WASTE WATER TREATMENT

Preliminary Treatment
• The objective of preliminary treatment is the removal of coarse solids and other large
materials often found in raw wastewater.
• Removal of these materials is necessary to enhance the operation and maintenance of
subsequent treatment units.
• Preliminary treatment operations typically include coarse screening, grit removal and, in
some cases, comminution of large objects.
• In grit chambers, the velocity of the water through the chamber is maintained sufficiently
high, or air is used, so as to prevent the settling of most organic solids.
• Grit removal is not included as a preliminary treatment step in most small wastewater
treatment plants.
• Comminutors are sometimes adopted to supplement coarse screening and serve to reduce
the size of large particles so that they will be removed in the form of a sludge in
subsequent treatment processes.
• Flow measurement devices, often standing-wave flumes, are always included at the
preliminary treatment stage.
 1. Screening
• Screen is the first unit operation in wastewater treatment plant.

• Removes larger solids; rags, cans, branches, leaves, roots etc. from the waste water before
it moves downstream.

• The amount of solids removed from waste water is known as screenings

• A bar screen comprises of evenly spaced bars or perforated screens in a channel

• W.W passes through these screens and solids are trapped on these screens

• Debris is captured on screens consisting of parallel bars placed at an angle.

• Screenings collected on bars must be raked off (manually or mechanically).

• Screenings are typically disposed of in sanitary landfills.

• Debris ground-up by a comminutor typically becomes part of the waste sludge

• Industrial wastewater treatment plant may or may not need the screens.

• However, when packing of the product and cleaning of packing bottles/ containers is
carried out, it is necessary to provide screens even for industrial wastewater treatment
plant to separate labels, stopper, cardboard, and other packing materials.

• The cross section of the screen chamber is always greater (about 200 to 300 %) than the
incoming sewer.

• The length of this channel should be sufficiently long to prevent eddies around the screen.
 Operational Requirements
Frequent cleaning to avoid clogging,
slippery conditions, odor, pest issues
Screening might be landfilled, or
grinded and returned to waste water
Manually cleaned (screens placed
at 30o angle)
Solids manually pulled through a
long tooth rakes, drained and
stored
Mechanically cleaned (screens
placed at 45o to 65o angle)
Mechanized rake assembly to
collect the solids and move them
TYPES OF WASTEWATER SCREENS

There are three broad categories in which you can classify wastewater treatment screens –
coarse, fine and micro. Within these categories are many different varieties of screening.

1. COARSE SCREENING

• Coarse screens have clear openings ranging from 6 to 150 mm (0.25 t0 6 in).

• Coarse screens consist of parallel bars, rods or wires, wire mesh or perforated plates
with openings generally of circular or rectangular shapes.

• It is also called a “bar rack or bar screens” and used to remove coarse solids such as
rags and large objects that may clog or cause damage to other appurtenances.

• Based on the wastewater screening method used to clean them, coarse screens are

classified into two types i.e. Manually Cleaned, Mechanically Cleaned
2. MICROSCREENS

• The smallest type of screening in wastewater treatment is micro screening.

• These screens are typically low-speed drum screens.

• The drums are lined with filtering fabrics with openings of 10 to 35µm.

• Wastewater enters the drum, and the retained solid waste is collected and disposed of.

3. FINE SCREENING

• The screening process in water treatment plants employs screens that have clear openings
less than 6mm called fine screens.

• They are made of wire cloth, wedge wire or perforated plates. Like micro screens, they are
tools for screening in wastewater treatment that are used to remove fine solids. 
Grinder or Comminutor

• It is used in conjunction with coarse

screens to grind or cut the screenings.

• They utilize cutting teeth (or shredding

device) on a rotating or oscillating
drum that passes through stationary
combs (or disks).

• Object of large size are shredded when

it will pass through the thin opening of
size 0.6 to 1.0 cm.

• Provision of bye pass to this device

should always be made.