ECE 2504

PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING III

17-May-2017
 Course Content
• Waste treatment and disposal for individual household and small
communities.

• Treatment of sludge and sludge liquors;

• Unit processes of physical, chemical and biological treatment of waste

water.

• Re-use of sewage and industrial waste management.

• Adsorption Isotherms.

• Solid waste collection and disposal methods.

• Labs: Sludge volume index, oxygen consumption rate, specific gravity tests.
 References
• Williams P. T., (2005), Waste treatment and disposal, 2nd Edition, Wiley
• Andreoli C. V., Sperling M. V., Fernandes F., (2007),Sludge Treatment and Disposal,
IWA Publishing

• Sperling M. V., (2007) Wastewater Characteristics, Treatment and Disposal, IWA

Publishing

• Woodard & Curran, Inc, (2006), Industrial Waste Treatment Handbook, 2nd Edition,
Butterworth-Heinemann

• Tchobanoglous G., Theisen H., Vigil S. A., (1993), Integrated solid waste
management: engineering principles and management issues, 2nd Edition,
McGrawHill

• Bagchi A., (2004), Design of Landfills and Integrated Solid Waste Management, 3rd
Edition, John Wiley & Sons
•
Waste treatment and disposal for individual
household and small communities

Contents

1. Excreta Management
(Pit latrine… no piped water supply)

2. Septic Tanks
Depending on the Size of the Community, Location,
Financial and Other Aspects
(1) Individual Household (<10 people)
(i) Pit latrines: Excreta:- Solid matter (feaces : 100-500 g wet
weight of feces/capita/day) + Urine (1.3 L of
urine/capita/day)….no piped water supply
(ii) Soakage pits: Sullage (wastewater waters from washing,
bathing, and cooking
(iii) Septic tank: both excreta and sullage

(2) Small community (<300 people)

(i) Septic tank/ aqua privy
(ii) Oxidation ponds
(iii) Small treatment plant

(3) Large community

(i) Oxidation ponds
(ii) Conventional sewage treatment works
 Why have excreta disposed off correctly?
• The pathogens leave the body of the infected person
via the excreta and can then be transmitted to
healthy individuals.

• Five types of excreta-related diseases or

transmission routes may be identified:
– Faeco-oral transmission (bacterial and non-bacterial)
– Helminths (worms) transmitted by the soil
– Beef and pork tapeworms (Taenia)
– Water-based helminths
– Excreta-related diseases transmitted by insect vectors
 Pit Latrines

• This consist of a hand dug hole in the ground

covered with concrete slab/wooden beams
with a squatting hole

• The slab is enclosed within a simple well

ventilated building

• The pit latrine is simple in design and easy to

use and does not require any operations
 Pit Latrines
• The function of the pit is to isolate and store human excreta
(hygienically separates human excreta from human contact) .

• In Kenya the pit are often as deep as 10m.

• This maybe bored but they are usually hand dug.
• The method of excavation often govern the cross section.
• Pits should be of sufficient width to ensure that the sides are
not splashed during use, which can cause favorable
conditions for insects breeding

• The sides of the pit may or may not be supported depending

on the nature of the ground

• Once full the pit is covered and another pit dug

 Adequate ?

The excreta disposal system is considered “adequate” if it is private or shared (but not
public) and if it hygienically separates human excreta from human contact.
 Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine
• Principle disadvantages of simple
pit latrines
– Odor
– Fly nuisance
• These are reduced in VIP latrines
– Heating the air inside the
external vent pipe under the
influence of solar radiation
improves circulation of air
effectively eliminating odors.
Vent pipe should be painted
black and located on the sunny
side of the superstructure.

– Flies are attracted to the top of

the vent pipe. The vent pipe
should have a screen to prevent
flies entering through it
 Correct VIP?

5/18/2016
 Bucket Latrine
• Consists of a bucket
in which excreta are
deposited and which is
removed for emptying and
cleaning at frequent intervals

• Its use is decreasing

because of fly hazards and
unsanitary conditions of
handling the bucket
Waste treatment and disposal for individual
household and small communities

Contents

1. Excreta Management
(Pit latrine… no piped water supply)

2. Septic Tanks
 SEPTIC TANK
• Is a rectangular or
cylindrical chamber
usually located just
below ground level
that receives both
– excreta and
– flash waters from
toilets as well as
other households
waste waters
(sullage).
 Processes in Septic Tanks
• Settleable solids settle to the tank
bottom accumulate and are then
anaerobically digested.

• A scum of light weight material

including fat and grease rises to
the top.

• The clarified liquid (supernatant)

flows through an outlet structure
just below the floating scum layer
and is normally treated through a
sub-surface, soil absorption
system.

• The effluent from the septic tank Schematic Diagram of a Conventional TWO
contains high concentration of Compartment Septic Tank
organic matter, nutrients and
other micro-organisms, it should
not be discharged to surface
drains, streams or lakes without
treatments.
 Septic Tanks

Advantages of Septic Tanks

1. It is flexible and adaptable to a wide variety of individual households waste disposal
requirements.
2. It has no moving parts and therefore needs little mechanical maintenance

Disadvantages
1. Septic tanks are more expensive than other onsite waste treatment systems and
generally only found in affluent (wealthy) areas

2. The systems requires a permeable sub-soil structures for soakage and therefore there
are chances of ground water contamination therefore creating a public health hazard

3. Space for drainage fields are required

4. Septic tank system needs piped water

 Design of a Septic Tank
• A septic tank should be designed to remove all
settleable solids and to decompose organic
matter anaerobically.

• To accomplish this, the tank must provide the

following:

1. Proper volume of septic tank to adequately retain

the waste

2. Proper placement of inlet and outlet devices and

adequate sludge and scum storage.
1. Proper Volume of Septic Tank to Adequately Retain the Waste

• For effective sedimentation of the

sewage solids, the liquid retention
time should be at least 24 hrs.

• 2/3 of the tank volume is normally

reserved for the storage of
accumulated sludge and scum so that
the size of septic tank should be on 3
day retention at the start up. This
ensures at least one day of retention
just before each discharging
operation.

• Tanks of cylindrical shapes made of

sewer tanks of ample size have been Sectional View
used and in some cases are less costly
to install.

• A rectangular shape is most favored

with a length 2 to 3 times its width
and a depth 1-2 m.
 Example
• A rural boarding school with a student population of 600 and 150
members of staff (including their families) are to be served with septic
tank system. Given that their average water consumption is 50l/c/d, 75
percent of which enters the septic tank system, determine the sizes of the
septic tank

Volume of the Septic Tank V

Rate of flow Q  (600  150) *50l / c / d  75 /100  28,125l / d
Based on three day retention period (t )
V  Qt
 28,125 103  3
 84.375m3
To allow some free board
V  85.0m3
 2. Proper placement of inlet and outlet devices and
adequate sludge and scum storage
• To prevent the discharge of the sludge and scum
in the effluent.

• The inlet to a septic tank can be a sanitary Tee

(T) or an elbow with a diameter greater than 10
cm.

• Its vertical leg should extend to about 20% of

the liquid depth.

• The outlet can also be a T or a baffle (a wall

behind the exit pipe) placed in such a way that
the bottom of the horizontal leg is below the
level of the inlet pipe. Its vertical length must
extend above the top and to about 40% of the
liquid depth.

• Manholes should be provided to serve as a

means to inspect the septic tanks and to empty
the settled sludge. This manhole should be
airtight to prevent odours.

• Since the digestion process is anaerobic no

direct ventilation is necessary
 Treatment of the Septic Tank Effluents

• There are three general procedure of disposing

septic tank effluents
– Absorption fields
– Evapotranspiration mould
– Soakage Pits or Soakaways
 Absorption/ Drain fields
• Where site conditions are suitable and do not cause any danger
to ground water quality subsurface soil absorption is usually
the best method for disposal of septic tank effluent.
Absorption/ Drain fields -The design approach
 Evapotranspiration mould
• These are substituted for the drain field in areas
where the water table is near the surface or
soil percolation is insufficient.

• They should be located in areas not subject to

flooding and a sloping grade (gradient) to
facilitate gravity drainage in the system.

• [Insert Fig.2 Evaporation Mould]

 Soakage Pits
• These are recommended as alternatives
– when absorption trenches are impractical,
– where the pervious soil is deep or
– where an impervious upper layer is under laid by a
porous layer.
• The effluent flows through the pit walls made
of open jointed bricks and rocks into the
surrounding soil and is treated by bacteria
present in the soil.

• [Insert Fig.3 Soakage pit]

 Soakage Pits
Typical design supposed to be

• ∅: 2 - .5 m

• Depth: 3 - 6 m deep

• Infiltration rate: 10 l/m2/d

 Treatment and Disposal of Sludge
• Sludge and scum must be removed from the tank when they
occupy a 1/3 of the tank capacity.

• The operation is usually done every one to five years.

• It is taken that sludge accumulates at a rate of 0.03- 0.04

m3/person/yr.

• So given the number of users and the volume of the tank, the
desludging interval can be calculated.
Treatment and Disposal of Sludge
 Treatment and Disposal of Sludge
• Because survival of pathogens is highly possible the
desludging should be done with caution.

• The most satisfactory method of desludging is to use a tanker

lorry equipped with a pump and a suction hose.

• But when the tanker is not available the exercise can be done
manually.
 Exercise
• A family of five persons is discharging waste
water at a rate of 100 liters per capital per day.
Determine the sizes of the septic tank and
drain field or soak pit required for the
treatment and disposal of this waters. Assume
a soil infiltration rate of 10 l/m2/day and a
sludge accumulation rate of 0.04 m3/c/yr