Environmental

Engineering
Engr. Zaid Yahya
 Wastewater Treatment Perspective
• Wastewater treatment, also called sewage treatment, the removal of impurities from
wastewater, or sewage, before it reaches aquifers or natural bodies of water such
as rivers, lakes,  estuaries, and oceans.
• Wastewater treatment plants are usually designated as providing primary, secondary, or
advanced/tertiary treatment, depending on the degree of purification.
• It is commonly assumed that each of the degrees of treatment noted in Figure includes
the previous steps. For example, primary treatment is assumed to include the
pretreatment processes: bar rack, grit chamber, and equalization basin. Likewise,
secondary treatment is assumed to include all the processes of primary treatment: bar
rack, grit chamber, equalization basin, and primary settling tank.
Schematic of a typical wastewater treatment facility providing primary and secondary treatment. The
bioreactor may involve any number of different techniques for BOD oxidation, and the sludge
processing may include several different types of biomass reduction and water removal (thickening
operations
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Treatment Steps (e.g. Screening, comminution, Grit Removal & Preparation) that prepare
wastewater influent for further treatment.

• Several devices and structures are placed upstream of the primary treatment operation to
provide protection to the WWTP equipment. These devices and structures are classified
as pretreatment because they have little effect in reducing BOD5.

• In industrial WWTPs, where only soluble compounds are present, bar racks and grit
chambers may be absent. Equalization is frequently required in industrial WWTPs.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Screening
• The first unit operation generally encountered in wastewater treatment plants is
screening. A screen is a device with openings, generally of uniform size, that is used
to retain large solids found in the influent wastewater to the treatment plant or in
combined wastewater collection systems subject to overflows, especially from storm
water.
• The principle role of screening is to remove coarse materials from the flow stream
that could damage or clog subsequent process equipment, reduce overall treatment
process reliability and effectiveness or contaminate waterways.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Fine screens are sometimes used in place of or following coarse screens where greater removals
of solids are required to protect equipment which may be more sensitive to solids such as
membrane bioreactors or eliminate materials that may inhibit the beneficial reuse of biosolids.
Types
• The types of screening devices commonly used in wastewater treatment are shown in Fig. Two
general types of screens, coarse screens and fine screens, are used in preliminary treatment of
wastewater, Coarse screens have clear openings ranging from 6 to 150 mm (0.25 to 6 in); fine
screens have clear openings less than 6 nun (0.25 in). Micro~ screens, which generally have
screen openings less than 50 µm. are used principally in removing fine solids from treated
effluents
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Bar Racks
• The screening element may consist of parallel bars, rods or wires, grating, wire mesh,
or perforated plate., and the openings may be of any shape but generally are circular
or rectangular slots.
• A screen composed of parallel bars or rods is often called a "bar rack" or a coarse
screen and is used for the removal of coarse solids
• Typically, the first device encountered by the wastewater entering the plant is a bar
rack, the primary purpose of which is to remove large objects that would damage or
foul pumps, valves, and other mechanical equipment.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Rags, logs, and other objects that find their way into the sewer are removed
from the wastewater on the racks.
• In modern WWTPs, the racks are cleaned mechanically. The solid material is
stored in a hopper and removed to a sanitary landfill at regular intervals.
• Bar racks (or bar screens) may be categorized as trash racks, manually cleaned
racks, and mechanically cleaned racks. Trash racks have large openings, 40–
150 mm, and are designed to prevent very large objects such as logs from
entering the plant. These are normally followed by racks with smaller openings.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Manually cleaned racks have openings that range from 25 to 50 mm. As
mentioned earlier, manually cleaned racks are not frequently employed.
They do find application in bypass channels that are infrequently used.
• Mechanically cleaned racks have openings ranging from 5 to 40 mm.
Maximum channel approach velocities range from 0.6 to 1.2 m ・ s−1.
Regardless of the type of rack, two channels with racks are provided to
allow one to be taken out of service for cleaning and repair.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• COARSE SOLIDS REDUCTION
• As an alternative to coarse har screens or fine screens, comminutor and
macerators can be used to intercept coarse solids and grind or shred them in the
screen channel.
• Comminutors, macerators, and grinders can theoretically eliminate the messy and
offensive task of screenings handling and disposal.
• The use of comminutors and macerators is particularly advantageous in a pumping
station to protect 1hc pumps against clogging by rags and large objects and to
eliminate the need to handle and dispose of screenings.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Comminutors
• Comminutors are used most commonly in small wastewater-treatment plants. less than 0.2 m 3/s (5
Mgal/d).
• Comminutors are installed in a wastewater flow channel to screen and shred material to sizes from 6 to
20 mm (0.25 to 0. 77 in) without removing the shredded solids from the flow stream. A typical
comminutor uses a stationary horizontal screen to intercept the flow. contains cutting teeth 10 mesh with
the screen.
• The cutting teeth and the shear bars cut coarse material. The small sheared particles pass through the
screen and into the downstream channel.
• Comminutors may create a string of material, namely, rags, that can collect on downstream treatment
equipment. Because of operating problems and high maintenance with comminutors,
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Macerators
• Macerators are slow-speed grinders that typically consist of two sets of counterrotating
assemblies with blades
• he assemblies are mounted vertically in the flow channel. The blades or teeth on the rotating
assemblies have a close tolerance that effectively chops material as it passes through the unit.
• The chopping action reduces the potential for producing ropes of rags or plastic that can collect
on downstream equipment.
• Macerators can be used in pipeline installations to shred solids, particularly ahead of wastewater
and sludge pumps, or in channels at smaller wastewater-treatment plants. Sizes for pipeline
applications typically range from 100 to 400 mm (4 to 16 in) in diameter.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• FLOW EQUALIZATION
• Flow equalization is a method used to overcome the operational problems caused by flowrate variations,
to improve the perfom1ance of the downstream processes, and to reduce the size and cost of downstream
treatment facilities.
• Flow equalization basin is located after most of the primary treatment units such as screening and grit
removal but before primary sedimentation.
• Flow equalization method controls the short term, high volumes of incoming flow, called surges, through
the use of basin.
• It helps in equalizing the flow rate and optimizing the time required for treatment in secondary and
tertiary processes. It also helps in lowering the strength wastewater by diluting it with wastewater
already present in the equalization basin.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• IN-LINE FLOW EQUALIZATION
• In the in-line arrangement, all of the flow passes through the equalization basin, This
arrangement can be used to achieve a considerable amount of constituent
concentration and flowrate damping.
• In this case, all the flow passes through the equalization basin and helps in achieving
reducing fluctuations in pollutant concentration and flow rate.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• OFF-LINE FLOW EQUALIZATION
• In this case, only over-flow above a predetermined value is diverted into the basin. It helps
in reducing the pumping requirements. In this method of equalization, variations in loading
rate can be reduced considerable. Off-line equalization is commonly used for the capture of
the “first flush” from combined collections system
• In the off line arrangement only the flow above some predetermined flow limit is diverted
into the equalization basin. Although pumping requirements are minimized in this
arrangement, the amount of constituent concentration damping is considerably reduced,
Off-line equalization is sometimes used to capture the "first flush" from combined
collection systems.
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment

OFF-LINE FLOW EQUALIZATION

Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• GRIT REMOVAL
• Inert dense material, such as sand, broken glass, silt, and pebbles, is called grit. If
these materials are not removed from the wastewater, they abrade pumps and other
mechanical devices, causing undue wear. In addition, they have a tendency to settle
in corners and bends, reducing flow capacity and, ultimately, clogging pipes and
channels
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Three basic types of grit-removal devices are available
1. Velocity-controlled (also known as a horizontal-flow grit chamber)
2. Aerated grit chamber
3. Vortex Grit Chambers
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
Pre-Treatment or Preliminary Treatment
• Aerated grit chamber
• An aerated grit chamber consists of a standard spiral flow aeration tank provided
with air diffusion tubes placed on one side of the tank. The grit particles tend to
settle down to the bottom of the tank at rates dependent upon the particle size and
the bottom velocity of roll of the spiral flow, which in turn depends on the rate of air
diffusion through diffuser tubes and shape of aeration tank.
• The heavier particles settle down whereas the lighter organic particles are carried
with roll of the spiral motion.
THANK YOU