2.

Characteristics of Wastewater
1

 An understanding of the properties/characteristics of

wastewater is very important in:
 design,
 operation, and management of collection,
 treatment, and
 disposal of wastewater.

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 ….ccont…
2

The general characteristics of

wastewater includes:
I. physical,
II. chemical, and
III.biological characteristics which depend
on the water usage in the community, the
industrial and commercial contributions,
weather, and infiltration/inflow

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 ..Cont…
3

1.Physical characteristics of Wastewater

 Color and odor
 Temperature
 Solids(TS,TDS,TSS,VSS, Settleable solids, etc)
 Etc
 Their concentrations provide useful information for
characterization of wastewater and control of
treatment processes since they affect the
operation and sizing of treatment units

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 ...Cont…
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BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 2.2 Measurement of concentration of
contaminants in wastewater
9

 Total solids (TS) :

 TS are the total of all solids in a water sample.
 They include the total suspended solids, total dissolved
solids, and volatile suspended solids.

A = weight of dried residue + dish after 24 hrs at 105 oC

(mg)
B = weight of dish (mg)
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Measurement of conc. of contaminants in wastewater
10

 Total suspended solids (TSS ):

 Solids that retained on a filter
 Filter a known amount of water through a pre-
washed, pre-dried (at 103-105°C), pre-weighed (~
+ 0.5 mg) filter
 Rinse, dry and reweigh to calculate TSS in mg/L
 Save filters for other analyses such as volatile
suspended solids (VSS) that estimate organic
matter

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Measurement of conc. of contaminants in wastewater
11

Step 1:

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Measurement of conc. of contaminants in wastewater
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Step 2: Drying oven

The residue on the filter paper

is dried in an oven (103-105°C)
Step 3:

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Measurement of conc. of contaminants in
wastewater
13

 Calculate TSS by using the equation :

TSS (mg/L) = ( [A-B]· 1000)/ C
A = Final dried weight of the filter (mg)
B = Initial weight of the filter (mg)
C = Volume of water filtered (Liter)

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Measurement of conc. of contaminants in wastewater
14

 Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS)

 Volatile solids are those solids lost on ignition (heating to
550°C)
 they give a approximation of the amount of organic matter
present in the solid fraction of wastewater, activated
sludge and industrial wastes

A = weight of crucible + filter + residue after 24 hrs at 105°C

(mg)
B = weight of crucible + filter + residue after 1 hr at 550°C (mg)

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Exercise :
15

 A well-mixed 25-mL of raw wastewater is used for TS

analyses. A well-mixed 50-mL of raw wastewater is
used for suspended solids analyses. Weights (wt.) of
evaporating dish with and without the sample either
dried, evaporated, or ignited were determined to
constant weight as given below. The laboratory
results are as follows:

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 …cont….
16
 A. Wt. of dish plus residue after evaporation at 105oC =
42.4986 g
 B. Tare wt. of evaporating dish = 42.4723 g
 C. Wt. of dish plus residue after ignition at 550oC =
42.4863 g
 D. Wt. of residue and filter plus crucible after drying at
105oC = 21.5447g
 E. Tare wt. of filter plus Gooch crucible = 21.5308 g
 F. Wt. of residue and filter plus crucible after ignition at
550oC = 21.5349g
 Compute the concentrations of total TS,VS, fixed solids,
TSS, VSS, and fixed suspended solids.
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Solution:
17

Step 1. Determine total solids (TS):

mg TS/L = {(A - B) X 1000}/sample volume, mL
where A = weight of dried residue plus dish, mg
B = weight of dish, mg
1000 = conversion of 1000 mL/L
Note: Sample can be natural waters, wastewaters, even treated
waters.
Sample size = 25 mL A = 42,498.6 mg B = 42,472.3 mg
mg TS/L = (A - B) mg x 1000 mL/L /25 mL
= (42,498.6 - 42,472.3) x 40 mg/L
= 1052 mg/L

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 ….cont…
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Step 2. Determine total volatile solids (VS):

mg volatile solids/L = {(A - C ) x 1000}/sample
volume, mL
Where: A = weight of residue plus crucible before
ignition, mg
C = weight of residue plus crucible or filter after
ignition, mg
A = 42,498.6 mg C = 42,486.3 mg
VS = (42,498.6 - 42,486.3) x 1000/25
= 492 mg/L
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 ….cont….
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Step 3. Determine total fixed solids (FS):

FS = TS - VS
= (1052 - 492) mg/L = 560 mg/L
Step 4. Determine total suspended solids (TSS)
mg TSS/L = {(D - E) x 1000}/sample volume, mL
Where: D = weight of filter and crucible plus dried residue, mg
E = weight of filter and crucible, mg
D = 21,544.7 mg E = 21,530.8 mg Sample size = 50 mL
TSS = (D - E) x 1000/50
= (21,544.7 - 21,530.8) x 20
= 278 mg/L

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 …cont…
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Step 5. Determine volatile suspended solids (VSS)

mg volatile solids/L = {(D - F ) x 1000}/sample
volume, mL
Where: D = weight of filter and crucible plus dried residue,
mg
F. Wt. of residue and filter plus crucible after ignition at
550oC , mg
D = 21,544.7 mg F = 21,534.9 mg
VSS = (D - F) x 1000/50
= (21,544.7 - 21,534.9) x 20
= 196 mg/L

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 …cont…
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Step 6. Determine fixed suspended solids (FSS)

mg fixed solids/L = {(F - E ) x 1000}/sample volume,
mL
F = 21,534.9 mg E = 21,530.8 mg
FSS = (F - E) x 1000/50
= (21,534.9 - 21,530.8) x 20
= 82 mg/L
or
FSS = TSS - VSS
= (278 - 196) mg/L
= 82 mg/L

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 2.2.1 Mass Balance
22

Fig. 1 A material balance diagram

Based on Fig. 1, the following mass balance equation

can be written for each subastance of interest.
(Input)  (Output Rate)  (Decay Rate)  (Accumulat ion Rate) (1)
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Systems
23

Two conditions:

1. Steady-state Consrvative Systems

2. Steady-state Non-conservative Systesm

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Consrvative System
24

Q = flow rate
(volume/time)
C = pollutant conc
( mass/volume)
S = stream
W = wastewater
M = mixture

Fig. 2 A steady-state conservative system diagram

QS = stream flow rate (volume/time)
CS = stream pollutant conc ( mass/volume)
QW = wastewater flow rate (volume/time)
CW = wastwater pollutant conc mixture ( mass/volume)
QM = Misture of stream and wastewater flow rate
(volume/time)
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Consrvative System
Let us take as an example a stream to which watsewater with
25
conservative pollutant is discharegd

The concentration of pollutant at downstream boundary of

mixing zone will be QSCS  QWCW
CM 
QM
BY SEIF K.
QM = QS + QW 08/19/2020
 Example 1 Mixing of A Pollutant in A River
26

Wastewater with pollutant conc 50 mg/L is

discahrged to a stream at a rate of 5,000 m3/d. The
river flow above the discharge is 15,000 m3/d with a
pollutant conc 10 mg/L. What will be the
a) the total flow at the end of the mixing zone?
b) the pollutant conc at the mixing zone?

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Non-Consrvative System
27
Many contaminants undergo chemical, biological, or

nuclear rxns at a rate sufficient to necessitate treating

them as non-conservative substance
Assuming that steady-state conditions are satisfied, but

the pollutants are non-conservative

 Accumulation Rate = 0, but
 Decay Rate # 0

Then, Eq. (1) will be

Input = Output Rate + Decay Rate

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Non-Consrvative System
28
Decay of non-conservative substances is frequently
modelled as a First order Rxn; i.e., it is assumed
that the rate of loss of the substance is proportional
to the amount of substance that is present
dC
  KC
dt
Solving the differential equation
C dC
C0 C
  (  K ) dt
The equation gives
ln(C)  ln(C0 )  ln(C C0 )  Kt
 Solving for concentration
C  C 0 e  Kt
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Steady-state Non-Consrvative System
Where, 29

C = the pollutant concentration after time t (mass/volume)

Co = initial pollutant concentration (mass/volume)
K = reaction rate coefficient (time-1 or 1/time)
Negative sign indicates the loss of substance with time.
Higher K vale => faster disappearance
 Assume that the substance is uniformly distributed through a
volume V, the total ammount of the substance is CV. Thus,
the total rate of decay of the amount of non-
conservative substances is
d (CV ) dC
V
 Implying that Decay Rate = KCV dt dt

 Thus,
Input Rate = Output Rate +
KVC
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Example 2 Steady-state Non-conservative System
30

Fig. 3 A lake with non-conservative pollutant

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD):

31

Definition: The amount of dissolved oxygen utilized by microbes

for the biochemical oxidation of organic (carbonaceous BOD)
and inorganic (autotrophic or nitrogenous BOD):
 The BOD test was developed in 1930’s. This is a five day test
that measures the amount of O2 consumed in a wastewater
sample by a mixed population of heterotrophic bacteria in the
dark at 20oC
 BOD of wastewater is typically 110-440 mg/L and must be
reduced to 20 mg/L for discharge

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Simple determination of (BOD)…
32

  BOD =
where:
 Di = initial dissolved O2 concentration

 Df = final or 5-day dissolved O2 concentration

 P = volumetric fraction of wastewater

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Example
33

Example: 5 ml wastewater is added to a 300 ml BOD flask

P= 5 = 0.0167 Di = 8 mg/L Df = 2 mg/L

300

BOD = 8 – 2 = 359 mg/L

0.0167

Oxidation is usually 60-70% complete after 5 days

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 2.3 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve
34

 The most widely used parameter of organic pollution

applied to both wastewater and surface water is the 5-
day BOD (BOD5).
 The reason is that BOD test results are used to
determine:
 Oxygen demand (the lower conc. the more polluted water)
 biologically stabilize the organic matter present
 size of wastewater facilities
 measure the efficiency of some treatment processes
 compliance with wastewater discharge permits

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
35

BOD Model
It is generally assumed that the rate at which the
oxygen is consumed is directly proportional to the
concentration of degradable organic matter
remaining at any time. The kinetics of BOD
reaction can be formulated in accordance with first
order reaction kinetics as:
d Lt / d t = - K Lt
Where, Lt = amount of first order BOD remaining in
wastewater at time t
K = BOD reaction rate constant, time-1
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
36

Fig BOD curve

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
37

 By integrating the above differential eqn.

Lt / Lo = e-K.t or 10-K.t
Where Lo or BODu at time t = 0, i.e., ultimate first stage BOD initially present in
the sample.
 The amount of BOD remaining at time ‘t’ equals
Lt = Lo (e-k.t)
 The amount of BOD that has been exerted (amount of oxygen consumed) at any
time t is
given by
BODt = Lo – Lt = Lo (1 – e-k.t)
And the five day BOD is equal to
BOD5 = Lo – L5 = Lo (1 – e-5k)
 For polluted water and wastewater, K (base e, 20 oC) is 0.23 per day and K
(base 10, 20oC) is 0.10 per day. These values vary widely for the wastewater in the
range from 0.05 to 0.3 per day for base 10 and 0.23 to 0.7 for base e.
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
38

 The ultimate BOD (Lo) is defined as the maximum

BOD exerted by the wastewater. It is difficult to
assign exact time to achieve ultimate BOD, and
theoretically it takes infinite time.
 From the practical point of view, it can be said that
when the BOD curve is approximately horizontal the
ultimate BOD has been achieved.

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
39

 The ultimate BOD will increase in direct proportion

to the concentration of biodegradable organicmatter.
 The BOD reaction rate constant is dependent on the
following:
1. The nature of the waste
2. The ability of the organisms in the system to
utilize the waste
3. The temperature

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Mathematical Model for the BOD Curve…
40

 The BOD rate constant is adjusted to the temperature of

receiving water using following relationship:
KT = K20 θ(T-20)
Where
T = temperature of interest, oC
KT = BOD rate constant at the temperature of interest, 1/day
K20 = BOD rate constant determined at 20oC, 1/day
θ = temperature coefficient. This has a value of 1.056 in
general and 1.047 for higher temperature greater than 20oC.

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Example: 3

41

The wastewater is being discharged into a river that has a

temperature of 15oC. The BOD rate constant determined in the
laboratory for this mixed water is 0.12 per day @ 20oc. What fraction
of maximum oxygen consumption will occur in first four days?
 Solution:
 Determine the BOD rate constant at the river water temperature:
K15 = K20 (1.056)(T-20)
= 0.12 (1.056)(15-20)
= 0.091 per day
 Using this value of K to find the fraction of maximum oxygen consumption in
four days:
BOD4 = Lo (1 – e-0.091x4)
Therefore, BOD4 / Lo = 0.305

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Quiz
42

The dissolved oxygen in an unseeded sample of

diluted wastewater having an initial DO of 9.0
mg/L is measured to be 3.0 mg/L after 5 days. The
dilution fraction is 0.03 and reaction rate constant
k = 0.22 day-1. Calculate a) 5 day BOD of the
waste, b) ultimate carbonaceous BOD, and c) What
would be remaining oxygen demand after 5 days?

BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 Solution:
43

a) Oxygen demand for first 5 days

BOD5 = (DOi – Dof) / p = (9.0 – 3.0) / 0.03 = 200
mg/L
b) Ultimate BOD
BODu = Lo = BODt / (1 – e-kt) = 200 / (1 – e-0.22 x 5)
= 300 mg/L
c) After 5 days, 200 mg/L of oxygen demand out of
total 300 mg/L would be satisfied.
Hence, the remaining oxygen demand would be
300 – 200 = 100 mg/L
BY SEIF K. 08/19/2020
 End
44

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By SEIF K. 8/19/20