RE-USE OF SEWAGE &

INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER
MANAGEMENT
Introduction
High quality effluent from wastewater treatment plants is considered a reliable source of water supply.
Increasing demand on fresh water for urban, industrial, irrigation, and many other needs has resulted in
increased interest in effluent reuse. Even effluent discharged into natural waters is considered an
indirect
reuse for water supply.
Reclaimed Water Reuse
Reclaimed water reuse is on the rise. Even effluent discharged into natural water is being considered as
an indirect reuse of effluent for water supply. The quality of reclaimed water is normally produced for
intended reuse. The common uses are:
(1) urban reuse, (6) industrial reuse,
(2) agricultural irrigation, (7) groundwater recharge,
(3) impoundments of recreational and aesthetic reuse,
(4) environmental reuse for habitat restoration and enhancement,
(5) augmentation of portable water supply.
1. Urban Water Reuse
Types of Reuse: The urban reuse of reclaimed water includes many nonpotable municipal uses within
an urban area. These uses include:
(1) irrigation of public parks and recreational centres, golf courses, athletic fields,
school yards and playgrounds, highway medians and shoulders, and landscaped
areas surrounding public buildings such as single-family and multifamily residences,
and commercial and industrial developments.
(2) commercial uses such as vehicle washing facilities, window and street washing and
general washdown;
(3) ornamental landscapes and decorative water uses such as fountains, pools, and
waterfalls;
(4) dust control and concrete production on construction projects;
(5) fire protection; and
(6) toilet and urinal flushing in commercial and industrial buildings. The largest urban
reuse however, constitutes irrigational uses within urban areas.
Reliability, Public Health, and Safety: The reclaimed water is normally delivered to the
consumers by a separate distribution network or dual system. The parallel network of
distribution mains are separated from community potable water distribution system. The
most important design and operation considerations for urban water reuse are reliability
of service and protection of public health.
The basic safeguards for urban water reuse systems are:
(1) assurance that the reclaimed water delivered to the users meets the water quality
requirements,
(2)assurance that the treated effluent has no detectable faecal coliform count on daily
monitoring, and desired level of chlorine residual is maintained at the point of use,
(3) prevention of improper system operation,
(4) prevention of cross-connection with potable water lines,
(5) prevention of improper use of reclaimed water. To avoid any cross-connection, all
equipment associated with reclaimed water must be clearly marked. The national colour
standards have not been established, but the accepted practice by manufacturers and
cities is to use purple colour of all pipes carrying reclaimed water.
Components of Reclamation System: The urban reclaimed water reuse systems have
four major components:
(2) production facility, (2) operational storage,
(3) high service pumping, (4) distribution system.
The production facility is the municipal wastewater treatment plant. The process train
should be designed to meet the desired effluent quality.
2. Industrial Water Reuse
Industries use enormous amounts of water, and present very large market
potential for reclaimed water. Major reclaimed water consuming industries are
steel, chemicals, pulp and paper mills, petroleum refining, and power plants.
Most industries treat and recycle the wastewater from their own processes to
conserve water and to avoid stringent regulatory standards for effluent discharge.
Major industrial water reuses are:
(1) cooling tower makeup water, (2) boiler feedwater,
(3) process water, (4) irrigation of landscaping around the plant.
The most common problems of using reclaimed water for cooling towers are
scaling, corrosion, biological growth and fouling, and foaming.
The boiler feedwater needs softening or demineralization.
The industrial process water is used for manufacturing and is treated to meet the
specific water quality requirements.
Cooling Tower Makeup Water and Blowdowns: Recirculating cooling towers
normally operate as a closed-loop system with blowdown and makeup water.
Warm water from a heat exchanger is sprayed on the top of the internal packing of
a tower. Cool air is pulled through the tower by large fans on the top.
The water evaporates and takes the latent heat of vaporization from the warm
water, and cool water is recirculated back to the heat exchanger from the bottom
of the cooling tower.
Water is lost by evaporation and also due to drift from wind.
Salts in the cooling water concentrate.
A portion of cooling water called blowdown is removed.
Makeup water is added to maintain proper salt balance in the cooling water.
A schematic process diagram of a cooling tower is shown in Figure 12.6.
From a recirculating cooling tower system water is lost by evaporation, drift, and blowdown. At a
steady state, water flow and salt mass balances are expressed by Equations 12.6a and 12.6b.
Public Health Concerns of Cooling Water: Legionellosis is a severe and potentially fatal disease. It
causes pneumonia, and has been linked to recirculating cooling water. The responsible organism is
Legionella spp.; a heterotrophic bacterium that grows in the biofilms and within protozoan and algal
cells that are found in the cooling tower. The organism is sensitive to temperatures above 60◦C. The
human
exposure is associated with aerosol from drifts. Control strategies include
(1) thermal treatment (ability to intermittently increase the temperature over 60◦C),
(2) disinfection by chlorine or ozone,
(3) use of high efficiency aerosol drift eliminator,
(4) control of solids and biofilm build up.
Boiler Feedwater and Blowdowns: Boilers produce hot water and/or steam for heating. Steam is also
used in thermoelectric power generation plants. Boiler feedwater needs extensive treatment
irrespective of. It may be locally available and is a reliable water supply source. its source. For this
reason, reclaimed water is an attractive resource for boiler feedwater
The boilers are low, intermediate, and high pressure. The feedwater in these boilers must be of high
quality because many impurities affect boiler performance.
Example 1.
Makeup water and blowdown requirements as a ratio of the recirculation rate may be calculated from
the energy balance. Calculate the makeup and blowdown flow rates if the recirculation rate in a cooling
tower is 100,000 L/min. The cooling temperature drop is 10◦C, and the recycle ratio is 6. The drift flow
rate is 0.005% of recirculating water.
3. Agricultural Irrigation Reuse
The agricultural irrigation offers a very large potential for reclaimed water reuse in the arid
regions. Being a reliable water supply source, reclaimed water can be used to supplement the
scarce natural water or sparse rainfall. The major considerations for agricultural irrigation reuse
are: (1) demand, (2) quality of reclaimed water,
(3) reliability, (4) costs.
The demand for agricultural irrigation may vary depending upon:
(a) climatic conditions (temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, etc.),
(b) crop type, (c) stage of plant growth,
(d) storage requirements, (e) method of irrigation.
Proper crop selection is the most important part of the design process for reclaimed water
irrigation system. The quality of reclaimed water is also important because some constituents
have special significance in agricultural irrigation. Among these are salinity, ratio of cautions,
trace elements, specific toxic ions, and nutrients. The impact of constituents are presented below.
Example 2: Reclaimed water is used to irrigate a crop. The electrical conductivity ECw is 1.5 ds/m
in the reclaimed water and the crop is irrigated to achieve a leaching fraction of 0.31. The
allowable TDS for irrigation water is ,1000 mg/L. Calculate (a) the salinity of reclaimed water and
(b) the fraction of applied water used by the crop and lost by evapotranspiration.
4. Impoundments for Recreational and Aesthetic Reuse
Reclaimed water is extensively used for recreational and aesthetic reuse, and beautification of
urban landscape and environment. Common uses include:
(1) maintenance of landscape and aesthetic impoundments;
(2) ornamental fountains;
(3) water-based recreational lakes for boating, fishing, and noncontact sports;
(4) rearing of freshwater sport and commercial fisheries;
(5) demonstration projects to emphasize the benefits of reusing high quality reclaimed water;
(6) snowmaking.
The extent of reuse projects in this category will depend upon water demand and availability of
reclaimed water of desired quality Impoundments of recreational and aesthetic reuse of
reclaimed water help to beautify the environment in urban areas; serve the needs of noncontact
uses and landscaping plan; and golf course and residential developments. These impoundments
integrate water traps or ponds, which may also be used as storage facility for irrigation water.
The required level of treatment varies with the intended use of reclaimed water. As the potential
for human contact increases, the required treatment levels will also increase. For nonrestricted
recreational uses, treatment of secondary effluent is to be followed by coagulation, filtration,
and disinfection to reduce TSS, precipitate phosphorus, improve appearance, reduce total
coliform count of ,3 per 100 mL, and improve virus removal.
5. Environmental Reuse for Habitat Restoration and Enhancement
Reclaimed water reuse may directly contribute to habitat restoration and enhancement of aquatic
environment. Many other reuses include development and restoration of wetlands, habitat
development, augmentation of existing stream flows, enhancement of water quality of ponds and
lakes, and restoration of stream ecology.
Wetlands serve many beneficial environmental functions. They may provide: (1) flood attenuation, (2)
habitat restoration for wildlife and water fowl,
(3) productivity to support the food chain, (4) aquifer recharge,
(5) water quality enhancement, (6) nutrients assimilation from treated water,
(7) aesthetic and environmental improvement, and (8) water quality enhancement of reclaimed water
by cost-effective treatment through natural systems. Aquaculture has been practiced primarily for
production of food, fiber, and fertilizer.
Engineered augmentation of stream flow from wastewater effluent is done for environmental,
aesthetic, ornamental, and recreational purposes, and propagation of aquatic life. In many arid
regions the reclaimed water is the primary source of water to maintain the base flow for aquatic and
riparian habitat enhancement. Riparian habitat consists of plants and animals occurring in a land area
adjacent to a stream or river, between the wet and dry zones.

Reclaimed water may also be a source of water supply to ponds and lakes. These ponds and lakes may
be ornamental and recreational impoundments. They may provide wildlife habitat, storage for
irrigation water, and in some cases an indirect source of drinking water supply.
6. Augmentation of Potable Water Supply
Water is a renewable resource. Nature purifies it through an unending hydrological cycle. Currently,
technology is available to treat wastewater to any extent the usage may require. The augmentation of
potable water supply from reclaimed water is achieved by indirect or direct potable water reuse. Both
methods are discussed below.

Indirect Potable Water Reuse: Indirect potable water reuse of reclaimed water is a common practice these
days in the United States. Many public attitude surveys have indicated that the general public is willing to
accept the indirect reuse of reclaimed water over direct reuse. Many surface water resources used for
municipal water supply are also used for effluent disposal. Thus, the dilution effects, and natural assimilation
processes provide further purification of wastewater effluent over the entire maturity period.
The water treatment plants further treat the combined surface and reclaimed water or in rare cases only
reclaimed water to meet the safe-drinking water quality standards. Similarly the groundwater recharge from
reclaimed water provides natural purification and dilution over the maturation period prior to potable reuse.
The indirect potable water reuse is also achieved by percolating the polluted surface water or high quality
reclaimed water into the groundwater zone from spreading basins, or from drain fields of porous pipes.
Partial treatment is achieved during passage through the soil until the groundwater is pumped out from an
extraction well.
The infiltration gallery, riverbank, or dune filtration systems are a performed horizontal conduit or tunnel
built along the bank of an impoundment or stream short distance away and typically in shallow depth. It
intercepts and collects the subsurface groundwater. The water flows through perforated conduit into a
tight chamber. From this chamber, the water is pumped into a treatment facility or into a distribution
system.
This method is distinctly different from groundwater recharge. The travel time is short, and the quality of
water must be checked against the water quality requirements prior to indirect potable water reuse. A
conceptual sketch of an infiltration gallery is shown in Figure 12.8. The unit flow rate collected from an
infiltration gallery is expressed by Equation 12.13b that is derived in Example 3.
Example 3
Infiltration galleries are constructed to treat in-situ the reclaimed water percolated from the bank of an
impoundment. Develop the discharge equation for an infiltration gallery that is laid more or less at right
angle to the direction of groundwater flow. The infiltration gallery will collect the treated reclaimed water
for indirect potable reuse.

Solution
1. Draw a conceptual sketch of an infiltration gallery and flow lines.
The conceptual sketch of infiltration gallery is shown in Figure 12.8.
2. Apply Darcy’s law to express the discharge through the selected element.
Example 4.
An infiltration gallery is built on the bank of a reclaimed water impoundment. The stratum is of clean sand
and gravel 7-m deep and has coefficient of permeability K = 10-1 cm/s. The percolated reclaimed water is
collected in an infiltration gallery penetrating to the bottom of the stratum. The water level in the
infiltration gallery is kept at 1.0 m above the sole of the stratum, and its distance from the diffusion ditch is
12 m. Calculate (a) flow per unit length of the gallery and (b) length of the gallery to obtain the reclaimed
water flow rate of 4000 m3/d.