Source: Water and Wastewater Engineering: Design Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition

ISBN: 9781260132274
Authors: Mackenzie L. Davis Ph.D. P.E. BCEE

10-7. PROBLEMS
10-1. Calculate the diameter of a discrete particle whose terminal settling velocity is 1.044 cm/s. The particle density is
2.65 g/cm3 and the water temperature is 12°C. Assume Stokes' law applies and that the density of water is 1,000 kg/m3 .

10-2. You have been asked to evaluate the ability of a horizontal flow gravity grit chamber to remove particles having a
diameter of 1.71 × 10−4 m. The depth of the grit chamber is 1.0 m. The detention time of the liquid in the grit chamber is 60
s. The particle density is 1.83 g/cm 3 . The water temperature is 12°C. Assume the density of water is 1,000 kg/m3 .

10-3. If the settling velocity of a particle is 0.70 cm/s and the overflow rate of a horizontal flow clarifier is 0.80 cm/s, what
percent of the particles are retained in the clarifier?

10-4. If the settling velocity of a particle is 2.80 mm/s and the overflow rate of an upflow clarifier is 0.560 cm/s, what
percent of the particles are retained in the clarifier?

10-5. If the settling velocity of a particle is 0.30 cm/s and the overflow rate of a horizontal flow clarifier is 0.25 cm/s, what
percent of the particles are retained in the clarifier?

10-6. If the flow rate of the original plant in Problem 10-3 is increased from 0.150 m3 /s to 0.200 m3 /s, what percent
removal of particles would be expected?

10-7. If the flow rate of the original plant in Problem 10-4 is doubled, what percent removal of particles would be
expected?

10-8. If the flow rate of the original plant in Problem 10-5 is doubled, what percent removal of particles would be
expected?

10-9. If a 1.0 m3 /s flow water treatment plant uses 10 sedimentation basins with an overflow rate of 15 m3 /d · m2 , what
should be the surface area (m2 ) of each tank?

10-10. Assuming a conservative value for an overflow rate, determine the surface area (in m2 ) of each of two
sedimentation tanks that together must handle a flow of 0.05162 m3 /s of lime softening floc.

10-11. Repeat Problem 10-10 for an alum or iron floc.

10-12. Two sedimentation tanks operate in parallel. The combined flow to the two tanks is 0.1000 m3 /s. The depth of
each tank is 2.00 m and each has a detention time of 4.00 h. What is the surface area of each tank, and what is the overflow
rate of each tank in m3 /d · m2 ?

Problem 10-12 Sedimentation Tank Sizing

This video shows how to calculate the surface area and overflow rate based
on a given sedimentation basin flow rate.

James Stone, Professor of Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of

Mines and Technology
2017

10-13. Determine the detention time and overflow rate for a settling tank that will reduce the influent suspended solids
concentration from 33.0 mg/L to 15.0 mg/L. The following batch settling column data are available. The data given are
percent removals at the sample times and depths shown.

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 Depths,a

Time, min 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5

aDepths from top of column, column depth = 4.5 m.

10 50 32 20 18 15

20 75 45 35 30 25

40 85 65 48 43 40

55 90 75 60 50 46

85 95 87 75 65 60

95 95 88 80 70 63

10-14. The following test data were gathered to design a settling tank. The initial suspended solids concentration for the
test was 20.0 mg/L. Determine the detention time and overflow rate that will yield 60% removal of suspended solids. The
data given are suspended solids concentrations in mg/L.

Time, min

Depth,a m 10 20 35 50 70 85

aDepths from top of column, column depth = 2.5 m.

0.5 14.0 10.0 7.0 6.2 5.0 4.0

1.0 15.0 13.0 10.6 8.2 7.0 6.0

1.5 15.4 14.2 12.0 10.0 7.8 7.0

2.0 16.0 14.6 12.6 11.0 9.0 8.0

2.5 17.0 15.0 13.0 11.4 10.0 8.8

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 Solution Walkthrough

Water and Wastewater Engineering Problem 10.14: Design of a Type II Sedimentation Basin

In this walkthrough type II settling column data are used to design a sedimentation basin. The
detention time and overflow rate to remove 60% of the suspended solids are calculated.

Michael Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Harding University

10-15. The following test data were gathered to design a settling tank. The initial turbidity for the test was 33.0 NTU.
Determine the detention time and overflow rate that will yield 88% removal of suspended solids. The data given are
suspended solids concentrations in NTU.

Time, min

Depth,a m 30 60 90 120

aDepths from top of column, column depth = 4.0 m.

1.0 5.6 2.0

2.0 11.2 5.9 2.6

3.5 14.5 9.9 6.6 3.0

10-16. Design a horizontal flow rectangular sedimentation basin for a maximum day design flow rate of 25,000 m3 /d.
Assume an overflow rate of 40 m3 /d · m2 and a water temperature of 12°C. Provide the following in your summary of the
design:

Qdesign

Number of tanks

Width of each tank

Length of each tank

Side water depth

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 Depth of sludge zone

L:D

vf

Reynolds number

Number of launders

Launder length

Weir loading

Type of sludge collector

10-17. Design a horizontal flow rectangular sedimentation basin for a maximum day design flow rate of 15,000 m3 /d.
Assume an overflow rate of 50 m3 /d · m2 and a water temperature of 15°C. Provide the following in your summary of the
design:

Qdesign

Number of tanks

Width of each tank

Length of each tank

Side water depth

Depth of sludge zone

L:D

vf

Reynolds number

Number of launders

Launder length

Weir loading

Type of sludge collector

10-18. Design a horizontal flow rectangular sedimentation basin using high-rate settlers for a maximum day design flow
rate of 25,000 m 3 /d. Assume a water temperature of 12°C, that the angle of the settler tubes is 60°, and that they have a
hydraulic diameter of 0.05 m. Also assume the floc has excellent settling characteristics. Provide the following in your
summary of the design:

Qdesign

Number of tanks

Width of each tank

Length of settler

Length of each tank

Side water depth

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 Depth of sludge zone

vapproach

vfc

Reynolds number

Froude number

Number of launders

Launder length

Weir loading

Type of sludge collector

10-19. Design a horizontal flow rectangular sedimentation basin using high-rate settlers for a maximum day design flow
rate of 15,000 m 3 /d. Assume a water temperature of 15°C, that the angle of the settler tubes is 60°, and that they have a
hydraulic diameter of 0.05 m. Also assume the floc has excellent settling characteristics. Provide the following in your
summary of the design:

Qdesign

Number of tanks

Width of each tank

Length of settler

Length of each tank

Side water depth

Depth of sludge zone

vapproach

vfc

Reynolds number

Froude number

Number of launders

Launder length

Weir loading

Type of sludge collector

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 Solution Walkthrough

Water and Wastewater Engineering Problem 10.19: Design of a High-rate Settler

In this walkthrough a horizontal flow rectangular sedimentation basin is designed with high-rate
tube settlers.

Michael Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Harding University

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