/s and higher horizontal velocities result in scouring of the deposited material.
Grit settlement can therefore be used as a guide to the plant performance. If the
quantity of grit reduces, it may be an indication that the flow rate has increased
above 0.3 m/s or the grit is being retained in suspension. If the amount of grit
increases, there may be a new effluent discharge.

Types of grit channels

• comminutors
• constant velocity grit channel
• aerated grit channel (Fig. 1)
• vortex grit chambers (Fig. 1)

For wastewater stabilization ponds, grit chambers may be alternatively incorporating

with the ponds in the form of a sump and this is achieved by deepening under the
inlet point of about 1.0 m extra depth to contain the grit for a period of 2 years (Fig.
2).

A constant velocity grit channel is commonly found on many wastewater treatment

plants because it is cheaper and simple. It is also easier to operate, with very low
operational costs. The grit is either dredged from the channel by machine or
removed by hand (Fig. 3).

Since there is diurnal variation in flow, to control the velocity at all flow rates, the
channel should be designed so that the velocity remains constant at all depths of
flow and this can be achieved by the use of a parabolic cross-section. In this case
flow will be proportional to the cross-sectional area. A flume is incorporated at the
downstream end of the channel to maintain a constant velocity at all depths and at
the same time measuring flow (Fig. 3). The Venturi should not be drowned so that it
produces an upstream depth that is independent of conditions downstream
conditions. Usually a trapezoidal section is used instead of a parabolic for ease of
construction.

Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-2

Fig. 1(a) Schematic illustration of a grit comminutor

Fig. 1(b) Schematic illustration of a aerated grit chamber

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-3

Inlet pipe

Grit chamber

Fig. 2 A typical Grit Chamber incorporated with WSP

Fig. 3 Constant grit channel

Design of a constant velocity grit channel

One operational and standby grit channels are provided. The design formulae are
derived using Fig. 4 Section A-A is the cross-section of the grit chamber and B is
the throat width of the Venturi flume.

A 3

Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-4

C
C

v
W B

Section A-A
A Section C-C
W

v2/2g
H H

Fig.4 The configuration of the grit chamber and the flume

Flow, Q = vA (7)

Where; V = Velocity in channel

A =Cross-sectional area

∴ Q = vBh
v2
H = h+ (8)
2g

Substituting equation 8 into 7:

Q = 2 2 g (H − h ) 2 Bh
1 1
(9)

2 2
Flow in a flume is maximum when depth at throat is of the total energy (h= H)
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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-5

Substituting h in equation 9, the maximum flow becomes:

3 3
Qmax = 1.71BH 2
or Qmax = KBH 2
(10)

Differentiating equation 10:

3 1
dQ = KBH 2 dH (11)
2
dQ = vWdH (12)

Equating equation 11 and 12

:
3kB 1 2
W = H (13)
2v

Taking the velocity in the grit chamber to be 0.3 m/s, the above equation becomes:

3kB 1 2
W = H (14)
(0.6)

Dividing equation 10 by equation 14, the width of the channel can be computed
from:
Q
W =5 (15)
H

Channel depth x velocity of flow

The channel length =
Settling velocity of grit

The settling velocity of grit is taken as 0.03m/s. Therefore the length of the grit
channel is given as:

Maximum depth of Channel x 0.3m/s

L= = 10 x maximum depth of channel
0.03m/s

Thus the top width of the channel is simply determined from the maximum flow and
corresponding depth. In practice. L= 20 x maximum depth of channel to
allow for turbulence and variation in settling velocity.

Grit storage is provided in the channel to reduce the frequency of manual cleaning.
The grit storage space is provided by lowering the floor of grit channel. A 1 or 2
week grit storage space may be provided and the volume of the grit storage space
may be estimated from:

Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-6

Grit volume
Depth of storage required in grit channel =
Grit channel base width x length

The grit volume =DWF x storage time x grit concentration

The grit concentration ≅ 0.01m3/1000m3

Hydraulic grit washing within the grit chamber is provided by bottom scouring. The
scouring velocity will re-suspend the organic particles which might have settled in
the chamber while the grit remains at the bottom. The scouring reduces the volume
of grit, odour formation and flies. The critical horizontal velocity for scouring is given
by Shields equation:

8 fg (R g − 1)d
vc =
λ

Where:
f =Particle shape factor (0.04-0.06)
g =Gravitational constant
λ =Friction factor (0.03)
⎛ ρp ⎞
Rd =Relative density ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ . The density for sand particles is 2650kg/m3 and for
⎝ ρ ⎠
suspended solids is 1150kg/m3 and ρ is the liquid density.
d =Diameter of particle, m

The critical horizontal velocity should be ≥ 0.1 m/s to ensure sufficient scouring to
re-suspend the organic solids.

Example: 1: Design a grit chamber for the flow calculated in example

The depth of flow is computed at multiples of DWF (from DWF to peak flow as in
Table 1). H 3/2 is calculated from equation 8.10, taking a throat width b=0.25m. The
width of the channel is calculated from equation 15.

Using the results in Table 1, a parabolic section is plotted and a best-fit trapezoidal
section is selected (Fig. 5).

Channel length L =20 x maximum depth

=20 x 1.6
=32m
18723
× 7 × 0.01
Grit volume = 1000

=1.31m3
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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-7

Depth of storage, taking the base width as 0.4m,

1.31
Ds=
0.4 × 32
=0.1m

The grit channel should be lowered by 0.1m to provide the grit storage space.
Other specifications of the grit channel are in Fig. 6.

Table 1 Computation of the cross-sectional area

Multiples of Domestic Domestic Combined H3/2 H W

Domestic DWF DWF flow

DWF (m3/day) (m3/s) (m3/s) (m) (m)

0.25 3930.75 0.045 0.080 0.313 0.461 0.871

0.5 7861.5 0.091 0.126 0.490 0.622 1.011
0.75 11792.25 0.136 0.171 0.667 0.764 1.121
1 15723 0.182 0.217 0.845 0.894 1.212
1.25 19653.75 0.227 0.262 1.022 1.015 1.292
1.5 23584.5 0.273 0.308 1.200 1.129 1.363
1.75 27515.25 0.318 0.353 1.377 1.238 1.427
2 31446 0.364 0.399 1.554 1.342 1.486
2.25 35376.75 0.409 0.444 1.732 1.442 1.540
2.5 39307.5 0.455 0.490 1.909 1.539 1.591
2.75 43238.25 0.500 0.535 2.086 1.633 1.639

Fig. 5 Typical cross section of a parabolic grit chamber

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-8

Fig. 6 Specifications of a constant grit channel

Key

2
b< B Hmax = max depth at measuring device
3
E = 3H max D = 3(B − b ) L = 1.5H max R = 2(B − b ) F ≥ 10 B

Example: 2
Design data
Design population = 75 000 capita
Average dry weather flow, ADWF = 6.50Ml/d
Minimum dry weather flow, MDWF = 2.70Ml/d
Peak dry weather flow, PDWF = 15.8Ml/d
Peak design flow, PDF = 16.25Ml/d
Inlet pipe invert level, I.L = 71.293m

Design data
The grit chamber is designed to cater for the following hydraulic conditions:
Maximum design flow, Qmax = 16.25Ml/d (0188m3s 1)
Minimum design flow, Qmin = 2.70Ml/d (0.0313m3s-1)
Design velocity, v = 0.3ms-1
Grit concentration = 10ml per liter of influent
Therefore grit load = 0.01m3/1000m3 of influent
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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-9

Ratio of maximum flow to minimum flow, R = 0.188/0.0313

R = 6.0 <12

The ratio of maximum flow to minimum flow is less than 12. Therefore the velocity in
the grit channel will be constant (Marais, 1969).

Flow velocity control device

A dual purpose flat bottom venturi flume is placed after the grit channels for
maintaining velocity constant in the grit chamber and for flow measurements.

Design formulae
Free discharge flume equation, Q = cbH3/2 (1)
Where c = a constant = 1.71
b = flume throat width, m
H = upstream depth of flow, m

Maximum head , Hmax = (Qmax/cb)2/3 (2)

Minimum head, Hmin = (Qmin/cb)2/3 (3)

Inlet channel invert level, I.L = Inlet pipe I.L - Hmin (4)

Maximum width of parabolic grit channel, Wmax

From Qmax = Flume area at Hmax x Constant velocity

Qmax = 2/3vQmaxHmax
Wmax = (3/2Qmax/vHmax)

Flume throat width selection

Since flume is going to be used for flow measurement as well, flume dimensions
should comply with BS3680: Part 4A (1965): i.e = Hmax/Throat width <3

Table: 2 Flume throat width dimensions

Flume throat width,b/m 0.1 0.125 0.15 0.175 0.2 0.225 0.25 0.275 0.3
Flow depth at Qmax,Hmax/m 1.07 0.92 0.81 0.73 0.67 0.62 0.58 0.54 0.51
Flow at depth Qmin,Hmin/m 0.323 0.278 0.246 0.222 0.203 0.188 0.175 0.164 0.155
Inlet channel invert level,I.L/m 70.97 71.015 71.047 71.071 71.09 71.105 71.118 71.129 71.138
Width of flow at Qmax,Wmax/m 0.88 1 1.16 1.29 1.4 1.52 1.62 1.74 1.84
Parabolic coefficient,k 0.425 0.53 0.64 0.75 0.86 0.97 1.06 1.18 1.29

Table: 3 Flume throat section

Throat width,b/m 0.1 0.125 0.15 0.175 0.2 0.225 0.25 0.275 0.3
Maximum head,Hmax/m 1.07 0.92 0.81 0.73 0.67 0.62 0.58 0.54 0.51
Hmax/b 10.7 7.36 5.4 4.17 3.35 2.75 2.32 1.96 1.7
Comment >3 >3 >3 >3 >3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-10

From Table 3 a flume throat width of 0.225m is the optimal size for it is the smallest
size possible flume. It therefore has the minimum construction cost. Therefore a
0.225m throat width is adopted.

Plotting channel parabolic curve

From W = kH1/2 and where k = 0.97, the equation of parabola is:

W = 0.97H1/2

Using above equation 7 and varying values of channel depth (H), Table 4 is
constructed.

Table 4: Data for plotting parabolic curve

Error! Not a valid link.

Shape of grit channel

Allow a base width of 400mm, thus half base width:

W = 200mm

Best fit curve equation in Fig 7: y = mx + c

By using the line of best fit the best fit curve is: y = 0.983x - 0.15 as shown in Fig
7.

Thus full base width, Wg = 2 x 200mm

= 400mm

Equating equation W = 0.97H1/2 to the linear equation above gives a quadratic

equation:

y = 1.06x2 - 0.983x + 0.15

Solving for x provides the following solutions:

x = 0.20 or 0.74

Substitute 0.74 into the linear equation:

y = 0.570m

Therefore the trapezoid is 0.570m from the base.

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-11

Fig 7 Parabolic curve for channel width of 0.225

Properties of the 0.225m flume

Width of throat , b = 0.225m
Maximum head ,Hmax = 0.620m
Minimum head, Hmin = 0.188m
Inlet channel invert level, I.L = 71.105m
Maximum width of parabolic curve = 1.520m

Length of flume ,L = 1.5 x Hmax

= 1.5 x 0.620m
=0.930m
For 1.0 > Hmax/b > 0.75

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-12

Set approach channel width at B = 0.480

This gives b/B= 0250/0.480 = 0.47 < 0.7 O.K

Flume dimensions
Dimension E = 3Hmax = 3 x 0.620 = 1.860m
Dimension F = 10B = 10 x 0.480 = 4.800m
Dimension D = 3(B-b) = 3(0.480-0.225) = 0.765m
Dimension R = 2(B-b) = 2(0.480-0.225) = 0.510m

Flume configuration

Length of grit channel

Assume a detention time of one minute, t =1 min = 60 second.

Flow velocity, v = 0.3 ms-1 ( to achieve grit settlement)

Length o grit channel, Lg =vxt

= (60 x 0.3) ms-1 x s
Lg = 18 m

Grit storage
Allow a seven days grit storage space
Average daily flow, ADWF = 6500m3/d
Grit concentration = 0.01m3/1000m3 inflow
Therefore seven days grit volume = (6500 x 10-3 x 7 x 0.01) m3
= 0.455m3
Depth of storage required in grit channel = Grit volume/(Grit channel base width x
length)
= 0.455/(0.400 x 18) m3/m2

Therefore depth = 0.063 m

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-13

Take minimum depth of grit storage as 0.065m.

The grit storage is provided by lowering the floor of the grit channel. The floor of the
grit channel is made to fall along the floor line at a slope of say 1:60. A fall of 1:60
for 18m provides a vertical fall of 18/60 = 0.30m. The fall is provided by a screed
of minimum thickness 0.025m and a maximum thickness of 0.325m.

Floor level of grit channel = (71.105-(0.325 + 0.065)) m

= 70.715 m

Grit sump
The lower end of the floor should be provided with a grit sump 0.400 x 0.300 x
0.150 meters deep to collect the grit.

Number of grit channels

Two grit channels are to be provided so that one may be isolated, drained and
cleaned while the other is in operation. Each channel is isolated by means of two
penstocks, one at each end of the channels. Drainage of channels is through a
50mm diameter pipe with valves at the inlet and outlet. The valve at the outlet is
essential to prevent entry of frogs in the pipe.

Velocity control
To obtain an approximately constant velocity in the grit channel the flume should be
lowered a distance ( called the step height) below the floor of grit channel.

Maximum to minimum flow ratio, R = 6.0

Step height, Y = Cr x Hmax
Where Cr = (R1/3-1)/(R - 1)= = (61/3 - 1)/(6-1)
= 0.163

Therefore Y = 0163 x 0.620 m

Y =0.101m

Therefore flume floor level = (70.715 - 0.101) m

= 70.614 m
Say = 70.615m

Downstream conditions
The downstream channel discharges into the primary settling tanks division box.
The floor level of the box is set at least half the PST inlet pipe diameter below
channel floor level to prevent drowning of the channel.
Therefore invert level of the collection chamber = 70.615 - 1/2Φ, where Φ =PST
inlet pipe diameter.

Assume that Φ =450mm

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal

cmutsvangwa:, Wastewater Engineering, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 9/26/2006 6-14

I.L =70.615 - ½(450)

Collection chamber I.L =70.390m

Top of concrete level

Top water level of inlet channel = Inlet channel I.L + Hmax
= (71.105 + 0.620)m
= 71.725m

Depth of water in inlet pipe = (71.725 - 71.293)m

= 0.432 m

To avoid drowning of the influent pipe consider this depth (0.80m) as for a pipe
flowing at 0.8 full. Therefore pipe diameter: = 0.432m/0.8
= 0.5775m
= 600mm diameter pipe

Height of channel walls, Hw = (Pipe I.L - Channel I.L) + (Pipe diam + grit channel
storage depth ) + freeboard

Hw = (71.293-71.105) +(0.600 + 0.065) + 0150 m

Hw = 1.00m

Therefore top of concrete level = (71.105 + 1.00)m

= 72.105m

References
1. Mara D., (1976), Sewage Treatment in Hot Climates, John Wiley, UK
2. Mara D., (1997), Design of Waste Stabilization Ponds in India, Lagoon
Technology, UK
3. Mutamba J. 1998), Design of Cowdary Park BNR, Design Project, Dept. of Civil
and Water Engineering, NUST, Zimbabwe.
4. Smith .M., (1995), Unpublished Lecture Notes in Wastewater Engineering,
Loughborough University, UK

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Chapter 8: Preliminary treatment: grit removal