Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Glasgow*
Consulting Engineer
Gardnerville, Nevada
ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
E
nvironmental engineers are con- 22.1 Prevention of
cerned with works developed to pro- Environmental Pollution
tect and promote public health,
improve the environment, and pre- Because of public concern over accelerating deteri-
vent degradation of land, water, and air. Their oration of the natural environment, Congress
practice includes surveys, reports, designs, established the Environmental Protection Agency
reviews, management, operation, and investiga- (EPA) and passed legislation to control disposal of
tions of such works. They also engage in research solid wastes and pollution of water and air. The fol-
in engineering sciences and such related sciences lowing legislation is of particular significance to
as chemistry, physics, and microbiology to advance environmental engineers.
the objectives of protecting public health and con-
trolling environment. National Environmental Policy Act n All
Environmental engineering deals with treat- agencies of the Federal government and state and
ment and distribution of water supply; collection, municipal agencies executing programs supported
treatment, and disposal of wastewater; control of by Federal funds are required to carefully consider
pollution in surface and underground waters; col- the environmental consequences of major actions,
lection, treatment, and disposal of solid and haz- including proposed construction projects, and pro-
ardous wastes; housing and institutional sanita- posed legislation. The objectives are:
tion; rodent and insect control; control of
atmospheric pollution; limitations on exposure to 1. Fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as
radiation; limitations on noises; and other environ- trustee of the environment for the succeeding
mental factors affecting the health, comfort, safety, generation.
and well-being of people. This section, while cov-
2. Assure for all Americans safe, healthful, pro-
ering primarily the aspects related to handling of
ductive, and esthetically and culturally pleasing
liquid wastes, also deals briefly with other envi-
surroundings.
ronment-related tasks, such as solid-waste han-
dling and air pollution. (See also environmental 3. Attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the
discussions in Sec. 14 and subsequent sections.) environment without degradation, risk to health
22.1
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22.2 n Section Twenty-Two
or safety, or other undesirable and unintended late disposal of solid wastes on land in accordance
consequences. with Federal criteria.
4. Preserve important historic, cultural, and natural
aspects of our national heritage, and maintain, Marine Protection, Research and
wherever possible, an environment that supports Sanctuaries Act n EPA is required to protect
diversity and variety of individual choice. the oceans from indiscriminate dumping of wastes
and to designate safe sites for dumping. An objec-
5. Achieve a balance between population and
tive is an ultimate halt in ocean dumping of
resource use that will permit high standards of
wastes. The Corps of Engineers issues, subject to
living and a wide sharing of life’s amenities.
EPA approval, permits for dredging, filling of wet-
6. Enhance the quality of renewable resources and lands, or dumping of dredged material.
approach the maximum attainable recycling of
depletable resources. Superfund (Comprehensive Environmen-
tal Response, Compensation and Liability
Clean Water Act (Federal Water Pollu- Act) n The Federal government is authorized to
tion Control Act) n The objective is to restore and remove and safely dispose of pollutants in haz-
maintain the chemical, physical, and biological ardous waste sites, underground water supplies
integrity of the nation’s waters. The act directs EPA and other facilities. The act establishes a Haz-
to establish technology-based limitations and stan- ardous Waste Response Fund to pay for cleanup
dards for industrial discharges. The states set water- and damage claims. EPA designates substances
quality standards for their waters. Control is that may present substantial hazards to public
achieved principally by issuance of permits by EPA health or welfare or to the environment. The
or delegated states under the National Pollutant National Response Center should be notified of
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). EPA in releases of hazardous substances.
some instances provides financial support for con-
struction or modification of publicly owned Clean Air Act n The objective is to protect
sewage-treatment works and awards grants to public health and welfare from the harmful effects
states for preparation of water-quality management of air pollution. EPA promulgates National Ambient
plans and for executing requirements of the act. Air Quality Standards. To meet these standards, the
states prepare State Implementation Plans and
Safe Drinking Water Act n EPA is required plans for enhancement of visibility and prevention
to establish regulations for public drinking water of significant deterioration of air quality in areas
supplies. Primary regulations set maximum allow- where the standards have been attained. EPA also
able levels for contaminants in drinking water and develops New Source Performance Standards, to
establish criteria for water treatment. Secondary reduce pollutant emissions, and National Emission
regulations deal with taste, odor, and appearance of Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, applicable
drinking water. Other regulations protect ground- to pollutants that will cause an increase in mortality
water through controls over injection wells under or incapacitating illness. In addition, EPA sets limits
the Underground Injection Control Program. EPA on emissions from moving sources of air pollution.
delegates primary responsibility for enforcement to (R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ-
the states and supports state programs with grants. mental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing
Company.)
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act n The objectives are to improve management 22.2 Major Sources of Water
of solid wastes, protect the environment and
human health, and conserve valuable material and
Pollution
energy resources. The act also provides for state There are two major sources of water pollution:
programs regulating hazardous wastes from gen- point sources and nonpoint sources. The former
eration to disposal, including disposal of industrial consists of sources that discharge pollutants from a
sludges containing toxic materials. The states regu- well-defined place, such as outfall pipes of sewage-
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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Environmental Engineering n 22.3
treatment plants and factories. Nonpoint sources, tions of the community. It may include process
in contrast, cannot be located with such precision. wastes of industry, groundwater infiltration, sur-
They include runoff from city streets, construction face-water inflow, and miscellaneous waste liq-
sites, farms, or mines. Therefore, prevention of uids. It is primarily spent water from building
water pollution requires a mixture of controls on water supply, to which have been added the sani-
discharges from both point and nonpoint sources. tary waste materials of bathroom, kitchen, and
Under the Clean Water Act (Art. 22.1), the EPA may laundry. (See Art. 22.14.)
provide funding for planning control strategies Storm water is precipitation collected from
under its Water Quality Management Program. property and streets and carrying with it the wash-
Domestic wastewater and industrial discharges ings from surfaces.
are major point sources. The Clean Water Act and Industrial wastes are primarily the specific liq-
the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries uid waste products collected from industrial pro-
Act (Art. 22.1) aim at elimination of discharge of cessing but may contain small quantities of domes-
pollutants in navigable waters and the ocean. tic sewage. Such wastes vary with the process and
Wastewater is the liquid effluent of a communi- contain some quantity of the material being
ty. This spent water is a combination of the liquid processed or chemicals used for processing pur-
and water-carried wastes from residences, commer- poses. Industrial cooling water when mixed with
cial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, process water is also called industrial waste.
plus groundwater, surface water, or storm water. Industrial wastes, as distinguished from
Wastewater may be grouped into four classes: domestic wastes, are related directly to processing
operations and usually are the liquid fraction of
Class 1 n Effluents that are nontoxic and not processing that has no further use in recovery of a
directly polluting but liable to disturb the physical product. These wastes may contain substances
nature of the receiving water; they can be that, when discharged into surface water or
improved by physical means. They include such groundwater, cause some biological, chemical, or
effluents as cooling water from power plants. physical change in the water.
Organic substances exert a biochemical oxygen
Class 2 n Effluents that are nontoxic but pol- demand (BOD) of relatively high proportion com-
luting because they have an organic content with pared with domestic waste. It is not unusual in
high oxygen demand. They can be treated for food processing to have wastes with a BOD of 1000
removal of objectionable characteristics by biologi- to 5000 mg/L or in the processing of edible oils to
cal methods. The main constituent of this class of have 10,000 to 25,000 mg/L BOD.
effluent usually is domestic sewage. But the class The wastes may cause discoloration of a receiv-
also includes storm water and wastes from dairy ing stream, as in the release of dyes, or increase the
product plants and other food factories. temperature of the water, as in the case of a cooling
tower or process-cooling water discharges.
Class 3 n Effluents that contain poisonous
Chemicals in the waste may be toxic to aquatic
materials and therefore are often toxic. They can be
life, animals, or human populations using the
treated by chemical methods. When they occur,
water, or may in some way affect water quality by
such effluents generally are included in industrial
imparting taste or odor. Phenols introduced into
wastes, for example, those from metal finishing.
water in the parts-per-billion range can produce
Class 4 n Effluents that are polluting because such marked taste that the water becomes unusable
of organic content with high oxygen demand and, for many purposes. Nitrogen and phosphorus may
in addition, are toxic. Their treatment requires a stimulate aquatic growth, and algae populations in
combination of chemical, physical, and biological the receiving stream may be increased. Some algae
processes. When such effluents occur, they gener- are detrimental to water quality since they too pro-
ally are included in industrial wastes, for example, duce taste, odor, color, and turbidity in the water.
those from tanning. Industrial wastes that contain large quantities
of solids may produce objectionable and danger-
Domestic wastewater is collected from ous levels of sludge on the bottom of a stream or
dwelling units, commercial buildings, and institu- along the banks. These add to the chemical, bio-
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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22.4 n Section Twenty-Two
logical, and physical degradation of the stream. Storm sewers are designed specifically to con-
Discharges containing oil may render bathing vey storm water, street wash, and other surface
beaches useless, interfere with nesting water fowl, water to disposal points.
and present extra problems of removal in water- Combined sewers are designed for both
treatment processes. domestic wastewater and storm water. They cost
Wastes containing acids or alkalies may attack less than separate sanitary and storm sewers, but
pier structures and water craft and produce seri- disposal of the flow may create objectionable or
ous toxic effects on fish life. hazardous conditions or involve costly treatment.
Some wastes, such as those containing copper, A large flow of water from a storm may make ade-
interfere with the normal processes of wastewater quate wastewater treatment impossible or increase
treatment and may, if mixed with municipal waste, its cost considerably.
render the whole treatment process inoperative. Building sewers, or house connections, are
Pretreatment of industrial wastes is often required to pipes carrying wastewater from the plumbing sys-
protect the sewers and treatment plant maintained tems of buildings to a sewer or disposal plant. In
by a municipal agency. Toxic pollutants are con- urban areas, the flow goes to a common sewer,
trolled by EPA General Pretreatment Regulations, which serves abutting property. This conduit may
which contain limits on specific substances dis- be a lateral, one that receives wastewater only
charged by various industries. Treatment of industri- from house sewers. A submain, or branch, sewer
al wastes to the degree required to protect a receiv- takes the flow from two or more laterals. A main,
ing body of water is a requirement in all states; it or trunk, sewer handles the flow from two or more
may range from neutralization and other simple pri- submains or a submain plus laterals. An outfall
mary treatments to complete treatment or, in some sewer extends from the end of a collection system
instances, even an advanced stage of treatment to or to a treatment plant disposal point.
remove trace chemicals (see also Art. 22.31). An intercepting sewer receives dry-weather
Combined wastes are the mixed discharge of flow and specific, limited quantities of storm water
domestic waste and storm water in a single from several combined sewers. A storm-overflow
pipeline. Industrial waste may or may not be sewer carries storm-flow excess from a main or
found in a combined waste and can be carried intercepting sewer to an independent outlet.
apart from either in an industrial sewer. A relief sewer is one built to relieve an existing
(W. W. Eckenfelder, Jr., “Industrial Water Pollu- sewer with inadequate capacity.
tion Control,” and R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Hand- Usually, domestic-wastewater or storm-water
book of Environmental Engineering,” McGraw- flow does not completely fill the conduit. But all
Hill Publishing Company, New York; N. L. sewers may be filled at some time and must be capa-
Nemerow, “Liquid Wastes of Industry: Theories, ble of withstanding some hydraulic pressure. Some
Practices and Treatment,” and R. L. Culp et al., types are always under pressure. Force mains flow
“Advanced Wastewater Treatment,” Van Nostrand full under pressure from a pump. Inverted siphons,
Reinhold Company, New York.) conduits that dip below the hydraulic grade line,
also flow full and under pressure.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.5
The quantity and flow patterns of domestic seasonal and annual averages often are about
wastewater are affected principally by population equal in May and June. The seasonal average may
and population increase; population density and rise to about 125% of the annual average in late
density change; water use, water demand, and summer and drop to about 90% at winter’s end.
water consumption; industrial requirements; com- Peak flows may exceed 300% of average in later-
mercial requirements; expansion of service geo- als and 200% of average at the treatment plant. Sev-
graphically; groundwater geology of the area; and eral state health departments require that laterals
topography of the area. and submains be designed for a minimum of 400
The quantity of domestic wastewater, however, gcd, including normal infiltration (see below), and
generally is less than water consumption since main, trunk, and outfall sewers, for a minimum of
some portion of water used for firefighting, lawn 250 gcd, including normal infiltration, and any
irrigation, street washing, industrial processing, known substantial amounts of industrial waste.
and leakage does not reach the sewer. Some of
these losses, however, may be offset by addition of Inflow into Sewers n Water may inflow into
water from private wells, groundwater infiltration, a sewer system and service connections from such
and illegal connections from roof drains. If the sources as roof, cellar, yard, area, and foundation
community to be served by the sewerage system drains, cooling-water discharges, drains from
already exists, the wastewater flow may be esti- springs and swamps, manhole covers, cross con-
mated from the gallons per capita per day (gcd) of nections from storm and combined sewers, catch
water being consumed. For a planned community, basins, storm water, surface runoff, and street
the estimate may be based on the gcd of water washes or drainage. Inflow does not include infil-
being consumed by an existing similar community. tration into sewers.
Table 22.1 lists reported flows for several large
United States cities. Although flow may range Infiltration into Sewers n Water may infil-
from 70 to 130% of water consumption, designers trate sewers through poor joints, cracked pipes,
often assume the average flow equal to the average walls of manholes, perforated manhole covers, and
water consumption or, for estimating purposes, drains from flooded cellars. Sewers in wet ground
100 to 110 gcd. The peak flow often is several times with a high water table or close to streambeds will
larger than the average. have more infiltration than sewers in other loca-
The rate of flow of domestic wastewater varies tions. Since infiltration increases the sewage load,
with water use. But short-term fluctuations tend to it is undesirable. The sewer design should specify
dampen out inasmuch as there is a time lag from joints that will allow little or no infiltration, and the
the time of water use to the time the flow reaches joints should be carefully made in the field.
the sanitary-sewer mains. Hourly, daily, and sea- Some specifications limit infiltration to 500 gal
sonal fluctuations, though, affect design of sewers, per day per inch diameter per mile. Often, enforce-
pumping stations, and treatment plants. ment agency specifications and requirements call
Daily and seasonal variations depend largely for leakage tests. Some states limit the net leakage
on community characteristics. In a residential dis- to 500 gal/day per inch diameter per mile for any
trict, greatest use of water is in the early morning. section of the system.
A pronounced peak usually occurs about 9 A.M. in
the laterals. In commercial and industrial districts, Estimating Storm-Water Flow n An esti-
where water is used all day, a peak may occur dur- mate of the quantity of storm water flowing into
ing the day, but it is less pronounced. At the outfall, sewers during or following a period of rain is nec-
the peak flow probably will occur about noon. essary for their design. Preparation of the estimate
Wherever possible, measure flow in existing sew- requires knowledge of intensity and duration of
ers and at treatment plants to determine actual storms, distances the water will travel before
variations in flow. reaching the sewers, permeability and slope of the
For residences housing families with both drainage area, and shape and size of the drainage
spouses working, weekend flows may be higher area. Estimating by the rational method (empirical)
than weekday flows. Industrial operations of a sea- incorporates these general considerations into one
sonal nature influence the seasonal average. The equation:
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22.6 n Section Twenty-Two
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Environmental Engineering n 22.7
* From Computer Run 1974: National Water Quality Inventory, app. C, vol. II, Office of Water Planning and Standards, EPA 440/9-74-001.
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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22.8 n Section Twenty-Two
Sufficient depth of soil cover is necessary to charge takes place at about 0.9 of the total depth of
prevent damage from traffic loads. Also, the sew- the section. Sewers, however, should be designed
ers should be below the frost level. Municipal and to withstand some hydraulic pressure.
state regulations on cover should always be For storm sewers, common practice is to permit
reviewed before a design for a specific location is pipe to carry design flow at full depth. Sanitary
undertaken. sewers should be designed to carry peak design
The location of the sewers should be shown in flow with a depth from half full for the smallest
elevation on profiles. Horizontal scale may be 1 in sewers to full for the larger sewers. For example,
in 40 ft or 1 in in 100 ft, depending on the amount sewers under 15 in in diameter are usually
of detail. Vertical scale generally is 10 times the designed to flow half full during peak flow peri-
horizontal. ods, whereas sewers from 15 to 60 in in diameter
The final design should include a general map may be designed to flow three-quarters full and
of the whole area showing location of all sewers sewers larger than 60 in, to flow full. Laterals may
and underground utilities and the drainage areas; be designed for ultimate flow of the area to be
detailed plans and profiles of sewers showing served. Submains may be designed for 10 to 40
ground levels, sizes of pipe and slopes, and loca- years ahead. Trunk sewers may be planned for
tion of appurtenances; detailed plans of all appur- long periods, with provision made in design for
tenances and structures; a complete report with parallel or separate routings of trunks of smaller
necessary charts and tables to make clear the exact size to be constructed as the need arises. Appurte-
nature of the project; complete specifications; and nances may have a different life since replacement
a confidential estimate of costs for the owner or of mechanical equipment will be necessary. Usual-
agency responsible for the project. ly, they are designed for 20 to 25 years ahead, and
Extensive plans require tabulation of data a timetable of additions during that period is then
beginning at the upper end of the system and pro- scheduled in an overall improvement plan.
ceeding downstream from manhole to manhole. In general, flow may be assumed uniform in
The addition to flow from connecting sewers straight sewers. Velocity changes, however, will
should be included. occur at obstacles and changes in sewer cross sec-
For combined sewers, provision also must be tion and should be considered in making
made for handling dry-weather or sanitary flow at hydraulic computations.
proper velocities in sewers that may carry large
quantities of water after a storm. Design is compli- Velocity Formulas n Velocity of flow, ft/s, in
cated by the need for diversion of waters not flow- straight sewers without obstructions may be esti-
ing to a sewage-treatment plant. Diversion struc- mated with satisfactory accuracy from the Man-
tures should be located at or near water courses ning formula
into which storm water may be discharged. The
effects of discharging polluted water, a combina- (22.2)
tion of sanitary sewage and storm water, should be
fully investigated.
Approval of a supervising government agency, where n = coefficient dependent on roughness
such as a county, parish, or city agency, usually of conduit surface
must be obtained for the plans. Sewer designers R = hydraulic radius, ft = area, ft2, of
should be familiar with requirements for sewers in fluid divided by wetted perimeter, ft
the locale in which work is to be done. S = energy loss, ft/ft of conduit length;
approximately the slope of the con-
Design Flows n Unless force mains are duit invert for uniform flow
required because sewage must be pumped, or
inverted siphons are necessary because of a drop C = 1.486 (conversion factor to account
in terrain or encounters with obstacles, sewers for change from metric units used in
usually are sized for open-channel flow. Maximum development of the formula)
flow occurs when a conduit is not completely full. (See also Art. 21.9.) A common value for n is 0.013,
For example, for a circular pipe, maximum dis- suitable for well-laid brickwork, smooth concrete
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Environmental Engineering n 22.9
pipe, and vitrified clay pipe with liner plates. For Slopes n Pipe slopes generally should exceed
vitrified clay pipes without liner plates, and plastic the minimum desirable for maintaining minimum
and resin-lined pipes, 0.011 may be used for n for velocity for design flow since actual flows, espe-
design purposes. For corrugated-metal pipe, n may cially before a development reaches its ultimate
range from 0.011 for a spun asphalt lining to 0.02 size, may be much smaller than design flow. Actu-
for the plain pipe or pipe with a paved invert. al velocity then may be less than the self-cleaning
Smaller values of n than the preceding may be velocity. For example, suppose a circular pipe is
used for new smooth pipe, but the roughness, and sized and sloped to handle design flow when flow-
value of n, is likely to increase with age. The quan- ing full at 3 ft/s. This velocity will also be main-
tity of flow, ft3/s, is given by tained when the pipe is flowing half full to full. But
if the depth of flow drops to one-third the diame-
(22.3) ter, the velocity will decrease to about 2.4 ft/s; and
at a depth 0.2 of the diameter, velocity declines to
where A = cross-sectional area of flow, ft2. about 1.8 ft/s.
Table 22.2 gives the hydraulic characteristics of
Minimum Velocity n Velocity should be at circular pipe. It enables the quantity and velocity
least 2 ft/s in sanitary sewers to prevent settlement of flow to be computed for a circular pipe flowing
of solids. Slopes and cross sections of sewers partly full, when the respective values for the pipe
should be chosen to achieve this or a larger veloci- flowing full are known. The quantity, ft3/s, for flow
ty for design flows. Greater velocities are desirable full may be estimated from
for storm and combined sewers because the flow
may carry heavy sand and grit; a minimum of 3 ft/s
is desirable. Where sewers are sized for lower (22.4)
velocities than recommended minimums, provi-
sion for flushing and removal of obstructions
should be made in the design. and the velocity for flow full from
Depth of flow Partial area Quantity, ft3/s, partly full Velocity partly full
3
Inside diameter Total area Quantity, ft /s, flowing full Velocity flowing full
0 0 0 0
0.05 0.019 0.005 0.25
0.10 0.052 0.021 0.40
0 15 0.094 0.049 0.52
0.20 0.143 0.088 0.62
0.25 0.196 0.137 0.70
0.30 0.252 0.195 0.77
0.35 0.312 0.262 0.84
0.40 0.374 0.336 0.90
0 45 0.437 0.416 0.95
0.50 0.500 0.500 1.00
0.60 0.627 0.671 1.07
0.70 0.748 0.837 1.12
0.80 0.858 0.977 1.14
0.90 0.950 1.067 1.12
0.95 0.982 1.075 1.09
1.00 1.000 1.000 1.00
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22.10 n Section Twenty-Two
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Environmental Engineering n 22.11
Table 22.3 Quantities, Velocities, and Slopes for Circular Sewers, Flowing Full*
Velocity, ft /s
Dia, in
2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
* From Manning formula [Eqs. (22.4) and (22.5)] for n = 0.013. For other values of n, multiply slopes given in the table by n / 0.013; mul-
tiply quantities and velocities by 0.013 /n. Velocities less than 2 ft /s are not recommended.
† Q = quantity of flow ft3 /s.
‡
S = slope, ft / 1000 ft.
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22.12 n Section Twenty-Two
Fig. 22.1 Some shapes used for large reinforced concrete sewers: (a) Circular; (b) rectangular; (c) semi-
elliptical; (d) horseshoe.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.13
Several inlets also are necessary to reduce pondage in. The depression may extend up to 3 ft from the
where the drainage area would be too large for a curb. Depth of flow in the gutter may be estimated
single inlet in a valley. from the Manning formula.
Flow through an inlet is directed by a concrete Grate inlets should be placed with bars parallel
or masonry enclosure to a pipe at the bottom (Fig. to the flow. Length of opening should be at least 18
22.2). The size of the enclosure generally is deter- in to allow the flow to fall clear of the downstream
mined by the inlet length, which in turn is deter- end of the slot. For depths of flow up to 0.4 ft. capac-
mined by the quantity of runoff to be drained, ity of inlet may be calculated from the weir formula
depth of water in the gutter at the inlet, and slope
of the gutter. Runoff quantity can be estimated by (22.7)
use of the rational formula [Eq. (22.1)].
An inlet may be a curb opening, a gutter grat- where P = perimeter, ft, of grate opening over
ing, or a combination of the two. Capacity of the which water may flow, ignoring the bars. For
curb-opening type when diverting 100% of gutter depths of flow greater than 1.4 ft, capacity may be
flow may be computed from computed from the orifice formula
(22.6) (22.8)
where Q = quantity of runoff, ft3/s where A = total area of clear opening, ft2
a = depression in curb inlet, ft At depths between 0.4 and 1.4 ft, neither formula
may be applicable because of turbulence. A rough
y = depth of flow at inlet, ft estimate may be made by using the smaller of the
In practice, the gutter may be depressed up to 5 in values of Q obtained from Eqs. (22.7) and (22.8).
below the normal gutter line along the length of Combination inlets are desirable, especially at
the inlet. Slope of the gutter commonly is 1 in in 12 low points, because the curb opening provides
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22.14 n Section Twenty-Two
relief from flooding if the gate becomes clogged. If Company, New York; G. M. Fair et al., “Water and
the gutter grate is efficient, the combination inlet Wastewater Engineering,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
will have a capacity only slightly greater than a New York.)
similar inlet with grate alone. Hence, only the grate
capacity should be depended on in designing a
combination inlet.
22.7 Manholes
Catch basins (Fig. 22.3) are inlets with enclo- A manhole is a concrete or masonry enclosure for
sures that permit debris to settle out before the providing access to a sewer. The lower portion
water enters the sewer. With good sewer grades usually is cylindrical, with an inside diameter of at
and careful construction, however, catch basins are least 4 ft to allow adequate space for workers. The
unnecessary because flow will be adequate to pre- upper portion generally tapers to the opening to
vent debris from clogging the sewer. Also, since the street. About 2 ft in diameter, the opening is
water trapped in catch basins may permit mosqui- capped with a heavy cast-iron cover seated on a
toes to hatch and may be a source of bad odors, cast-iron frame. Figure 22.4a shows a typical man-
simple inlets are preferable. Furthermore, catch hole for sewers up to about 60 in in diameter, and
basins are more expensive to maintain because Fig. 22.4b shows one type used for larger sewers.
they must be cleaned frequently. Sewers are interrupted at manholes to permit
(“Design and Construction of Sanitary and inspection and cleaning. The flow passes through
Storm Sewers,” Manual 37, American Society of the manholes in channels at the bottom. Stainless
Civil Engineers; Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater steel or plastic-coated rungs on the manhole walls
Engineering,” 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing enable workers to climb down to the sewers.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.15
Fig. 22.4 Concrete manholes: (a) For sewers under 60 in in diameter; (b) for larger sewers.
For sewers up to about 60 in in diameter, man- than 2 ft, however, a steeper slope for the upper
holes are spaced 300 to 600 ft apart. They also are sewer is usually more economical.
placed where sewers intersect or where there is a Where a large quantity of sewage must be
significant change in direction, grade, or pipe size. dropped a long distance, a wellhole may be used.
Since workers can walk through larger sewers, The fall may be broken by staggered horizontal
manholes for these may be spaced farther apart. plates in the shaft or by a well or sump at the bot-
Drop manholes are used where one sewer joins tom from which the sewage overflows to a lower
another several feet below. The lower sewer enters level sewer. In a flight sewer, concrete steps break
the manhole at the bottom in the usual manner. the fall.
The upper sewer, however, turns down sharply Most street and highway departments and
just outside the manhole and enters it at the bot- departments of public works have standard plans
tom, where a channel feeds the flow to the main for manholes. Use of deep manholes, however, is
channel. To permit cleaning of the upper sewer decreasing, because of objections of maintenance
from the manhole, the upper sewer also extends to workers.
the manhole at constant slope past the sharp drop (“Gravity Sanitary Sewer Design and Construc-
through which the wastewater flows. Although tion,” Manual and Report on Engineering Practice
the upper sewer could be brought down to the No. 60, American Society of Civil Engineers; R. A.
lower one more gradually, use of the drop man- Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environmental
hole permits a more reasonable slope and thus Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing Company,
saves considerable excavation. If the drop is less New York.)
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22.16 n Section Twenty-Two
22.8 Sewer Outfalls The outfall may be laid on the bottom. For pro-
tection against waves and scour, the pipe may be
Type of outfall depends on quantity of sewage to be set in a trench or between two rows of piles and
discharged, degree of treatment of the sewage, and securely anchored.
characteristics of the disposal source. The outlet An outlet discharging treated wastewater into a
should be located to avoid pollution of water sup- small stream should be protected, by a concrete
plies and creation of a nuisance. Submerged outlets head wall and a concrete apron on the bank,
away from shore are preferable to discharge along against undercutting by the flow of the stream or
a shore or bank, which may create an unsightly wastewater. A similarly protected outlet may be
appearance and odors. Currents should be strong used at a river bank for storm-water discharge
enough to prevent buildup of sludge near the out- from a combined sewer. The dry weather flow may
let. It should be protected against scour by its loca- be carried farther out into the river through a small
tion or suitable construction. A flap valve or auto- pipe along the bottom.
matically closing gate is desirable at the outlet to (G. M. Fair et al., “Water and Wastewater Engi-
prevent entrance of water into the sewer during neering,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.)
highwater stages.
Outfalls in tidal waters require special investiga-
tions to ensure suitable dispersion of the wastewater 22.9 Inverted Siphons
and to avoid floating wastes at the water surface. (Sag Pipes)
These outfalls often are constructed with a multiple
discharge at the end, thus spreading the effluent These are sewers that dip below the hydraulic
over a large area and through a large volume of grade line. They are used to avoid such obstruc-
water. Depth of water over the outfall must be suffi- tions as waterways, open-cut railways, subways,
cient to accomplish dispersion before currents can and extensive utility piping and structures. After
transport the concentrated effluent streams shore- passing under an obstruction, the pipe is brought
ward, over shellfish beds, or into shallow water. to grade to permit open-channel flow in the con-
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Environmental Engineering n 22.17
tinuation, to keep down the amount of cut and 22.10 Flow-Regulating Devices
thus the cost of installing the sewer. The portion of
the sewer below the hydraulic grade line flows full
in Sewers
under pressure. Hence, it must have tight joints Sewerage systems often require some means for
and be made of a suitable material and it must be controlling flow, such as weirs, spillway siphons,
designed for the maximum expected pressure. and gates and valves. The devices may be used to
To prevent solids from being deposited and divert flow from one conduit to another or to dis-
obstructing an inverted siphon, it should be sized tribute flow among several pipes.
and sloped to keep flow velocities as much above 3 A common application is control of flow in a
ft/s as feasible. Although experience has been good combined sewer when the discharge goes through
with a single pipe, 12 to 24 in in diameter, carrying a treatment plant. Treatment of maximum flow
flows with such velocities, a pipe big enough to han- may not be economic, even if feasible, so flow to
dle the maximum flow at an adequate velocity may the plant is limited, usually to twice the dry-weath-
carry small flows at undesirably low speeds. In that er flow. For this purpose, a regulating device is
case, two or more parallel pipes may be used installed in the sewer to permit the desired quanti-
instead of a single pipe. ty to pass to the treatment plant. The excess flow is
An inlet chamber is constructed at the upstream diverted into other conduits or discharged untreat-
end of the inverted siphon and an outlet chamber at ed into a waterway.
the downstream end (Fig. 22.5). These chambers
may be concrete enclosures, which may be entered Side Weirs n A simple device for such an appli-
through manholes extending to grade. The inlet cation is a side weir, an overflow weir along the side
chamber for a multiple-pipe inverted siphon usually wall of the combined sewer (Fig. 22.6a). Diversion,
incorporates flow-regulating devices to control the ft3/s, may be estimated from the Engels formula:
flow to each pipe. As a safety measure, the inlet
chamber may also incorporate a bypass, or overflow, (22.9)
pipe to relieve the inlet should the inverted siphon
be overloaded or obstructed. In the outlet chamber, where l = length of weir, ft
the inverts of the pipes merge into a single channel, h = depth of flow over weir at down-
which becomes the invert of the continuing sewer. stream end, ft
Provision should be made in the chambers for clean-
ing and repairing for pipes and for draining them for
Siphon Spillways n Although simple to con-
these purposes. The designer should always investi-
struct, side weirs may not control flow as closely as
gate the hydraulic heads required in the inlet cham-
desired. Siphon spillways (Fig. 22.6b) are more effec-
ber to avoid surcharge on the upstream pipes.
tive, especially for large flows. The outlet may be
A three-pipe system may be used for a large
placed considerably below the inlet (differences in
sewer. As indicated in Fig. 22.5, the smallest pipe
elevation up to 33.9 ft at sea level under standard
may be assigned the minimum dry-weather flow;
atmospheric conditions may be used). Siphons
a larger pipe, the excess up to a specified percent-
operate under higher heads than weirs and permit
age of the maximum flow; and the largest pipe, the
much larger flows. Control is better because siphons
remainder of the flow. Built-in weirs may be used
can be constructed to start or stop discharge at any
to regulate the flow to each pipe.
desired depth of flow in the combined sewer.
For large sewers, where the venting of the air
Area, ft2, of the siphon throat can be deter-
entrapped upstream of the siphon would be unde-
mined from
sirable because of odor, another pipeline may be
required to transfer the air to the downstream
siphon manhole. The pipeline transferring the (22.10)
entrapped air should be about one-fourth the diam-
eter of the siphon pipeline and may span or under-
cross the obstacle that necessitated the siphon. where Q = discharge, ft3/s
(T. J. McGhee, “Water Supply and Sewerage,” 6th c = coefficient of discharge, which varies
ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York.) from 0.6 to 0.8
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22.18 n Section Twenty-Two
g = acceleration due to gravity = 32.2 bers for cleaning since debris carried into the com-
ft/s2 bined sewer will fill in the channel, clog the open-
h = head, ft ings, and otherwise defeat the purpose of the flow-
regulating device.
For proper operation, the air vent should have an
area of about A/24. The siphon inlet should be
shaped to minimize entrance losses. The outlet 22.11 Sewer-Construction
should be completely submerged or sealed by the Methods
discharge. Sewers usually are placed in trenches, but occasion-
ally sewers may be constructed or installed in tun-
Leaping Weirs n A leaping weir, set in an nels or laid at grade and covered with embankment.
invert of a combined sewer, permits low flows to In trench construction, the sewer line is located
drop through an opening into a sanitary sewer with respect to an offset line, laid out with transit
(Fig. 22.6c). Higher flows, having higher velocities, and tape sufficiently far away to avoid distur-
jump the opening and are discharged through a bance. The trench then is marked or staked out on
storm sewer. The opening may be made adjustable the ground and excavated. For small sewers, both
to correct for inaccuracies in computations based the vertical and the horizontal positions of the con-
on theory. duit in the trench may be determined with the aid
of a string set at a convenient elevation across bat-
Gates and Valves n Diversion of flow also ter boards straddling the trench at 25- or 50-ft
may be accomplished with float-actuated gates intervals. For large sewers, key points should be
and valves. For example, low flows may be permit- located with transit and tape.
ted to reach an outfall through an opening con- Trench excavation may be done by hand or
trolled by a gate. When water reaches a predeter- with powered equipment as described in Sec. 13.
mined level in a float chamber, a float valve closes In rock, explosives should be avoided or used with
the gate to divert the water to a bypass. The great caution to avoid collapsing the trench or
designer must provide access to diversion cham- damaging nearby structures or utilities.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.19
Experience generally will indicate whether the The upper portion of the backfill should be heav-
depth and type of soil require that the sides of the ily tamped, to reduce future settlement, if the sur-
trench be sheeted and braced. If there is any doubt, face over the trench is to be paved. Backfill must be
sheeting should be used so as not to endanger work- carefully placed throughout, and materials that may
ers. The sheeting methods described in Art. 7.24 are permit excessive settlement should not be used.
applicable to trench construction. Unless this is for- For trenches in fields, the backfill need not be
bidden by specifications to prevent possible failures, tamped. After all the material previously excavated
the sheeting may be salvaged as backfilling proceeds. from the trench has been replaced, the resulting
Water may be drained, except in quicksand, by mound may be left to settle naturally.
leading it to sumps and pumping it out. Well- Large sewers in trenches generally are con-
points may be necessary to prevent quicksand structed of reinforced concrete, cast in long,
from forming in a sandy trench bottom or to dry reusable forms. Often, the invert is concreted first.
out the bottom. Then, the forms for the upper portion are support-
The support for the sewer should be shaped to ed on the hardened invert concrete.
the conduit bottom, whether the support be the For sewers in tunnels, the methods described in
subgrade, a granular fill, or a concrete cradle. In Sec. 20 may be used.
rock, excavation should be carried to a depth of (“Gravity Sanitary Sewer Design and Con-
one-fourth the conduit diameter below the bottom struction,” Manual and Report on Engineering
of the conduit, but not less than 4 in below. The Practice No. 60, American Society of Civil Engi-
space between the trench bottom and the conduit neers, New York.)
should be refilled with 3/4-in gravel or lean concrete
(1:41/2:9 mix), so that at least 120° of the pipe will be
supported on it. 22.12 Pumping Stations for
Pipelaying usually proceeds upgrade. Pipe is
laid with bell ends upstream, to receive the spigots
Wastewater
of subsequent sections. Invert elevation usually is Lift stations are used where it is necessary to pump
required to be within 1/2-in of that specified. sewage to a higher level. The installation may be
Joints between lengths of pipe usually are calked underground or above grade, housed in a building.
with a plastic or rubber-compound gasket and a fill- (For a discussion of sewage pumps, see Art. 22.13.)
ing of plastic, bitumen, or portland cement mortar Most installations have at least two pumps. One
(1:1 mix). Resilient joints are preferable to rigid is available as a standby, ready to take over if the
types, which differential settlement may crack. first should fail. Main pumping stations should
Feeder sewers come with Y or T stub branches have at least three pumps; with the largest pump
for house sewer connections. If these connections out of service, the other two should be able to han-
are not made when the feeder is installed, a disk dle the design flow. Several pumps with different
stopper is mortared into the bell of the stubs. Field capacities permit flexibility of operation. The small-
notes should record the location of each branch so est pump should be able to handle minimum flow.
that it can be found when a connection has to be The others can be brought on-stream in succession
made in the future. The location is usually refer- as flow increases.
enced to a nearby manhole. At a small pumping station, sewage may flow
Backfilling should start as soon as possible. into a manhole or a tank. A horizontal pump may
Earth should be placed and tamped evenly around be installed in a “dry” compartment alongside the
the pipe to avoid disturbance of newly made joints manhole; or a vertical pump, on the roof of the
and creation of high or unbalanced side pressures tank (Fig. 22.7). At a large pumping station, sewage
on the pipe. Material should be placed in layers not flows into a wet well. The pumps may be installed
exceeding 6 in in thickness and tamped lightly above or in an adjacent dry well.
until the fill covers the top of the pipe. The initial Often, the pumps operate automatically when
trench backfill around flexible pipe is critical and the liquid in the wet well reaches a selected level.
should be evaluated for each installation. Proper (See, for example, Fig. 22.7.) The motors may be
bedding of flexible pipe is required to avoid exces- started and stopped by switches operated by a float
sive vertical deflection and subsequent collapse. rod, which rises and falls with the liquid level. Usu-
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22.20 n Section Twenty-Two
ally, two sources of electric power are provided to two interconnected compartments, which may be
ensure continuity of operation. If no attendants are isolated for cleaning and repair by closure of a gate.
present in an automatic station, provision should Pumps, though nonclogging, should be pro-
be made for an alarm to be sounded and recorded tected against debris in the sewage by a screen. For
at a remote station when a pump fails or the liquid that purpose, a basket screen may be placed at the
level rises above a selected elevation. entering sewer or a bar screen ahead of the wet
Seepage in a dry well should be directed to a well. If the screen clogs frequently, a comminutor
sump. It can be drained by one of the sewage may be installed to grind the clogging materials
pumps or by a special pump. This pump may also prior to pumping.
have a suction line to the wet well to drain it for (T .J. McGhee, “Water Supply and Sewerage,”
cleaning and repair. 6th ed., and Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater
The wet well usually is small, to preclude septic Engineering: Collection and Pumping of Waste-
action in the sewage; however, the well must be water,” McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New
designed to handle maximum flow without flood- York; “Design of Wastewater and Stormwater
ing. The well should be vented to the outside, to pre- Pumping Stations,” MOP No. FD-4, Water Envi-
vent accumulation of odors. It may be divided into ronmental Federation, Arlington, Va.)
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Environmental Engineering n 22.21
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22.22 n Section Twenty-Two
Analyses of Wastewater n Tests are made tion takes longer than aerobic, is more sensitive to
on wastewater to determine its strength, potential environmental conditions, and produces more dis-
harmful effects in its disposal, and progress made in agreeable odors. Because the process is lengthy, it
treating it. The most commonly made tests measure: usually is not carried to complete stability but to a
stage where further decomposition proceeds slow-
Suspended solids ly. Stabilization is part of a cycle in which the prod-
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) ucts of decomposition become food for plants,
then in turn food for people and animals, and
Amounts of ammonia, which decrease as waste-
finally are reconverted into wastes (Fig. 22.8a).
water is treated
Aerobic bacteria serve in self-purification of
Nitrites and nitrates, which increase as wastewater streams, trickling filters, and the activated-sludge
is treated method of treatment. In streams, oxygen may
Dissolved oxygen become available from several sources: absorption
of air at the water surface; release by algae, which
Ether-soluble matter, or fats and greases, which absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen; and
can form a heavy scum production by decomposition of such compounds
pH value, which decreases, indicating greater acid- as nitrates. In trickling filters, oxygen is supplied
ity, as wastewater becomes stale by allowing wastewater to pass over filtering
Chemical oxygen demand, which approximates media while air circulates through the voids. In
the total oxidizable carbonaceous content the activated-sludge process, oxygen is furnished
by passing air through a mixture of wastewater
Phosphorus, which can stimulate undesirable and previously activated sludge and by strongly
algae growths in lakes and streams agitating the mixture to dissolve air into the liquid.
Heavy metals, such as mercury, silver, and lead, In aerobic stabilization also, decomposition occurs
which are toxic in steps and is part of a cycle (Fig. 22.8b). If the
supply of oxygen is inadequate, however, anaero-
Total organic carbon (TOC), which may be deter-
bic action will occur and disagreeable odors may
mined in large laboratories or in industrial plants;
be produced.
small laboratories are not equipped with suitable
apparatus to run the required test
BOD and COD n The amount of oxygen used
Chlorine demand, the amount of chlorine added during decomposition of organic material is the
to wastewater to produce a residual after a certain biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). It is a mea-
time, usually 15 min sure of the amount of biodegradable organic mate-
Bacteria and other microorganisms rial present. If the BOD of wastewater discharged
into a stream or lake exceeds the oxygen content of
Coliform tests are usually required. Fecal coliform that water, the oxygen will be used up and the
tests may be required when effluent is discharged stream or lake will become septic at the discharge
into bathing, drinking waters, or tidal waters. area. Fish and aquatic plants cannot survive in
such conditions.
Bacteria n These may be aerobic, requiring air BOD is determined by diluting a wastewater
for survival; anaerobic, thriving without air; or fac- sample with water with known dissolved-oxygen
ultative, carrying on with or without air. (Some may content and storing the mixture for 5 days at 20° C.
be pathogenic, causers of intestinal diseases. If they The oxygen content at the end of the period is
are present, the effluent may have to be chlorinated measured, and the difference is reported as the
or otherwise treated to eliminate such bacteria, BOD.
depending on the method of disposal.) Bacteria are At the end of a period of t days at 20° C
useful in stabilizing wastewater, breaking it down
into substances that do not decompose further. (22.11)
Anaerobic bacteria are used in sludge digestion,
the stabilization of organic material removed from where O = oxygen demand when t = 0 or at
wastewater by sedimentation. Anaerobic stabiliza- start of any oxidation period
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Environmental Engineering n 22.23
Fig. 22.8 Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles in (a) anaerobic decomposition; (b) aerobic decomposi-
tion. (From E. W. Steel and T. J. McGhee, “Water Supply and Sewerage,” McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.)
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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22.24 n Section Twenty-Two
Sometimes, the wastewater concentration is living things and can create undesirable taste,
expressed as population equivalent, the number odors, and colors in a receiving body of water.
of persons required to create the total oxygen Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is a measure of
demand of the wastewater per day. For example, the quantities of such materials present in the
suppose domestic wastewater has a BOD of 5000 water. COD, however, as measured in a COD test,
lb/day. The population equivalent then may be also includes the demand of biologically degrad-
taken as 5000/0.2 = 25,000 persons. able materials because more compounds can be oxi-
As an example of the use of BOD, consider a dized chemically than biologically. Hence, the COD
residential community of 100,000 persons produc- is larger than the BOD. Treatments are available for
ing a wastewater flow of 25 mgd to be disposed of removing COD and BOD from wastewater.
in a river with no BOD and a dissolved-oxygen Relative stability is a measure of the amount of
content of 10 ppm. Permissible oxygen content oxygen needed for stabilization of a sewage-treat-
downstream is 6.5 ppm. What should the flow in ment-plant effluent. Table 22.4 shows how relative
the river be? stability varies with storage time at 20 °C. The table
The total oxygen demand may be assumed to indicates that the aerobic process is nearly complet-
be 100,000 × 0.2 = 20,000 lb/day. Since a gallon of ed after 20 days. If the time required to exhaust oxy-
water weighs 8.33 lb, the total demand for 25 mgd gen from an effluent is known, the relative stability
of wastewater is equivalent to given by Table 22.4 also is taken as the percent of the
initial oxygen demand O that has been satisfied.
The time can be determined by adding to a
sample of an effluent a small amount of methylene
blue, an aniline dye. On exhaustion of the oxygen
The required river flow Q, mgd, must supply this in the sample, anaerobic bacteria become active.
oxygen. Hence, They release enzymes that remove the color from
the dye. The time required at 20 °C for this to take
8.33(10 – 6.5)Q = 20,000 and Q = 686 mgd place may be used with Table 22.4 to determine the
percent of organic material stabilized. For example,
Some of the organic material, such as pesticides, a sample that decolorizes in 5 days has a relative
in wastewater may not be biologically degradable. stability of 68%. Only 32% of the initial oxygen
They are not measured by BOD. Some of these demand remains. Such an effluent may be stable
materials may have adverse long-term effects on enough to be discharged into a stream.
0.5 11 8.0 84
1.0 21 9.0 87
1.5 30 10.0 90
2.0 37 11.0 92
2.5 44 12.0 94
3.0 50 13.0 95
4.0 60 14.0 96
5.0 68 16.0 97
6.0 75 18.0 98
7.0 80 20.0 99
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Environmental Engineering n 22.25
Since concentration and composition of waste- water on the ground. Part evaporates and part per-
water vary considerably throughout a day, care colates into the ground, but a sizable amount
must be taken to obtain a representative sample for remains on the surface and must be collected in sur-
each type of test. Sampling and analyses should be face drainage channels. For domestic wastewater,
made as directed in Standard Methods for the the method is not efficient. A modification, spray irri-
Examination of Water and Sewage, American Pub- gation, however, has been used successfully for some
lic Health Association, 1015 18th St., NW, Washing- industrial wastes. Flood irrigation also discharges the
ton, DC 20036; American Water Works Association, wastewater on the ground, but the wastewater seeps
6666 Quincy Ave., W., Denver, CO 80235; Water down and is usually collected in underdrains. The
Environmental Federation, Arlington, Va. soil acts as a filter and partly purifies the waste. But
(R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ- unless the wastewater is treated before irrigation,
mental Engineering,” Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Waste- odors and insects may be produced, the soil may
water Engineering,” T. McGhee, “Water Supply become clogged by grease or soap, and surface and
and Sewerage,” 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing groundwater may become contaminated. Surface
Company, New York; G. M. Fair, J. C. Geyer, and D. irrigation sometimes is used for watering and fertil-
A. Okun, “Elements of Water Supply and Waste- izing crops. This application, however, may create
water Disposal,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New potential health hazards unless treatment has stabi-
York; L. D. Benefield and C. W. Randall, “Biological lized and disinfected the effluent. Another form of
Process Design for Wastewater Treatment,” Pren- irrigation, subsurface irrigation, often is used with
tice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.) cesspools (Art. 22.24) and septic tanks (Art. 22.23).
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
this product is subject to the terms of its License Agreement. Click here to view.
22.26 n Section Twenty-Two
Oxygen deficit D is the difference between sat- (H. W. Streeter, “The Role of Atmospheric
uration content and actual content, ppm or mg/ L. Reaeration of Sewage-Polluted Streams,” Transac-
As oxygen is removed from the water, the loss is tions, American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. 89, p.
offset by absorption of atmospheric oxygen at the 1355, 1926.)
surface. The rate at which this reaeration occurs In Fig. 22.9, the deoxygenation curve indicates
depends on deficit D, the amount of turbulence, the amount of dissolved oxygen remaining at any
and the ratio of volume of water to the surface time as wastewater with initial demand O stabi-
area. At any time t, days, lizes, if the supply of oxygen is not replenished.
The reaeration curve shows the amount of new
oxygen dissolved during the same period. The
(22.12) oxygen sag curve represents at any given time the
dissolved oxygen present, the sum of the remain-
where K1 = coefficient of deoxygenation [see Eq. ing oxygen after deoxygenation and the oxygen
(22.11)] from reaeration. The oxygen deficit D, as given by
Eq. (22.12), is the ordinate of the oxygen sag curve
K2 = reaeration coefficient, which ranges measured from the horizontal line representing
from 0.05 to 0.5 at 20 °C, depending oxygen content at saturation.
on depth, velocity, and turbulence The lowest or critical point of the sag curve
of the water. For temperatures other indicates the occurrence of minimum dissolved
than 20 °C, multiply K2 by 1.047 T– 20 oxygen, or maximum deficit. The time at which
T = temperature, °C this occurs may be calculated from
O = oxygen demand at t = 0, ppm or
mg/L (22.13)
Do = oxygen deficit at point of pollution,
or t = 0, ppm or mg/L where f = K2/K1 = self-purification coefficient.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.27
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22.28 n Section Twenty-Two
(R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ- wastewater treatment but are useful for removal of
mental Engineering,” Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Waste- bulky and fibrous materials from industrial wastes.
water Engineering,” 3rd ed., T. J. McGhee, “Water Generally, fine screens are movable and mechani-
Supply and Sewerage,” 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Pub- cally cleaned. Various types are used: rotating disk
lishing Company, New York; R. L. Culp, G. M. Wes- or drum, band, plate; or vibratory screens.
ner, and G. L. Culp, “Advanced Wastewater Treat- Screenings may be disposed of by burial, incin-
ment,” Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New eration, or digestion. Digestion of sludge proceeds
York; H. W. Parker, “Wastewater Systems Engineer- normally when fine screenings are added in
ing,” Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; sludge-digestion tanks. In some treatment plants,
“Wastewater Treatment Plant Design,” Manual 36, screenings are passed through a grinder and
“Sanitary Landfill,” Manual 39, and “Glossary— returned to the flow, to settle out subsequently in a
Water and Wastewater Control Engineering,” sedimentation tank. Screening and cutting are
American Society of Civil Engineers; P. E. Moffa et combined in such devices as comminutors,
al., “Control and Treatment of Combined Sewer barminutors, and griductors. Their high-speed
Overflows,” Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.) rotating edges cut through the sewage flow and
chop and shred the solids, which then pass on to a
sedimentation tank. Shearing-type units should be
22.16 Wastewater located after a grit chamber to prevent excessive
wear of cutting edges.
Pretreatment Skimming tanks are advantageous ahead of
The purpose of pretreatment of wastewater is to sedimentation tanks. Skimmers remove oil and
remove coarse materials that may interfere with grease, which tend to form scum, clog fine screens,
treatment, or do not respond to treatment, or may obstruct filters, and reduce the efficiency of acti-
damage or clog pumps, pipes, valves, and nozzles. vated sludge. Compressed air, applied through
Various types of screening devices are used for this porous plates in the bottom of the tank, coagulates
purpose. Generally, they are the first units in a the grease and oil and causes them to rise to the
treatment plant. surface. About 0.1 ft3 of air is required per gallon.
Racks are fixed screens composed of parallel Detention period ranges from 5 to 15 min. About 2
bars, set vertically or sloped in the direction of flow, mg/L of chlorine increases the efficiency of grease
to catch debris. Coarse racks have spaces between removal. After the effluent reaches the sedimenta-
the bars of 2 in or more. They usually are used for tion tank, the coagulated material is removed with
large plants to protect sewage pumps. Medium the scum or settled solids.
racks, used more frequently, have bar spacings of 1/2 (T. J. McGhee, “Water Supply and Sewerage,”
to 11/2 in. They may be fixed or movable. Movable 6th ed., Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater Engi-
racks are three-sided cages. Wastewater enters neering,” 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing Compa-
through the open side and leaves through the bars. ny, New York; G. Fair et al., “Water and Wastewater
One cage is periodically hoisted to the surface for Engineering,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.)
manual cleaning, while wastewater passes through
a second cage. Fixed-bar racks may be manually or
mechanically cleaned. The bars may be curved to 22.17 Sedimentation
the horizontal at the top to facilitate cleaning. At most wastewater-treatment plants, sedimenta-
While a minimum velocity of about 2 ft/s is desir- tion is a primary treatment. In activated-sludge
able in the approach channel to prevent sediment plants, sedimentation is required after oxidation. It
from clogging it, velocity through a rack should be also is used after oxidation of wastewater on trick-
lower, perhaps 0.5 to 1 ft/s, so that objects should not ling filters.
be forced through. This requires enlargement of the The major objective of sedimentation is
conduit in the vicinity of the rack. To allow for head removal of settleable solids. But often, some float-
loss through a rack, the conduit bottom may be low- ing materials also are removed by clarifiers, skim-
ered below the rack 3 to 6 in. ming devices built into sedimentation tanks. These
Fine screens, with uniform-size openings or processes occur while wastewater moves slowly
slots 1/8 in wide or less, have low efficiency for through a settling basin.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.29
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22.30 n Section Twenty-Two
mechanically cleaned units to wash most of the cleaning mechanisms. Surface area of the liquid is
organic material out of the grit. more important than depth, so depth usually is
A plain sedimentation tank is a settling basin held to 10 ft or less (at sidewalls). The surface-set-
where sedimentation is not aided by coagulants tling-rate requirement generally is 600 gal/(ft2⋅day)
and the settled solids, or sludge, are not retained for primary treatment alone and 800 to 1000 for all
for digestion. Generally, sludge and scum are other tanks. The detention period normally is 2 h.
removed mechanically. Any of several methods These three design parameters must be adjusted
may be used to remove light, suspended material. since each is dependent on the other for a given
Flocculent suspensions have little or no settling design flow (average daily flow for a plant).
velocity. Although they may occur in raw waste- Rectangular tanks are built in units with com-
water, more frequently they are encountered when mon walls. Width per unit ranges up to 25 ft. Min-
effluents from activated-sludge units undergo sec- imum length should be at least 10 ft. The length-
ondary settling. The suspensions may be removed width ratio should not exceed 5:1. Final sizes may
by passing inflowing wastewater upward through be determined by dimensions of available sludge-
a blanket of the flocculent material (vertical-flow removal equipment.
sedimentation tank). The objective is to produce a Provision should be made for sludge removal
mechanical sweeping action in which small parti- on a regular schedule. If sludge is not removed,
cles attach to larger particles, which then have suf- gasification occurs, and large blocks of sludge
ficient weight to settle. Another removal method appear on the surface. These must then be broken
employs an inner chamber equipped with baffles up so that they will settle, or they must be removed
that rotate and stir the liquid, to aid formation of by a scum-removal mechanism. In circular tanks
larger, heavier floc. The same results also may be (Fig. 22.11) radial blades scrape the bottom to move
achieved by agitation with air. Some of the settled the sludge to a central sludge hopper. In rectangu-
sludge is raised by air lift and mixed with the floc, lar tanks, the hopper is located near the inlet end
to form a conglomerate with better settling charac- since the heaviest sludge accumulation occurs in
teristics. Variations utilizing the preceding princi- that region. Blades moving along the bottom
ples have been introduced by several manufactur- against the flow of sewage push the sludge to the
ers, for example, the up-flow tube clarifier. hopper. In some tanks, the same blades may be lift-
Design of a sedimentation tank should be based ed to the surface and, traveling with the sewage
on the settling velocity of the smallest particle to be flow, move scum to the outlet end. There, the scum
removed. Depth should be no larger than neces- may be trapped by a baffle until taken out by a
sary for preventing scour and to accommodate scum-removal device.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.31
Many mechanical aids for use with sedimenta- hence useful in controlling coagulation) and of
tion tanks are available commercially. Manufactur- phosphate content is also desirable.
ers’ literature should be carefully studied and spec- Design requirements include rapid mixing,
ifications written to ensure procurement of mixer-blade peripheral speeds less than 5 ft/s, con-
equipment exactly meeting design requirements. trol of slurry concentration, minimum sludge blan-
Actual flowing-through time is influenced by ket levels, and controlled horizontal movement of
inlet and outlet construction. For circular tanks, clearer water by launder or weir spacing and by
inlets are submerged, at the center (Fig. 22.11). weir overflow rate control. (See also Art. 21.46.2.)
Wastewater rises inside a baffle extending down- (T. J. McGhee, “Water Supply and Sewerage,”
ward, to still the currents. The outlet device nearly 6th ed., and Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater
always is a circumferential weir adjusted to level Engineering,” 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing
after installation. The weir may be sharp-edged and Company, New York; G. Fair, et al., “Water and
level or provided with V notches about 1 ft or less Wastewater Engineering,” E.J. and E.T. Martin,
apart. The notches permit more constant flow since “Technologies for Small Water and Wastewater
they are less affected by local differences in weir ele- Systems,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York;
vation and surface tension. For rectangular tanks, “Wastewater Treatment Plant Design,” Manual 36,
inlets also may be submerged, but at one end. More American Society of Civil Engineers.)
often, the wastewater is brought to a trough that has
a weir extending the width of the tank. The flow
then moves forward with less short circuiting. At
22.18 Wastewater Filtration
the outlet, to provide enough weir length, a launder Secondary treatments of wastewater frequently
is used. This consists of a series of fingerlike shallow employ oxidation to decompose and stabilize the
conduits set at water level and receiving flow from putrescible matter remaining after primary treat-
both sides. Each finger is connected to a common ments. Filtration is one of these secondary treat-
discharge trough. Normal weir loading should not ments. Others include the activated-sludge
exceed 10,000 gal/ft of weir per day in small plants, process, oxidation ponds, and irrigation. These oxi-
or 15,000 in units handling more than 1 mgd. dation methods bring organic matter in waste-
Chemical precipitation sometimes is used to water into immediate contact with microorgan-
improve the effluent from sedimentation. The isms under aerobic conditions. In filtration, the
process is similar to that for water clarification. The microorganisms coat the filtering media. As the
high cost of chemicals and the intermediate grade wastewater flows through, adsorption occurs, and
of treatment obtained with chemicals have kept most of the organic materials are removed by con-
the process from general use. Chemical precipita- tact with the coating. The organisms decompose
tion has, however, been found useful in specialized organic nitrogen compounds and destroy carbohy-
treatment. Phosphorus removal, preparation of drates. Efficiency of the method, as measured by
sludges for filtration or dewatering, and removal reduction of BOD, is high.
of trace metals are examples of such treatment. Intermittent sand filters are sand beds, usually
Alum, ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, lime, sodi- 21/2 to 3 ft deep, with underdrains for collecting and
um aluminate, ferrous chloride, ferrous sulfate, carrying off the effluent. Settled wastewater, the
and polyelectrolytes are chemicals used to expe- effluent from a sedimentation tank, is applied to the
dite precipitation. The coagulation resulting is, sand surface in intermittent doses. A rest period
actually, the result of a complex group of reactions between doses allows time for air to assist in oxida-
involving the hydrolysis products of the added tion of the organic matter. Application rates general-
chemicals. Effectiveness of the various chemicals ly range from 20,000 gallons per acre per day (gad)
depends on the conditions under which they are to 125,000 gad when the filters serve as a secondary
used and the types of wastes. treatment. Rates may go as high as 0.5 million gal-
There has to be an optimum pH and an opti- lons per acre per day (mgad) for tertiary treatments.
mum dosage for efficient wastewater coagulation. Sand for an intermittent filter should have a
Consequently, dosages are often determined by uniformity coefficient of 5 or less; 3.5 is preferred.
trial (jar tests). Measurement of zeta potential (an (Uniformity coefficient is the ratio of the sieve size
electrical potential related to particle stability and that will pass 60% of the material to the effective
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22.32 n Section Twenty-Two
size of the sand. Effective size is the size, mm, of sprayed and through which the wastewater trick-
the sieve that passes 10%, by weight, of the sand.) les to under drains (Fig. 22.12). Filter media include
The effective size of the sand should be between gravel, crushed rock, ceramic chapes, slag, red-
0.2 and 0.5 mm. A bed of gravel 6 to 12 in thick usu- wood slats, or plastics. Stone and crushed rock that
ally underlies the sand. do not fragment, flour, or soften on exposure to
A mat of solids forms on the filter surface and wastewater are widely used. Generally, rock sizes
must be removed periodically. Generally, the mat are kept between 2- and 4-in nominal diameter.
can be scraped off when dry, but occasionally the Underdrains collect and carry off the effluent. Fil-
top 6 in or so of the filter material must be replaced. ters may be ventilated through the underdrain sys-
In winter, there is danger that the sand surface tem or by other means, to supply air to the aerobic
will freeze. To keep the filter in operation, the bed organisms that grow on the media surfaces.
may be ridged on 3-ft centers to support the ice Since suspended solids can clog filters, sedi-
while the wastewater flows underneath it. mentation of the wastewater is desirable before it is
Granular filters may be adapted from potable fed to the filters. When, however, a waste, such as
backwash sand filter types to the treatment of sec- milk waste, contains a concentration of dissolved
ondary effluents from wastewater-treatment solids, it may be applied directly to a filter. In that
plants. The design should provide 6- to 8-h runs case, preaeration is desirable, so that the waste
with terminal head loss less than 10 ft. Filtration contains some dissolved oxygen.
rates above 3 gal/(min⋅ft2) lead to high terminal In time, oxidized matter breaks away from the
head loss and short runs. Experience gained in fil- filter media and is flushed from the filter with the
tration of potable water should be used to sup- effluent. Hence, the effluent is passed through a
port designs of this type. (“Water Treatment Plant secondary settling basin, or clarifier. Design of
Design,” American Water Works Association, these basins is similar to that of primary sedimen-
Denver, Colo.) tation tanks. Efficiency, or percent reduction of
Trickling filters are beds of coarse aggregate BOD, of a trickling filter generally is measured for
over which settled wastewater is dropped or both the filter and final sedimentation.
Fig. 22.12 Trickling filters supply bacteria for consumption of organic matter in wastewater. (a)
Schematic of process with single-stage filtration. (b) Schematic of process with two-stage filtration. (c)
Cross section of a trickling filter with a rotary distribution of wastewater.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.33
Trickling filters are classified as standard or low- directly to the filter. (Proponents of this method of
rate, high-rate, and controlled. recirculation claim direct return intensifies biologi-
Standard filters were introduced in the United cal oxidation.) Or part of the effluent of the filter or
States early in the twentieth century. They consist- the final clarifier may be combined with the influ-
ed of an underdrained bed of stones, 6 to 8 ft deep. ent to the primary sedimentation tank. Sometimes,
Settled wastewater was distributed over the sur- dual recirculation is used: The filter effluent is
face through fixed nozzles. Later, the fixed nozzles returned to the primary sedimentation tank, while
were superseded by a rotary distributor. This type part of the final clarifier effluent is sent back
of distributor has two or four radial arms support- through the filter. In some cases, the sludge from
ed on a center pedestal (Fig. 22.12c). Jets of waste- the final clarifier is recirculated through the prima-
water from nozzles on the arms cause rotation. ry clarifier.
Thus, the filter surface is sprayed as the arms Two-stage filtration (Fig. 22.12b) may be used
revolve. Dosing, as a result, is intermittent, though when a better effluent is desired than can be
the interval between doses is short, often not more obtained from a single filter. For this purpose, two
than 15 s. A distributor may be kept rotating con- filters are connected in series. Various recirculation
tinuously by feeding the nozzles from a weir box methods may be used in this case also.
or a dosing tank, with siphons or pumps. To The recirculation ratio, or ratio of returned
accommodate rotary distribution, standard filters effluent to sewage influent, ranges from 1:1 to
are built round in plan. about 5:1. At each passage, the amount of BOD
These low-rate filters are dosed at a rate of 1 to removed decreases because response to treatment
4 mgad, substantially lower than that for high-rate decreases. If the ratio of the decrease per passage
filters. Loading also may be expressed in terms of to the BOD is given by k, then the number of effec-
5-day BOD, lb/acre-ft⋅day. Some state health tive passages of sewage through a filter may be
departments limit the load on a standard filter to computed from
400 to 600 lb/acre-ft⋅day. The approximate load w
to be applied to a filter, lb/day⋅acre-ft of filter vol- (22.18)
ume, when the BOD of the wastewater is known
and a limit is specified for the BOD of the effluent,
may be computed from where R = recirculation ratio. Under normal con-
ditions, k may have a value of about 0.1.
The approximate load, lb of BOD per day per
(22.17) acre-ft of filter volume, to be applied to a single-
stage high-rate filter or the first filter of a two-stage
system, when the BOD of the sewage is known
where A = 5-day BOD of the influent, mg/L and a limit is specified for the BOD of the effluent,
B = specified maximum BOD of efflu- may be computed from
ent, mg/L
High-rate filters receive a load three or more (22.19)
times greater than that usually applied to standard
filters. Usual rate is about 20 mgad, but rates from where A = 5-day BOD of influent, mg/L
9 to 44 mgad have been used. Some state health
departments limit the load to 2000 to 5000 lb of B = specified maximum BOD of efflu-
BOD per acre-ft per day. ent, mg/L
Such high rates are feasible because the effluent The approximate load for a second-stage filter may
is recirculated through the filter (Fig. 22.12a). Recir- be estimated from
culation reduces the load on the filter, seeds the
media continuously with organisms, allows con- (22.20)
tinuous dosage, offsets fluctuations in wastewater
flow, and reduces odors by freshening the influent.
Several recirculation alternatives may be used. For where A1 = 5-day BOD of influent of first-stage
example, part of the filter effluent may be returned filter, mg/L
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22.34 n Section Twenty-Two
B1 = specified maximum BOD of effluent rains wastewater continuously and uniformly over
of first-stage filter, mg/L the surface. Hence, the filters are built circular.
Controlled filters consist of sectionalized units
A2 = 5-day BOD of influent of second-
combined into a deep filter. The loading rate with no
stage filter, mg/L
recirculation is 10 to 12 times that for low-rate filters.
B2 = specified maximum BOD of effluent Essentials of this type of filter include sectional
of final clarifier, mg/L design, means for introduction and distribution of
F = number of effective passages controlled quantities of wastewater to top or upper
through second-stage filter sections of the filter, means for introduction of con-
trolled quantities of air under each section of filter,
Equations (22.17) to (22.20) are based on formulas temperature control between 15 and 30 °C, and non-
recommended by a committee of the National absorbing filter media of sufficient uniformity to pro-
Research Council (“Sewage Treatment at Military vide both media surface and void space (Fig. 22.13).
Institutions,” Sewage Works Journal, vol. 18, no. 5, p. For domestic wastes having BOD values that do
794, September 1946). not limit the rate of absorption of oxygen, hydraulic
Wastewater is sprayed over high-rate filters by loadings may be used as a primary design parame-
rotary distributors or by a motor-driven disk that ter according to the equation
Fig. 22.13 Controlled filtration applies wastewater to tops of filter sections installed in sequence ver-
tically. Each filter is sealed, except at the top, and has liquid inlets and outlets and an air inlet.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.35
Curve C k
a 0.48 – 0.795
b 0.51 – 0.482
c 0.52 – 0.343
d 0.65 – 0.343
Fig. 22.14 Curves represent the equation n = (V′/Q)k for controlled filtration with no recirculation,
where n is the fraction of BOD remaining; V′ is the total filter volume, 103 ft3; Q is the daily flow, mgd; and
C and k are constants:
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22.36 n Section Twenty-Two
Fig. 22.15 Schematics of activated-sludge processes: (a) Conventional; (b) step aeration; (c) complete
mix. (From “Environmental Pollution Control Alternatives: Municipal Wastewater,” Environmental Protection
Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio.)
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Environmental Engineering n 22.37
Fig. 22.16 Air main atop aeration-tank walls supplies air to diffusers in adjoining channels in which
the mixture of activated sludge and sedimentation-tank effluent flows.
usually from 11/2 to 2 h, to settle out the sludge. The ppm (mg/L) or more. Air requirements normally
effluent from this tank is completely treated and, range from 0.2 to 1.5 ft3/gal of wastewater treated.
after chlorination, may be safely discharged. Most state authorities require a minimum of 1000
About 25 to 35% of the sludge from the final ft3 of air per lb of applied BOD per day.
sedimentation tank is returned for recirculation Mechanical aeration may be done in square, rec-
with incoming wastewater. Sludge should not be tangular, or circular tanks, depending on the mech-
detained in the tank. Frequent removal (at inter- anism employed for agitation. In some plants, the
vals of less than 1 h) or continuous removal is nec- fluid may be drawn up vertical tubes and dis-
essary to avoid deaeration. charged in thin sheets at the top, or the liquid may
Overflow rates for final sedimentation normally pass down draft tubes while air is bubbled through
range from about 800 gal/(ft2⋅day) for small plants it. In both methods, agitation at the surface pro-
to 1000 for plants of over 2-mgd capacity. Weir load- duced by the movement of the liquid increases aer-
ings preferably should not exceed 10,000 gal/(lin ation. Detention periods generally are longer, 8 h or
ft⋅day). When tank volume required exceeds 2500 more, than for tanks with diffused air.
ft3, multiple sedimentation tanks are desirable. Several modifications of the activated-sludge
Multiple aeration tanks are required when total method, seeking to improve performance or cut
tank volume exceeds 5000 ft3. Aeration tanks in costs, are in use. These include modified, activated,
which compressed air is used generally are long tapered, step, and complete-mix aeration, and the
and narrow. To conserve space, the channel may Kraus, biosorption, and bioactivation processes.
be turned 180° several times, with a common wall Modified aeration decreases the aeration peri-
between the flow in opposing directions. An air od to 3 h or less and holds return sludge to a low
main is generally run along the top of the wall to proportion. Results are intermediate between pri-
feed diffusers (Fig. 22.16a and b) or porous plates mary sedimentation and full secondary treatment.
(Fig. 22.16c) along its length. The air sets up a spi- Activated aeration places aeration tanks in par-
ral motion in the liquid as it flows through the allel. The activated sludge from one final sedimen-
tanks. This agitation reduces air requirements. tation tank or group of such tanks is added to the
Width of channel ranges from 15 to 30 ft. Depth influent of the aeration tanks. Other sludge is con-
is about 15 ft. centrated and removed. With much less air, results
Dissolved oxygen should be maintained at 2 are better than with modified aeration.
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22.38 n Section Twenty-Two
Tapered aeration differs from conventional in mixed liquor. Solids usually are limited to 1500 to
that air diffusers are not uniformly spaced. 2500 ppm (mg/L) in diffused-air plants and about
Instead, more diffusers are placed near the inlet 1000 ppm when mechanical agitation is used. Set-
end of the aeration tanks than near the outlet. The tling characteristics of the sludge are indicated by
theory is that oxygen demand is greater near the the Mohlman index:
inlet, and so the efficiency of the treatment should
be improved if more air is supplied there. Howev- (22.23)
er, results depend on degree of longitudinal mix-
ing, rate of sludge return, and characteristics of
where Vset = volume of sludge settled in 30 min, %
recirculated matter, for example, air content of
sludge or mixed liquor. Vsus = volume of suspended solids, %
Step aeration adds wastewater at four or more
A good settling sludge has an index below 100. An
points in an aeration tank (Fig. 22.15b). Each incre-
alternative measure is the sludge density index,
ment reacts with sludge already present in the
100 divided by the Mohlman index. Operating
tank. Thus, air requirements are nearly uniform
control may be maintained by holding a constant
throughout the tank. Complete-mix aeration (Fig.
mixed-liquor suspended-solids (MLSS) or volatile-
22.15c) obtains better results by dispersing the
suspended-solids (MLVSS) concentration, by hold-
influent wastewater as uniformly as possible along
ing a constant ratio of food to microorganisms
the entire length of the aeration basin, to produce
(F:M), or by holding a constant mean cell residence
a uniform oxygen demand throughout. Extended
time (MCRT). The latter may be the simplest
aeration is similar, but the wastewater is aerated
because only suspended solids concentration in
for 24 h instead of the conventional 6 to 8 h.
the aeration basin and in the waste activated
The Kraus process adds to the wastewater an
sludge need be measured.
aerated mixture of activated sludge and material
Sludge age is another important factor. It is the
from sludge digester tanks. The biosorption
average time that a particle of suspended solids
process mixes wastewater with sludge preaerated
remains under aeration. Sludge age is measured by
in a separate tank. The bioactivation process uses
the ratio of dry weight of sludge in the aeration
primary sedimentation, a trickling filter, and short
tank, lb, to the suspended-solids load, lb/day, of the
secondary sedimentation, then adds activated
incoming wastewater. In a well-operated activat-
sludge and passes the mixture through aeration
ed-sludge plant, sludge age is 3 to 5 days. But it
and final sedimentation tanks.
may be only 0.3 days for a modified process that is
Excellent results have been obtained by substi-
well operated.
tuting oxygen for air in the activated-sludge
(Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater Engineer-
process. For efficient use of the oxygen, the aera-
ing,” 3rd ed., and L. Rich, “Low Maintenance
tion tanks may be covered. The oxygen may then
Wastewater Treatment Systems,” McGraw-Hill
be recirculated through several stages, entering the
Publishing Company, New York; “Wastewater
first stage of the process and flowing through the
Treatment Plant Design,” Manual 36, American
oxygenation basin with the wastewater being
Society of Civil Engineers; G. M. Fair et al., “Water
treated. Pressure under the tank cover is close to
and Wastewater Engineering,” John Wiley & Sons,
atmospheric and enough to maintain control and
Inc., New York.)
prevent backmixing of successive stages. Within
each stage, mixing may be achieved with surface
aerators or a submerged rotating sprayer. Pure
oxygen permits use of smaller tanks, and oxygena-
22.20 Contact Stabilization
tion time may be 11/2 to 2 h instead of the conven- This is a secondary treatment similar to the activat-
tional 6 to 8 h. The activated sludge produced set- ed-sludge method. Contact stabilization (Fig.
tles more easily and is easier to dewater than that 22.17) also uses air diffusion to supply oxygen and
from conventional processes. keep a suspension containing microorganisms
Activated-sludge plants should be closely con- thoroughly mixed with incoming wastewater. In
trolled for optimum performance. This requires addition, active growths of microorganisms are
frequent checking of the sludge content of the maintained on plates of impervious material, such
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Environmental Engineering n 22.39
Fig. 22.17 Schematic of the contact stabilization process. (From “Environmental Pollution Control Alter-
natives: Municipal Wastewater,” Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio.)
as asbestos cement, suspended in the mixing liquor ble safe, economical disposal of these wastes. The
of the aeration tank. Slime growth forms on the treatment to be selected depends on quantity and
plates, and liquid passing by furnishes the organ- characteristics of the sludge, nature and cost of dis-
isms on the plates with nutrients. The organisms posal, and cost of treatment.
decompose organic nitrogen compounds and Screenings are putrescible and offensive. They
destroy carbohydrates. may be disposed of by burning, burial, grinding
Plates may be fixed or rotate about a horizontal and return to wastewater, or grinding and transfer
axis. As they rotate, biological growth adheres to to a sludge digester. The quantity of screenings is
them and is alternately immersed in waste liquid variable and dependent on wastewater character-
and exposed to the air. This alternation ensures an istics. Coarse screenings may range from 0.3 to 5
aerobic condition for growth. ft3/million gal. Fine screenings may range from 5 to
The aeration period in contact aerators may be 35 ft3/million gal.
5 h or more. Aeration usually is preceded by 1 h of Sand and other gritty materials also may be
preaeration of the raw sewage and return sludge present in widely varying amounts. Normally, the
before primary settling. The load on the contact volume will be between 1 and 10 ft3/million gal.
aerator is based on two factors: pounds per day of Sludge varies in quantity and characteristics with
BOD per 1000 ft2 of contact surfaces (6.0 or less) the characteristics of the wastewater and plant oper-
and pounds per day of BOD per 1000 ft2/h of aera- ations. Usually, more than 90% is water containing
tion (1.2 or less). About 1.5 ft3 of air per gal of flow suspended solids with a specific gravity of about 1.2.
is required. Overall plant efficiency may be about Roughly, there may be about 0.20 lb of these solids
90% BOD removal, with a higher percentage per capita daily in sanitary wastewater; 0.22 lb if a
removal of suspended solids. moderate amount of industrial wastes is present;
See also Arts. 22.19 and 22.27. 0.25 lb in effluents of combined sewers if consider-
(R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ- able industrial wastes are present; and 0.32 to 0.36 lb
mental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing if the wastewater contains ground garbage also.
Company, New York.) Primary sludge, derived from sedimentation
tanks or the influent of digestion chambers of
Imhoff tanks, is putrescible and odorous. It is com-
22.21 Sludge Treatment and posed of gray, viscous identifiable solids and has a
moisture content of 95% or more. Primary treat-
Disposal ment of 1 million gal of wastewater may produce
Sludge comprises the solids and accompanying liq- about 2500 gal of this sludge.
uids removed from wastewater in screening and Trickling filter sludge is black or dark brown,
treating it. Solids are removed as screenings, grit, granular or flocculent, and partly decomposed. It is
primary sludge, secondary sludge, and scum. not highly odorous when fresh. Moisture content
Often sludge treatment is necessary to make possi- may be about 93%. Passage of 1 million gal of
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22.40 n Section Twenty-Two
wastewater through a trickling filter may produce solids is released. The sludge is fed from the reac-
about 500 gal of this sludge. tor to a settling tank, where the solids are concen-
Activated sludge is dark to golden brown, trated before the dewatering step. Still another
granular or flocculent, and partly decomposed. It conditioning method is to apply heavy doses of
has an earthy odor when fresh. Moisture content chlorine under pressures of 30 to 40 psi.
may be about 98%. Influent to an activated-sludge
plant may yield about 13,500 gal of waste sludge Sludge Thickening n This may be accom-
per million gal. plished in one of two ways: settlement, or gravity
Chemical-precipitation sludge may have a solids thickening, or flotation thickening. Simple and inex-
content more than double that of sludge from prima- pensive, gravity thickening is essentially a sedimen-
ry sedimentation. Normally, chemical precipitation tation process, employing a tank similar in appear-
from 1 million gal of wastewater will yield about 5000 ance and action to a circular clarifier used in primary
gal of sludge with moisture content of 95%. and secondary sedimentation (Fig. 22.18a). Best
Digested sludge, from septic, Imhoff, or sepa- results are obtained with sludges from primary
rate digestion tanks, is very dark in color and has a wastewater treatment. In flotation thickening (Fig.
homogeneous texture. When wet, it has a tarry 22.18b), air is injected into the sludge under pres-
odor. Roughly, treatment of 1 million gal of waste- sures of 40 to 80 psi. Containing large amounts of
water will produce 800 gal of digested sludge with dissolved air, the sludge flows into an open tank.
a moisture content of about 90%. There, under atmospheric pressure, the dissolved air
The sludges removed in wastewater treatment comes out of solution as minute air bubbles. These
may contain as much as 97% water. The objective attach themselves to solids in the sludge and float
of sludge treatment is to separate the solids from them to the surface, where a skimming mechanism
the water and return that water to a wastewater- removes them. This method is effective on activated
treatment plant for processing. Sludge treatment sludge, which is difficult to thicken by gravity.
may require:
Sludge Digestion n This employs the biolog-
1. Conditioning. Sludge is treated with chemicals or ical decomposition of organic matter, which makes
heat so that the water may be readily separated. up about 70% of total solids, by weight, in sludge to
achieve gasification, liquefaction, and mineraliza-
2. Thickening. Removal of as much water as pos- tion of the solids. It can be applied to treatment-
sible by gravity or flotation. process sludges other than chemical sludges and
3. Stabilization. Processes known as sludge diges- those containing substances toxic to sludge organ-
tion are employed to stabilize (make less odor- isms, such as cyanides and chromium. Advantages
ous and less putrescible) the organic solids in of sludge digestion include production of a stable,
the sludge so that they can be handled or used inoffensive sludge (if the process is continued long
as soil conditioners without creating a nuisance enough); 35 to 45% reduction of suspended solids;
or health hazard. 55 to 75% reduction in dry weight of volatile mat-
ter; reduction in moisture content; and production
4. Dewatering. Further removal of water by dry-
of a sludge from which water may be more easily
ing the sludge with heat or suction.
removed. The digested sludge may be used as a soil
5. Reduction. The solids are converted into a stable conditioner and weak fertilizer under certain con-
form by incineration or wet oxidation processes. ditions. Furthermore, gases produced during diges-
tion may be used as fuel. (If the sludge is to be
Sludge Conditioning n This may employ dewatered and incinerated, digestion is not usually
any of several methods to facilitate separation of employed.) Digestion may be anaerobic, per-
the water from the solids in sludge. One method is formed in closed tanks devoid of oxygen, or aero-
to add a coagulant, such as ferric chloride, lime, or bic, with air injected into the sludge.
organic polymers, which cause the solids to clump
together. Another method is to first grind the Anaerobic Sludge Digestion n Sludges are
sludge and then heat it to between 350 and 450°F transferred to separate digestion tanks, unless
under pressures of 150 and 300 psi in a reactor. Imhoff-type tanks or septic tanks are used. While
Under these conditions, the water contained in the sludge decomposes in a digester, fresh sludge is
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Environmental Engineering n 22.41
Fig. 22.18 Cross sections of sludge-thickening equipment: (a) Gravity thickener; (b) flotation thickener.
added periodically. Anaerobic bacteria attack the The gas is 60 to 70% methane, 20 to 30% carbon
carbohydrates first, forming organic acids. After dioxide, plus minor amounts of other gases,
this initial acid fermentation, acid digestion occurs. including hydrogen sulfide. Fuel value of sludge
Organisms living in the acid environment attack gas usually ranges from 600 to 700 Btu/ ft3. The gas
the organic acids and nitrogenous matter. Then, a may be used at the treatment plant to operate aux-
period of digestion, stabilization, and gasification iliary engines and provide heat for sludge-heating
takes place, in which the anaerobic bacteria feed systems. Excess gas is burned.
on proteins and amino acids, such as acetic or All stages of the anaerobic process proceed
butyric acid. Volatile acids are reduced, and the pH simultaneously in the tank. Mixing of well-digest-
rises. In the final stage, methane fermentation ed sludge with fresh sludge provides balance. If
occurs, with methane as the principal gaseous the pH holds between 7.2 and 7.4, conditions for
product. Speed of digestion is indicated by the rate digestion will be most favorable. Once achieved,
of gas formation. Periodic removal of liquefied balance may usually be maintained if addition of
matter, excess liquor (or supernatant liquor), and fresh solids is held to less than 4%, by weight, of
digested solids makes room for fresh sludge. the solids in the tank.
Supernatant liquor, the liquid fraction in a Speed of anaerobic digestion depends on tem-
digester, is high in solids and biochemical oxygen perature (Fig. 22.19). In conventional sludge diges-
demand. It has an offensive odor. Withdrawn from tion, as illustrated in Fig. 22.20a (mesophilic range),
a digester in small quantities at a level where the 100 °F is the optimum temperature. Between 110
liquor contains relatively few solids, it is disposed and 140 °F (thermophilic range), thermophilic, or
of by insertion in the influent to a primary sedi- heat-loving, bacteria become active and speed
mentation tank. digestion even more, with an optimum tempera-
Sludge-gas production under good operating ture of 130 °F. Tanks usually are heated to hasten
conditions is about 12 ft3/lb of volatiles destroyed. digestion (Fig. 22.20b).
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22.42 n Section Twenty-Two
Fig. 22.19 Digestion period decreases with increasing temperature, reaching a minimum in the
mesophilic range at about 100 °F and in the thermophilic range at about 130 °F.
Most states have established schedules of include preheater and heater equipment, recircu-
capacity requirements for digestion tanks, depend- lation pumps with sludge suction at several levels,
ing on type of sludge and whether or not the tanks supernatant-liquor drawoff at several levels, gas
are heated. Typical requirements set a capacity, ft3 dome or collector, stirring mechanism, sludge
per capita, for heated tanks of 2 to 3 for primary rakes, and drawoff. The tank cover may be float-
sludges, 3 to 4 for mixtures of primary and stan- ing or fixed. With a fixed cover, when fresh sludge
dard-filter sludges, and 4 to 6 for activated sludge is added to a tank kept full, an equal volume of
or mixtures of primary and high-rate filter sludges. supernatant liquor must be removed. Addition of
Capacities of unheated tanks should be twice as sludge creates currents, as a result of which the
great for each type of sludge. liquor being removed may carry off some of the
Sludge-digestion tanks may be circular or rec- sludge. A floating cover allows the liquor to be
tangular in plan. They generally provide a means withdrawn before or after the fresh sludge enters
of manipulating the sludge. The system also may the tank.
Fig. 22.20 Sludge digestion. (a) Standard-rate digestion—unheated, detention time 30 to 60 days,
loading 0.03 to 0.10 lb of volatile suspended solids per ft3•day, intermittent feeding and withdrawal, and
stratification. (b) High-rate digestion—heated to between 85 and 95 °F, detention 15 days or less, loading
0.10 to 0.50 lb of volatile suspended solids per ft3•day, continuous or intermittent feeding or withdrawal,
and homogenous.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.43
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22.44 n Section Twenty-Two
Vacuum filtration reduces moisture content to attached to a series of plates. The plates are support-
about 80%. Filter cakes are easier to handle than the ed in a frame between a fixed and a moving end.
digested sludge from digesters. (In some plants, raw When sludge is forced into the chambers between
sludge is conditioned and processed on various fil- plates, the liquid passes through the filters while the
ters without digestion. Such sludge is offensive and solids are retained. When the filter chambers fill up
is handled in the same manner as screenings.) with solids, the sludge feed is stopped. The filter
Filter rates range from 2.5 lb/(ft2⋅h) of dry solids cake is dislodged by shifting the moving end so that
for fresh or digested activated sludge to 8 for pri- the plates can be moved. Pressure filtration provides
mary digested sludge. Usually, a vacuum filter is a the driest cake obtained by mechanical dewatering
hollow drum that rotates slowly about a horizontal methods, produces a clear filtrate, and often reduces
axis in a basin of sludge (Fig. 22.22). The filter is chemical conditioning costs.
covered with wire, plastic, or cotton cloth or with
flexible, metal, springlike coils. A vacuum in the Sludge Soil Conditioning n Because
compartmented interior of the drum holds sludge sludge from municipal wastewater treatment con-
against the cover and separates water from the tains some essential plant nutrients, it can be used
solids. As the drum rotates, a blade scrapes the as a fertilizer or soil conditioner. For that purpose,
cake into a conveyor or the cake is dislodged by however, it is desirable that the sludge be first sta-
release of the vacuum when the filter fabric passes bilized. It is often also dewatered.
off the drum over small rollers. The filtrate is Some cities apply liquid sludge to croplands.
returned to wastewater influent or to elutriators. This eliminates dewatering costs but requires
Centrifuge dewatering of sludge is accom- transporting of large amounts of sludge, and for
plished in a horizontal drum rotated at 1600 to health reasons, the sludge cannot be used for root
2000 rpm. Sludge is pumped into the centrifuge crops or crops eaten raw. In the Chicago area,
and injected with polymers for sludge condition- crops fertilized with liquid sludge include corn,
ing. As the drum turns, the solids are spun to the soybeans, and winter wheat.
outside of the drum and removed by a conveyer In some cases, sludge is dried in high-heat flash
(Fig. 22.23). Costs and results are similar to those driers to reduce the volume substantially. Flash
obtained with vacuum filtration. driers operate by mixing a portion of dried sludge
Pressure filtration is accomplished by pumping with incoming wet sludge cake and introducing a
sludge at pressures up to 225 psi through filters high-velocity high-temperature gas stream. The
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Environmental Engineering n 22.45
dried material is separated from the gas in a In the past, incinerators used to burn sludge
cyclone separator and moved to storage. If a refuse were multiple-hearth. Fed initially to the top hearth,
incinerator is located at the wastewater-treatment sludge is pushed down to the next hearth by agita-
site, it can provide heat for sludge drying. tor arms as it dries. The heat drives off water and
volatile gases, which are ignited by the high tem-
Sludge Reduction n If sludge is not to be perature. To avoid excessive odors, the temperature
used as a soil conditioner and if a landfill disposal should be maintained at 1500 °F or more. Ash
site is not available, the sludge may be reduced to a residue, if it meets state standards, may be used for
more innocuous and more easily handled form by fill or cover on sanitary landfill. Flue gases are
incineration, chemical oxidation, or wet oxidation. passed through a scrubber to limit air pollution.
During incineration, the moisture in the sludge If digester gas is not available for fuel, cost of
is completely evaporated and the organic solids are sludge incineration may be high. As an alternative,
burned to a sterile ash. Digested as well as undigest- filter cake may be mixed with solid wastes and
ed sludge, however, may be disposed of by incinera- burned in a municipal incinerator, if it adjoins the
tion. Auxiliary heat is needed because the moisture treatment plant.
content of the filter cake is high. Gas, including A fluidized-bed incinerator is an alternative
digester gas, oil, or coal, may be used as fuel. (see Art. 22.33.)
Fig. 22.23 Centrifuge equipment for dewatering sludge: (a) Continuous countercurrent, solid-bowl,
screw-conveyor-discharge centrifuge. (b) Concurrent-flow, solid-bowl, conveyor-discharge centrifuge.
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22.46 n Section Twenty-Two
Chemical oxidation of sludge is suitable for use settling tank. The sludge is sterile and may be dis-
at small- to medium-size treatment plants. The posed of by incineration or landfill, except for lim-
process provides batch treatment of sludge with itations on heavy metals.
chlorine, which results in formation of biologically Wet oxidation utilizes the principle that a com-
inert compounds. Most of the free available chlorine bustible organic material can be oxidized in the
reacts to form hydrochloric (HCl) or hypochlorous presence of water in liquid form at temperatures
(HOCl) acids. The HOCl subsequently breaks down between 250 and 700 °F. Thus the process is suitable
into HCl with release of oxygen O. Both HOCl and for reduction of sludges difficult to dewater. In the
O are strong oxidants. wet oxidation process, the sludge is ground and
The raw sludge is pumped through a macerator then fed into a reactor where temperatures about
to reduce particle size. The sludge then is mixed 500 °F and pressures of 1000 to 1700 psi are main-
with conditioned sludge in the ratio of 3.8 gal of tained. The high pressure prevents conversion of
recirculated sludge per gal of raw sludge (Fig. the water to steam. Air is injected into the sludge to
22.24). Chlorine is added to the mixture in dosages speed oxidation. The liquid and oxidized solids are
ranging from 600 to 4800 mg/L, depending on the separated by settling, vacuum filtration, or cen-
type of sludge. For domestic primary sludge, trifuging. In addition to eliminating the dewater-
dosage usually ranges between 1500 and 2000 mg/L ing step, the process has the advantage over incin-
of sludge added. A recirculation pump feeds the eration of a lower potential for air pollution
mixture to a reaction tank, where the reaction with because oxidation takes place in water without
chlorine takes place almost instantaneously. A por- producing exhaust gases and ash; but the process
tion of the flow is fed to a second reaction tank, and creates a liquid very high in BOD, phosphorus,
the remainder is recirculated. The recirculation aids and nitrogen, and this liquid must be returned to
in mixing and provides efficient utilization of the the wastewater-treatment plant.
chlorine. A pressure control pump at the discharge
end of the second reaction tank maintains from 30- Lime Recovery n When wastewater treat-
to 40-psi pressure on the system. ment involves the coagulation-sedimentation
The sludge dewaters easily in conventional process, large volumes of chemical sludges are pro-
drying beds. Bed filtrate is returned to the primary duced. Generally, the sludges may be dewatered
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Environmental Engineering n 22.47
Fig. 22.25 Imhoff tank permits sedimentation of wastewater in upper compartments and sludge diges-
tion in lower compartments.
and disposed of in the same manner as the organ- widely used in the United States since 1907 for pri-
ic sludges from secondary treatment. If lime is the mary treatment of wastewater. The tank permits
coagulant used, however, the lime may be recov- both sedimentation and sludge digestion to take
ered for reuse. For that purpose, the sludge is place. Sludge comprises the settled solids in waste-
dewatered by one of the processes described pre- water, and sludge digestion is the anaerobic decom-
viously and then subjected to recalcining in a mul- position of organic matter in sludge (Art. 22.21).
tiple-hearth or fluidized-bed incinerator. Recalcin- Efficiency of Imhoff tanks is about the same as
ing drives off water and carbon dioxide and leaves for plain sedimentation tanks. Imhoff effluents are
a residue of lime, which can be collected for reuse. suitable for treatment in trickling filters. Sludge
(Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., “Wastewater Engineer- digestion, however, may proceed much more
ing,” 3rd ed., L. Rich, “Low Maintenance, Mechan- slowly in an Imhoff tank than in a separate
ically Simple Wastewater Treatment Systems,” C. digester. In an Imhoff tank, sludge digestion takes
R. Brunner, “Handbook of Incineration Systems,” place without heat. Since rate of digestion decreas-
and R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Envi- es with drop in temperature (Fig. 22.19), lack of
ronmental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing temperature control is a disadvantage, especially
Company, New York; G. M. Fair et al., “Water and in regions where winters are cold.
Wastewater Engineering,” John Wiley & Sons, Imhoff sludge has a tarlike odor and a black,
New York; “Wastewater Treatment Plant Design,” granular appearance. It is dense. When with-
Manual 36, American Society of Civil Engineers; W. drawn from a tank, it may have a moisture content
F. Ettlich et al., “Operations Manual—Sludge Han- of 90 to 95%. It dries easily, and when dry, it is
dling and Conditioning,” Environmental Protec- comparatively odorless. It is an excellent humus
tion Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio; M. J. Satriana, but not a fertilizer.
“Large-Scale Composting,” Noyes Data Corp., Park Imhoff tanks are compartmented (Fig. 22.25).
Ridge, N.J.; “Sludge Thickening,” MOP 15 no. FD- Sedimentation occurs in an upper, or flowing-
1, Water Environmental Federation, Arlington, Va.) through, chamber. Sludge settles into a lower
chamber for digestion. To facilitate transfer of the
settling solids, the flowing-through chamber has a
22.22 Imhoff Tanks smooth, sloping bottom (about 60° with the hori-
Developed by Karl Imhoff in Germany for the zontal) with a slot at the lowest level. After parti-
Emscher sewage district, this type of tank has been cles pass through the slot, they are trapped in the
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22.48 n Section Twenty-Two
lower chamber. Their path is obstructed either by gal/(ft2⋅day). The weir overflow rate normally does
overlapping walls at the slot, as shown in the cross not exceed 10,000 gal/lin ft of weir per day. Veloci-
section in Fig. 22.25, or by a triangular beam with ty of flow is held below 1 ft/s.
an apex just below the slot. Length-width ratios of Imhoff tanks range from
As digestion proceeds in the lower chamber, 3:1 to 5:1. Depth to slot is about equal to the width.
scum is formed by rising sludge in which gas is Multiple units are preferable to a single large
trapped. The scum is directed to a scum chamber tank. Sometimes it also is expedient to set two flow-
and gas vent alongside the upper chamber. As ing-through chambers above one digestion chamber.
gases escape, sludge sinks back from the scum
chamber to the lower chamber. (The gas vents
occasionally may give off offensive odors.) The 22.23 Septic Tanks
scum chamber should have a surface area 25 to Like Imhoff tanks (Art. 22.22), septic tanks permit
30% of the horizontal surface of the digestion both sedimentation and sludge digestion. But
chamber. Vents should be at least 24 in wide. And unlike Imhoff tanks, septic tanks do not provide
top freeboard should be at least 2 ft to contain the separate compartments for these processes. While
scum. If foaming occurs at a gas vent, it can be undergoing anaerobic decompositions, the settled
knocked down with a water jet from a hose. sludge is in immediate contact with wastewater
In the digestion chamber, sludge settles to the flowing through the tank.
sloped bottom. After sufficient time has elapsed for Septic tanks have limited use in municipal
anaerobic decomposition, the sludge is removed treatment. Their effluents are odorous, high in bio-
through drawoff pipes. Since the height of a tank chemical oxygen demand, and dangerous because
usually is 30 to 40 ft, the sludge can be expelled under of possible content of pathogenic organisms. Septic
the hydraulic pressure of the liquid in the tank. Ordi- tanks, however, are widely used for treatment of
narily, sludge withdrawals are made twice a year. wastewater from individual residences. Such tanks
With such a schedule, the digestion chamber may be also are used by isolated schools and institutions
designed for a capacity of 3 to 5 ft3 per capita of con- and for treatment of sanitary wastewater at small
nected wastewater load. If, however, sludge removal industrial plants.
is less frequent, or if industrial wastes with large The tanks have a capacity of about 1 day’s flow,
quantities of solids are present in the wastewater, the plus storage capacity for sludge. Design of residen-
capacity should be greater. Some chambers have been tial tanks generally is based on 75 gal of wastewater
constructed with capacities up to 6.5 ft3 per capita. per person per day or 150 gal per bedroom per day.
Large tanks are provided with means for If bedrooms are used as a criterion, allowance
reversing flow in the upper chamber. Since sedi- should be made for future conversion of some
mentation generally is largest near an inlet, flow rooms into bedrooms. If garbage grinders may be
reversal permits a more even distribution of settled used, tank capacity should be increased (Table 22.6).
solids over the digestion chamber. Most states set a minimum capacity of 500 gal for a
Detention period in the upper chamber usually single tank. Some states require a second compart-
is about 21/2 h. Surface settling rate generally is 600 ment of 300-gal capacity, separated from the first
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Environmental Engineering n 22.49
compartment by a vertical partition. The partition port 150 psf. The tank top should be between 12
has a horizontal slot, about 6 in high, to permit pas- and 24 in below finished grade. An opening at least
sage of effluent from the first compartment. 16 in in diameter should be provided for a man-
A septic tank may be constructed of coated hole. The underside of the tank top should be at
metal or reinforced concrete and should be water- least 1 in above the tops of partitions and baffles.
tight. It should have a minimum liquid depth of 4 The invert of the inlet pipe should be at least 1 in,
ft. Length of a rectangular tank may be about twice preferably 3 in, above the invert of the outlet.
the width. Cast-in-place concrete tanks should be When the length of a tank exceeds 9 ft, two com-
at least 6 in thick, unless completely reinforced. partments should be used. Figure 22.26 shows a
The top slab, at least, should be reinforced to sup- typical tank.
Fig. 22.26 Septic tank permits sedimentation and sludge digestion in the same compartment.
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22.50 n Section Twenty-Two
Table 22.7 Allowable Sludge Accumulation in gal per person served. For day schools, the capaci-
Septic Tanks ty may be two-thirds as large.
For residential units, the main vent for the
Distance from bottom of house plumbing normally provides adequate ven-
Tank outlet device to top of sludge, tilation. For large septic tanks, however, separate
capacity, in, for liquid depth of vents for the tanks are desirable.
gal Septic-tank effluent may be disposed of in a
4 ft 5 ft leaching cesspool (Art. 22.25) or a tile field. The lat-
ter consists of lines of open-jointed tile or perforat-
500 16 21
ed pipe laid in trenches 18 to 30 in deep. The lines
600 13 18
receive the effluent from a distribution box, which
750 10 13
distributes the liquid equally. From the box, the
900 7 10
lines spread out, so that they are at least 6 ft apart.
1000 6 8
Lines should be of equal length, but none should
be over 60 ft long.
Laid on a slight slope, not more than 1/16 in/ft, the
Residential septic tanks usually are buried in tile or pipe is firmly set in a bed of crushed stone or
the ground and forgotten until the system gives washed gravel. The aggregate should extend 12 in
trouble because of clogging or overflow. Actually, below and 2 in above the conduit. The effluent, dis-
sludge should not be permitted to accumulate to a charging from the openings, disperses over the entire
depth greater than that indicated in Table 22.7. trench bottom and seeps into the ground. The size of
Commercial scavenger companies are available the tile field should be determined from the results of
for sludge removal in most areas. Using a tank soil-percolation tests (Table 22.8).
truck equipped with pumps, they remove the con- At least two soil-percolation tests should be
tents of a septic tank and cart them to a sewer man- made in the area of the tile field. To perform a test,
hole or a treatment plant for disposal. In rural dig a hole 8 in in diameter or 12 in square. It should
areas, the sludge may be buried in an isolated site. extend 6 in below the trench bottom or about 30 in
Municipal and institutional septic tanks are below the final ground surface. Place 2 in of coarse
designed to hold 12- to 24-h flow, plus stored sand or fine gravel in the bottom of the hole. Pre-
sludge. For camps for 40 or more persons, septic soak the hole by filling it with water several hours
tanks should have a liquid capacity of at least 25 before the test and again at the time of test and
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Environmental Engineering n 22.51
allowing the water to seep away. Remove any soil watertight or leaching. A watertight cesspool retains
that falls into the hole. Pour clean water to a depth wastewater until it is removed, by pumps or buckets.
of 6 in in the hole. Record the time, minutes, This type of cesspool is used only where no drainage
required for the water to drop 1 in. Repeat until the into surrounding soil or rock is permitted. A leach-
time for the water to drop from the 6- to 5-in levels ing cesspool allows wastewater to seep into the sur-
is about the same for two successive tests. Use the rounding ground.
results of the last test as the stabilized rate. Alter- Seepage pits of similar construction may be
native percolation-test methods have been devel- used to supplement tile fields (Art. 22.23) or
oped for use where peculiar soil conditions exist. instead of such fields where conditions are favor-
Lots with less than 10 ft of soil above a rock for- able. The pits also may be used in series with
mation usually are not suitable for construction of cesspools or septic tanks, to drain overflow liquid
both wastewater systems and well-water supplies into the surrounding soil. Results are similar to
because of contamination hazards. Tile fields those obtained with septic tanks (Art. 22.23).
should not be constructed under driveways. The Use of a leaching cesspool for direct disposal
fields should be more than 100 ft away from any should be restricted to a small family in a remote
source of water supply, 20 ft from house founda- location where there is absorptive soil and no danger
tion walls, and 10 ft from property lines. Trench of groundwater pollution. Leaching cesspools and
bottoms should be at least 2 ft above groundwater, seepage pits should never be attempted in clay soils.
5 ft above rock. Roof, footing, and basement drains The bottom of a seepage pit should be at least 2
should not be connected to septic tanks or they ft above groundwater and 5 ft above rock. Lots
will be overloaded with water not requiring treat- with less than 10 ft of soil above a rock formation
ment. Water from roof gutters and other storm generally are not suitable for construction of both
water should be routed away from the tile field. seepage pits and well-water supplies because of
This water would saturate the soil and interfere contamination hazards. Pits should be located
with proper operation of the field. more than 100 ft from a source of water supply, 20
Where soil is impervious or nearly so, an under- ft from buildings, and 10 ft from property lines.
drained tile field may be used. This, in reality, is a Clear distance between two pits should be at least
buried sand filter placed below the tile drainage sys- two times the diameter of the larger pit.
tem. The drainage tile is laid in trenches filled with Size of seepage pit should be determined on
gravel or other porous media. Underdrains at the the basis of 75 gal per person per day or 150 gal per
bottom collect and convey the effluent to a central bedroom per day. When bedrooms are used as a
collection point. There, the waste may be either criterion, allowance should be made for future
drained out by gravity, chlorinated and discharged conversion of some rooms into bedrooms. The pit
to a body of water, or pumped to a discharge point. lining should be open-jointed or perforated to per-
(“Sewage Disposal Systems for the Home,” Part mit liquid to leak out. Wall area should be large
III, Bulletin 1, Department of Health, State of New enough to allow the soil to absorb the liquid with-
York, Albany, N.Y.; “Studies on Household Sewage out the pit overflowing. The required wall area, or
Disposal System,” Parts 1 to 3, Robert A. Taft Sani- effective absorption area, should be determined
tary Engineering Center, U.S. Public Health Service; from soil-percolation tests (Table 22.9).
L. Rich, “Low Maintenance Mechanically Simple Percolation tests for seepage pits are the same
Wastewater Treatment Systems,” McGraw-Hill Pub- as for tile fields (Art. 22.23). The tests should be
lishing Company, New York; W. J. Jewell and R. made, however, at half the depth and at the full
Swan, “Water Pollution Control in Low-Density estimated depth of the seepage pit. A larger exca-
Areas,” University of Vermont.) vation may be made for the upper portion of the
hole, to facilitate execution of the test.
22.24 Cesspools and Seepage When the required absorption area has been
obtained from Table 22.9, the outside diameter and
Pits effective depth of pit may be obtained from Table
A cesspool is a lined and covered hole in the ground 22.10. The lining generally is made of concrete block
into which wastewater is discharged. It is used only or precast-concrete sections. Thickness should be at
when a sewerage system is not available. It may be least 8 in. With rectangular block, the bottom should
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22.52 n Section Twenty-Two
not be more than 10 ft below grade; with interlock- end of the trench. The pipe connecting the end of
ing block, not more than 15 ft. For deeper pits, the the line with the pit should have tight joints.
lining should be structurally designed to resist satu- (“Sewage Disposal for the Home,” Part III, Bul-
rated-earth pressures. The top should have a water- letin 1, Department of Health, State of New York,
tight manhole and concrete cover. Albany, N.Y.)
Coarse gravel should be placed in the bottom of
the pit to a depth of 6 in. Backfill around the lining
in the absorption area should be clean crushed stone
22.25 Chemical Toilets
or gravel, 11/2 to 2 in in diameter, to a thickness of at Chemical toilets are sometimes substituted for a pit
least 6 in. A 2 in-thick layer of straw should be placed privy when there is danger of polluting ground-
on top of the gravel before soil is backfilled. water. Normally, a chemical toilet is used only
When a seepage pit is used at the end of a tile when required by the health authority having
field, the pit wall should be at least 6 ft from the jurisdiction.
3 47 57 66 75 85 94 104 113
4 63 75 88 101 113 126 138 151
5 79 94 110 126 141 157 173 188
6 94 113 132 151 169 189 207 226
7 110 132 154 176 197 220 242 263
8 126 151 176 201 225 252 276 302
9 141 170 198 226 254 283 310 339
10 157 189 220 251 282 314 346 377
11 173 207 242 276 310 346 380 415
12 188 226 263 302 339 377 415 453
* Outside diameter and effective depth. Bottom area excluded from computations.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.53
The superstructure of the chemical toilet is ta for raw sewage and 0.002 acre per capita for
ordinarily the same as that provided for a pit privy. wastewater with primary treatment. Another basis
In place of the pit, a watertight corrosionproof con- for design is a strength-surface-loading relation-
tainer is provided. It contains caustic and has a ship in which 50-lb BOD per acre per day is con-
capacity of about 100 gal per seat. The receptacle is sidered satisfactory. For large installations, 220
charged with at least 25 lb of caustic per seat. The BOD per acre per day is maximum for shallow aer-
chemical is dissolved in 10 gal of water per seat. obic ponds. About double these areas are required
The container normally is provided with an agita- in northern regions.
tor that can be operated after each use. For large installations, two or more ponds may
be operated in series or in parallel. With series
operation, aerobic conditions in the first pond can
22.26 Oxidation Ponds be improved by returning some of the effluent
These are artificial lagoons of wastewater utilizing from the second pond.
natural forces for purification. Properly designed An acceptable location for the inlet to a pond is
and maintained, they provide satisfactory treat- its center. Effluent can be discharged at a conve-
ment even for raw wastewater. Effluents may be nient point along a bank.
equal to those from wastewater treatment plants Oxidation ponds may fail to meet requirements
providing secondary treatment. of secondary wastewater treatment for removal of
Oxidation ponds are suitable for use where suspended solids because of algae carried in the
large areas of land are available at low cost. Suc- pond effluent. Methods for removing the algae
cessful operation, however, usually requires rela- include filtration through sand beds at low rates,
tively high temperatures and sunshine. Ponds nev- filtration through a rock bed, or a combination of
ertheless are in use in northern states. When the settling and chemical treatment of the effluent.
water surface freezes, effluents are poor, but the ice The degree of treatment thus achieved may exceed
prevents odors. the requirements of secondary treatment for both
Wastewater treatment in oxidation ponds BOD and suspended solids.
depends on aerobic decomposition of organic mat- (R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ-
ter (Art. 22.14). Bacterial decomposition of this mat- mental Engineering,” T. McGhee, “Water Supply
ter releases carbon dioxide. Algae develop, con- and Sewerage,” 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Publishing
sume carbon dioxide, ammonia, and other waste Company, New York; “Wastewater Treatment
products, and under proper climatic conditions Plant Design,” Manual 36, American Society of
release oxygen during daylight. Oxygen also is dis- Civil Engineers.)
solved from the atmosphere at the lagoon surface.
Hence, a large ratio of surface area to volume of 22.27 Biodisks or Rotating
liquid is desirable. Aeration, however, may be used
to increase the supply of oxygen, which decreases
Biological Contactors
substantially at night and in cold weather where Wastewater secondary-treatment quality can be
algae are depended on heavily for oxygen. Aerated achieved with a method that has characteristics of
ponds are not so susceptible to climatic conditions both trickling filters and contact stabilization. A
as ordinary lagoons. series of closely spaced, 10- to 12-ft-diameter, plas-
Pond depths normally range from 2.5 to 4 ft. tic disks (biodisks) is mounted vertically on a hori-
With greater depths, septic conditions may devel- zontal shaft and rotated slowly with about half
op at the bottom. Shallower ponds permit vegeta- their surface area continuously immersed in a
tion to emerge. Unless controlled, this encourages reservoir of wastewater (Fig. 22.27).
mosquito breeding and obstructs movement of The disks provide a surface for buildup of
the water, which is desirable for solution of attached microbial growth, subject this growth
atmospheric oxygen. When sludge deposits on alternately to submersion in the wastewater and
the pond bottom become sufficiently deep, they the air, and aerate both the wastewater and biolog-
are removed by dredging. ical growth suspended in the wastewater. As the
Size of pond required may be conservatively disk surfaces emerge from the reservoir during
estimated for southern areas at 0.003 acre per capi- their rotation, they expose to the air a film of
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22.54 n Section Twenty-Two
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Environmental Engineering n 22.55
and the secondary clarifier, as shown in Fig. 22.28. time in a conduit or outfall before the chlorinated
With about 1 h of supplemental aeration, the process effluent is discharged. The accuracy of the chemical
can produce an effluent with less than 20 mg/L of feeders should be checked daily by determining
BOD and suspended solids. Requiring less area than the weight of chlorine or hypochlorites used. In
a trickling-filter plant, activated biofilters provide addition, the efficacy of dosages applied should be
stable operation and few system upsets. They can be checked frequently by bacteriological tests.
installed before existing activated-sludge basins to Chlorine also may be useful in preventing
improve plant efficiency or increase plant capacity. odors at wastewater treatment plants. For this pur-
pose, it may be added on line or to primary influ-
ent. Chlorination before primary sedimentation is
22.29 Disinfection not detrimental to sludge digestion.
The last step in secondary treatment of wastewater Other uses of chlorine include neutralization of
is disinfection of the effluent to kill pathogenic hydrogen sulfide, or prevention of its formation,
(disease-causing) bacteria and viruses. For the pur- where it may corrode concrete sewerage or struc-
pose, chlorine or ozone is generally used. tures; increasing the efficiency of air in grease
removal in skimming tanks; control of ponding
Chlorination n The major purpose of chlori- and filter-fly larvae on trickling filters; condition-
nating treated wastewater is to destroy pathogenic ing of sludge before dewatering; and treatment of
organisms. Chlorine demand of domestic or industrial wastes.
industrial wastewater is the difference between Some states place rigid restrictions on discharge
the amount of chlorine added and the residual of effluents containing chlorine that may form tri-
after a short time. This interval usually is taken as halomethane, a potential cancer-causing agent, in
15 min since this is the time required to kill nearly receiving waters used for drinking. A tentative
all the objectionable bacteria. Sufficient chlorine maximum contaminant level of 100 mg/L has been
should be added to treatment effluent to satisfy the proposed. Check with state authorities for limita-
demand and provide a residual of 2 ppm (mg/L). tions on free available chlorine in discharges.
The contact period should be at least 15 min at Dechlorination, when required, may be accom-
peak hourly flow or maximum pumping rate and plished by ion exchange, filtering through activat-
30 min at average daily flow. ed carbon, or injection of alum, sodium bisulfite,
The following dosages, ppm or mg/L, may be sodium sulfite, or sulfur dioxide.
required for disinfection of treated wastewater:
primary sedimentation effluent, 20 or more; trick- Ozonation n Ozone, produced at point of use
ling-filter-plant effluent, 15; activated-sludge-plant by passing dry air between two high-voltage elec-
effluent, 8; and sand-filter effluent, 6. Such disin- trodes, is an alternative to chlorine for disinfection
fection is desirable and often mandatory where of treated wastewater. It has the advantage that the
discharge of the effluent may pollute water sup- only residual left in the water is dissolved oxygen.
plies, shellfish beds, or beaches. The cost of ozone, however, is usually larger than
The 5-day BOD of wastewater is reduced about the cost of chlorine for accomplishing the same
2 ppm for each ppm of chlorine added. A BOD degree of treatment.
reduction of 15 to 35% may be expected with resid-
uals of 0.2 to 0.5 ppm after 10 min. Ultraviolet Disinfection n Another alterna-
Chlorinators usually are used to feed chlorine tive to chlorine is use of ultraviolet light to kill bac-
to the treatment effluent. Chlorine gas normally is teria and viruses. The wastewater is passed over
dissolved in water, and the solution is pumped horizontal glass cylinders, inside of which are
into the effluent in measured amounts, propor- ultraviolet light sources. A circular windshield
tional to the flow. In small plants and some large wiper keeps the tube surfaces clean.
plants, hypochlorinators may be used. These may (American Water Works Association, Inc., “Water
feed sodium hypochlorite (laundry bleach) or cal- Quality and Treatment,” 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Pub-
cium hypochlorite. lishing Company, New York; G. C. White, “Hand-
Chlorination should be done in a baffled contact book of Chlorination,” 2nd ed., Van Nostrand Rein-
tank, unless there will be sufficiently long contact hold Company, New York; R. A. Corbitt, “Standard
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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22.56 n Section Twenty-Two
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Environmental Engineering n 22.57
desired, after secondary treatment, coagulation- prises three basic steps: (1) Raising the pH of the
sedimentation, and filtration. This combination of water with lime to form gaseous ammonia. (2) Cas-
processes can produce a colorless, odorless efflu- cading the water down a stripping tower, which
ent, free of bacteria and viruses, with a BOD of less resembles a conventional cooling tower, to release
than 1 mg/L and a COD of less than 10 mg/L, suit- the gas. (3) Circulating large quantities of air
able for many reuse purposes. In any case, the through the tower to carry the ammonia into the
wastewater to be treated is passed through beds of atmosphere.
granular carbon particles, about 0.8 mm in diame- Selective ion exchange removes ammonia
ter, arranged like a gravity filter or in columns 20 to nitrogen from wastewater by exchanging ammo-
25 ft deep. Time for contact between carbon and nia ions for sodium or calcium ions contained in an
wastewater may range from 20 to 40 min. insoluble exchange material. The specific ion-
For the IPC process, the raw wastewater is usu- exchange material used in this process is clinop-
ally first coagulated and settled, sometimes also fil- tilolite, a naturally occurring zeolite.
tered, then subjected to carbon adsorption. The Breakpoint chlorination removes nitrogen by
result is a degree of treatment better than biological forming compounds that eventually are converted
secondary but not as good as that achieved with a to gaseous nitrogen. To achieve the conversion,
combination of secondary treatment and carbon about 10 mg of chlorine must be added per mg of
adsorption. ammonia nitrogen in a liter of wastewater. As a
result, about 40 or 50 times more chlorine is
Nitrogen Reduction Treatments n Nitro- required than that normally used in a wastewater
gen contained in wastewater is converted into plant for disinfection only.
ammonia during conventional biological secondary (R. L. Culp et al., “Advanced Wastewater Treat-
treatment. Ammonia, although not toxic to humans, ment,” Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New
is toxic to fish and is objectionable also because it con- York; R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Envi-
sumes dissolved oxygen, corrodes copper fittings, ronmental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing
and increases the amount of chlorine needed for dis- Company, New York.)
infection. The amount of ammonia retained in waste-
water can be reduced by biological or physical-chem- 22.31 Industrial Waste
ical methods. The latter include ammonia stripping,
selective ion exchange, and breakpoint chlorination.
Treatment
Both carbon adsorption and nitrogen reduction The treatment of industrial wastes (see Art. 22.2) is
should be tried out on the wastewater to be treated in highly specialized. Selection of treatment process-
a pilot plant before the prototype is built. es must be engineered to the peculiar characteris-
Biological nitrification-denitrification first bio- tics of a process waste. It is desirable, whenever
logically converts the ammonia nitrogen into possible, to reduce the volume of wastewater
nitrates (nitrification). This is accomplished by requiring treatment or to separate wastes requiring
injection into the wastewater of sufficient oxygen intensive treatment from those requiring little or
(about 4.5 lb per pound of ammonia nitrogen in no treatment. Cooling water, for example, can be
the wastewater). The next step is denitrification, segregated from high-strength wastes, thereby
biological conversion of the nitrates to gaseous reducing the size of the treatment plant.
nitrogen, which escapes to the atmosphere. Deni- Process wastes have a wide range of flow from
trification can be performed in an anaerobic acti- hour to hour, depending on the operation. Hence,
vated-sludge process (suspended growth system) it may be necessary to provide equalization or
or a fixed-film system. In this step, an oxygen- holding tanks to produce a more uniform flow to
demand source, such as methanol, is added to the be treated over a 24-h period. This is more efficient
wastewater because conversion of nitrates to than treatment units designed to handle maximum
gaseous nitrogen will take place only when there is flows produced during an 8-h shift. It is also possi-
a demand for oxygen in the absence of oxygen; this ble with equalization tanks to mix wastes of differ-
condition is not likely to exist after nitrification. ent characteristics, such as acids and alkalies, and
Ammonia stripping is a physical-chemical obtain a neutralized waste. Peak solids production
method for removing gaseous ammonia. It com- and BOD may also be reduced or regulated.
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22.58 n Section Twenty-Two
Canning
Corn products Ton 12,000 19.5 30.0 186
Beans Case no. 2 cans 35 200.0 60.0 0.35
Peaches Ton 2,610 29.2 13.0 280
Tomatoes Ton 227 8.4 2.9 82
Milk products
General dairy 1,000 lb raw 340 570 540 10
milk
Fermentation
Brewing 1 barrel beer 204 1.2 0.6 12
Laundry 100 lb dry wash 400+ 1,250+ 500+ 20-25
Roofing
Paperboard Ton 36,075 18.2 144.0 125
General slaughterhouse 1 animal 360 7.7 3.2 74
Paper mill
Paperboard Ton pulp 14,000 121 84
Textile
Cotton sizing 1,000 lb goods 60.0 2
processed
Basic dyeing 1,000 lb goods 18,000 90
processed
Rayon viscose 1,000 lb product 140 110 9.6 800
Wool dyeing and
scouring 1,000 lb product 240,000 125 1,500
Vegetable oils
Acidulating waste 1 ton oil 385 1 0.5 10
* From E. B. Besselievre and M. Schwartz, “The Treatment of Industrial Wastes,” 2d ed., McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
Copyright (C) 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Use of
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Environmental Engineering n 22.59
Chlorination for oxidation or disinfection purposes before landfilling, land treatment, mine storage,
Various forms of irrigation, lagooning, or algal oxi- and deep-well injection.
dation ponds Radioactive wastes are subject to severe restric-
tions when the receiving body of water may be used
It is frequently necessary to select theoretically for human consumption, recreational bathing, fish
best combinations of treatment for a process waste propagation for food, or plant irrigation. Federal
and to follow up the selection with pilot-plant and state regulations should be reviewed whenever
operations to establish the parameters of design for radioactive wastes are to be disposed. Permissible
the full-scale treatment plant. Employment of concentrations of radioactive material in water are
advanced waste-treatment methods may be neces- usually specified in microcuries per milliliter of
sary for specified purposes, such as removal of water. Procedures that have been used for the treat-
trace metals, control of phosphorus- and nitrogen- ment of radioactive wastes include concentration
bearing compounds, and reduction of excessive and storage, and dilution and disposal. Burial after
amounts of suspended solids. Several methods of required decay may follow the first and discharge to
treatment are described in Arts. 22.16 to 22.19, sewers or streams may follow the latter. Low-activi-
22.24, 22.29, and 22.30. ty material may be diluted, while high-activity
material, requiring long storage periods, may be
Discharge Permits n In accordance with the safely enclosed in containers and buried or stored in
Clean Water Act (Art. 22.1), anyone discharging isolated caves or other underground facilities.
wastewater to the waters of the United States is Concentration of radioactive wastes before
required to obtain a permit for that purpose from the storage may be accomplished by coprecipitation.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a desig- The radioactive sludge concentrate is then
nated state, under the National Pollutant Discharge removed, packaged, and buried.
Elimination System (NPDES). Permits usually are Evaporation is widely used for concentration of
written for a specific term (up to 5 years) and contain low-activity wastes. Condensate may be released
effluent limitations and monitoring requirements for to a sewer. The sludge is transferred to polyethyl-
each discharge point. One objective is to have indus- ene-lined drums for burial. Cation exchange with
try apply the best available technology economically synthetic resins may be used on small liquid vol-
achievable for controlling toxic pollutants and the best umes having low solids concentration and low
conventional pollutant-control technology for con- radioactivity levels.
ventional pollutants. (Industries discharging to Land treatment is suitable for wastes that can be
municipal sewer systems, however, are not required biodegraded, chemically altered, immobilized, or
to obtain NPDES permits. Control of pollutants from deactivated by interaction with soil. Studies should
these sources is achieved through EPA General Pre- be made to determine acceptable waste-loading
treatment Regulations, which set specific industry-by- rates and monitoring requirements. Provisions
industry standards with specific limits on effluents.) should be made to prevent discharge from the site
EPA has established a list of hazardous wastes of untreated water or for treatment of such water.
from specific industries, such as electroplating wastes Unless contaminated soil is to be removed and
or air-pollution-control scrubber sludges from coke transported to a treatment or disposal facility, appli-
ovens and blast furnaces. If a waste is on this general cations of wastes containing metals should be con-
list, the producer must treat it as a hazardous waste. trolled so that no toxic hazard will result. After the
EPA has also compiled a list of toxic chemicals that are last load of waste has been placed, the site should be
often contained in industrial wastes. Wastes contain- stabilized with vegetation or capped as required for
ing any of these chemicals must be treated as a haz- a landfill to control infiltration and erosion.
ardous waste. But even if a waste is not on either list, For deep-well disposal, liquid wastes are inject-
it should be considered hazardous if it is radioactive, ed through shafts into deep subsurface geologic
ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic. formations, where the wastes will be contained.
The technique has long been used by the oil indus-
Hazardous Wastes n Options for disposal try for disposal of brine. Care must be taken that
of hazardous wastes include recovery for reuse, groundwater which might be required for use
incineration, landfills with the option of fixation above ground will not be polluted.
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22.60 n Section Twenty-Two
For landfills, see Art. 22.32; for incineration, see an estimate of volume required computed from
Art. 22.33.
(W. W. Eckenfelder, Jr., “Industrial Water Pollu- (22.24)
tion Control,” H. M. Freeman, “Standard Hand-
book of Industrial Waste Treatment and Disposal,” where V = volume, yd3 per capita per year, of
and S. C. Reed and E. J. Middlebrooks, “Natural sanitary landfill
Systems for Waste Management and Treatment,”
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York; J. R. R = weight of refuse, lb per capita per
Conner, “Chemical Fixation and Solidification of year, to be handled at landfill
Hazardous Wastes,” R. L. Culp et al., “Advanced D = average density of refuse, lb/yd3
Wastewater Treatment,” J. Devinney et al., “Subsur-
P = percentage reduction of refuse vol-
face Migration of Hazardous Wastes,” E. J. Martin
ume from compaction
and J. H. Johnson, “Hazardous Waste Management
Engineering,” and N. Nemerow and A. Dasgupta, Cν = volume, yd3, of cover material
“Industrial and Hazardous Waste Treatment,” Van required (6- to 12-in-thick interme-
Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.) diate layers, temporary sides, front
slope, and top, and at least 24 in on
all finished surfaces)
22.32 Sanitary Landfills
Cν varies from 17% of the refuse volume for
Refuse collected from households, commercial deep fills to 33% for shallow fills. It may be
establishments, and industrial plants must be dis- assumed at 25% in estimates. For this value, the
posed of at minimum cost and without creating required volume of landfill may be estimated from
health hazards or nuisances. One solution is a san-
itary landfill, which requires daily compaction of (22.25)
refuse and daily placement of an earth cover 6 to
12 in thick. The cover is increased to 2 ft when fill-
ing has been completed. Drainage of the site before, during, and after
The method is suitable where low-cost land is filling should be planned in advance. Provision
available within convenient hauling distance of should be made for windbreaks to keep dust,
the contributing population and good soil is avail- paper, and other light objects from being blown
able for the earth cover. Other factors to consider in away from dumping areas and becoming a nui-
selection of a landfill site are possible adverse sance. Also, the final disposition of the site should
effects on quality of surface water, groundwater, be planned in advance.
and air and potential for subsurface migration of Parks, recreational areas, and outdoor storage
leachates. Also, a site should not be located within are suitable end uses for landfills. Choice of end use
200 ft of a fault nor within a 100-year floodplain. should be influenced by the uncertain settlement
Refuse comprises all solid wastes except body characteristics of such fills and the objectionable
wastes. It may consist of garbage, ashes, rubbish, odors that may be released where excavations are
street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned auto- made. A covered fill may be odorless, but excavation
mobiles and solid market and industrial wastes. may be hazardous and expensive because of the
Garbage consists of putrescible wastes resulting presence of obnoxious toxic and flammable gases
from processing, handling, preparation, cooking, produced by decomposing refuse. Light buildings
and consumption of food. Rubbish consists of may be constructed over old sanitary landfills if the
solid wastes other than ashes, body wastes, and surface is topped with gravel, crushed stone, or slag
garbage from domestic, commercial, and institu- to permit gases to escape to the atmosphere. Even
tional sources. settlement of such buildings may be achieved with
About 14 acre-ft, including cover, per 10,000 mat footings. Buildings may be erected on piles
population per year of operation will be required driven through the fill when suitable protection
for sanitary landfill. Sufficient land should be against gas entrapment is provided.
available to ensure area for a preplanned period of Soil used for cover should not have a high pro-
5 to 10 years. The area needed can be derived from portion of sand or clay or operation of trucks will be
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Environmental Engineering n 22.61
hindered. If an impermeable liner is placed under nature of the wastes to be discharged. Liners often
the site and the cover is relatively permeable, the are concrete, synthetic fabrics, or impermeable clay.
facility will fill up with water and overflow, carrying (R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ-
pollutants with it. Clay also is difficult to handle, mental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Publishing
and when dry, it cracks, providing openings for Company, New York; American Public Works
rodents, insects, and air. A sand-clay-loam mixture Association Committee on Refuse Disposal,
with about 50% sand has been found satisfactory. “Municipal Refuse Disposal,” Public Administra-
Decomposition in a landfill is anaerobic and tion Service, 1313 E. 60th St., Chicago, Ill. 60637; D.
proceeds slowly. Even after 25 years, some of the G. Wilson, “Handbook of Solid Waste Manage-
organic matter, including newspaper and some ment,” and A. Bagchi, “Design, Construction and
types of plastic, may be unchanged. Monitoring of Sanitary Landfills,” Van Nostrand
Sanitary landfills may be carried out by the Reinhold Company, New York.)
trench or area methods. Both require that refuse be
compacted and covered daily. In the trench
method, soil for covering a compacted windrow of 22.33 Incineration of Refuse
refuse is obtained by digging a trench 15 to 25 ft and Hazardous Wastes
wide, 100 to 400 ft long, and at least 3 ft deep, next
to the windrow. This trench, in turn, is filled with Where land is costly or unavailable for sanitary
refuse and covered with soil from an adjoining landfill, municipalities may resort to incineration
trench. The refuse should be placed in the trenches for refuse disposal. Refuse comprises all solid
in layers 1 to 2 ft thick and 8 to 10 ft wide and com- wastes except body wastes. The material is not
pacted. Final height may be 6 to 10 ft. Only enough homogeneous, and its characteristics vary consid-
length of windrow should be built up in this man- erably. Fuel value may range from 600 to 6500 Btu
ner daily so that full height is reached and sides per pound of refuse, as fired. Moisture content
and top are covered with soil at the end of a work- influences this value significantly.
day. In the area method, applicable to swamps, Controlled high-temperature (1600°F or more)
marshes, and below-grade terrain, compacted incineration is an effective alternative to traditional
refuse is built up in layers 6 to 10 ft deep and cov- methods of disposal of hazardous wastes. Such
ered daily with soil brought in from elsewhere. incineration is capable of converting many haz-
Landfills must meet a number of restrictive ardous wastes into innocuous gases and ash and
requirements imposed by state regulatory agencies. often recovering some of the energy produced by
The specific requirements in each state should be combustion. The process must be controlled to pre-
ascertained by the engineer. Usually, the engineer is vent emission to the atmosphere of hazardous com-
required to submit a plan and report on the specif- bustion products or products of incomplete combus-
ic areas to be filled, schedule of filling, site prepara- tion. EPA regulations require incinerator operators to
tion, sources and types of materials to be used as obtain a permit to burn the specific wastes to be
cover, and subbase. The plan should also include treated. Basic standards call for 99.99% destruction
details on application of cover material; composi- and removal efficiency for each principal hazardous
tion of waste; final grades; handling of surface component of the waste; 99% removal of HCl from
water and fill drainage, including the method of the exhaust, when the wastes contain more than
collection and treatment of leachate to prevent 0.5% of organically bound chlorine; and emission
groundwater or surface-water pollution; erosion not exceeding 180 mg/m3 of exhaust gas.
control; nuisance control; air-pollution prevention
measures; method of record keeping; and, in gen- Refuse n In incineration of refuse, volatiles are
eral, any data required to ensure that environmen- driven off by destructive distillation. They ignite
tal impact (Art. 22.35) will not be adverse or unac- from the heat of a combustion chamber (Fig. 22.30).
ceptable to the enforcement agency. Gases produced pass through a series of oxidation
Landfills should be provided with means for changes in which time-temperature relationship is
controlling leachate and runoff. Leachate may be important. They must be heated above 1400 °F to
contained by placing an impermeable liner under destroy odors. Combustion products ultimately
and around the site. Choice of liner depends on the discharge from a stack at 800 °F or less, usually after
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22.62 n Section Twenty-Two
passing through an expansion chamber, fly-ash col- For rational design of incinerators, the engineer
lector, and wet scrubbers. Normally, only submi- should know or estimate such characteristics of the
cron- and the smaller micron-size particles should refuse to be burned as weight, water content, per-
escape with the flue gases. Dust emissions may be centage of combustible and inert material, and Btu
in the range of 2 to 3 lb per ton of refuse charged for content. Available heat from the refuse must be bal-
a well-operated unit equipped with scrubbers. anced against heat losses due to radiation, excess air,
Air needed ranges from 5 to 8 lb per pound of flue gas, and ash. Heat balance can be calculated
refuse burned. For nonhomogeneous wastes, up to from several estimates based on averages. Manufac-
200% of theoretical requirements may be needed turers of each type of incinerator recommend sizes
for combustion. The air provides oxygen for com- for various conditions. Furnace volume may be
bustion of organic matter, helps dry wet refuse, approximated by allowing 20,000 Btu/ft3, and grate
and mixes with organic gases. But the air cools the area by allowing 300,000 Btu/ft2. Secondary combus-
gases if too much dry material is being burned. Air tion chambers permit combustion to continue to
should be passed over the refuse and through it completion. Volumes of such chambers range from
from under the grates. 10 to 25 ft3/ton of rated capacity. Expansion cham-
Incinerators generally are rated in accordance bers and other air-cleaning devices remove fly ash
with the estimated weight of refuse they are capable and other particles carried out of the furnace by
of burning in 24 h. Loading rates range up to slight- gases. Expansion chambers are desirable where a
ly over 100 lb of refuse per hour per square foot of stack serves more than one furnace. Gas velocities
grate area for incinerators with mechanical stoking. in secondary chambers should not exceed 10 ft/s.
Small incinerators for apartment buildings and insti- Stacks should be designed for gas velocities of
tutions are loaded at much lower rates. Standards of about 25 ft/s with maximum air. As a rough approxi-
the Incinerator Institute of America suggest loading mation, 0.3 ft2 of stack area may be required per ton
rates for domestic refuse, lb/(h⋅ft2), of 20 in 100-lb/h of rated capacity. Stack heights usually range from
burning units to 30 in 1000-lb/h burning units. 100 to 180 ft. Height is desirable for creating natural
Several types of incinerators are available from draft and for dispersion of gases in the atmosphere.
manufacturers. Kiln shape may be round or rectan-
gular. The kiln may be stationary or rotate about a Hazardous Wastes n For incineration of haz-
horizontal axis. The hearth may be horizontal and ardous wastes, liquid-injection incinerators are usu-
fixed, with grates; traveling, with grates; multiple; ally used. Vertically aligned units are generally used
step movement; or barrel-type rotary (Fig. 22.30). for wastes high in organic salts and yielding large
Some types have drying hearths. Feed may be con- quantities of ash. Horizontal incinerators are prefer-
tinuous, stoker, gravity, or batch. able for wastes producing small quantities of ash.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.63
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22.64 n Section Twenty-Two
contact and that the wastes stay long enough in Agricultural sources include applications of insec-
the combustion chamber to be destroyed. For this ticides and pesticides and burning of vegetation.
purpose, high-efficiency burners should be used, Commercial and domestic heat and power
liquid-waste feed should be atomized for insertion sources include gas-, oil-, and coal-fired furnaces
in the combustion chamber, and excess combustion used to produce heat for dwellings, commercial
air should be supplied and controlled to maintain establishments, and utilities.
turbulence in that chamber. Municipal activity sources include refuse dis-
Emission-control devices should be used to posal, liquid-waste disposal, road and street
limit emission of hazardous exhausts. Afterburn- paving, and fuel-fired combustion operations. Fall-
ers may be employed to provide additional com- out comprises radioactive pollutants suspended in
bustion volume at high temperatures to burn the air after a nuclear explosion.
incompletely combusted exhaust products. Scrub- Since pollutants are contributed by many
bers (Art. 22.34) are advantageous for removal of sources, air pollution is always present but in vary-
particulates, acid gases, and residual organics ing degrees. In effect, pollution from natural
from the exhaust. sources is a base line with which total pollution can
(“Engineering Handbook on Hazardous Waste be compared. The major correctable sources of pol-
Incineration,” Environmental Protection Agency, lution are associated with community activity,
Cincinnati, OH 45268; C. R. Brunner, “Handbook rather than rural activity, because community air
of Incineration Systems,” and G. Tchobanoglous, generally is more polluted.
“Solid Wastes: Engineering Principles and Man- Environment is made less desirable by pollu-
agement Issues,” McGraw-Hill Publishing Compa- tants. Hence, there is ample reason to conserve air
ny, New York; D. G. Wilson, “Handbook of Solid as a resource, in many ways parallel to the need for
Waste Management,” and E. J. Martin and J. H. conservation of water.
Johnson, Jr., “Hazardous Waste Management Engi- Air-pollution control requires knowledge of what
neering,” Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New constitutes an ideal atmosphere. This leads to estab-
York; H. B. Palmer and J. M. Beer, “Combustion lishment of criteria for clean air and standards setting
Technology,” Academic Press, New York.) limits on the permissible degree of pollution. Control
also requires means for precise measurement of pol-
lutants and practical methods for treating polluting
22.34 Air-Pollution Control sources to prevent undesirable emissions.
Air pollution exists when one or more substances, In addition to its adverse effects on health, air
such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odor, smoke, or pollution also is objectionable because of its contri-
vapor, are present for a sufficient time in the bution to reduced visibility. In many parts of the
atmosphere in quantities and with characteristics world, burning of soft coal yields particles that
injurious to life or property, or detrimental to com- combine with fog to produce smog, a mixture that
fortable enjoyment of life and property. at times reduces visibility to zero. Smog is created
These pollutants derive from numerous when microscopic water droplets condense about
sources. They may be roughly classified as natural, nucleating substances in the air to form aerosols.
industrial, transportation, agricultural, commercial These are liquid or solid, submicron-size particles
and domestic heat and power, municipal activities, dispersed in a gaseous medium. In an atmosphere
and fallout. with an aerosol concentration of about 1 mg/m3,
Natural sources include water droplets or spray visibility may be limited to 1600 ft. There would be
evaporation residues, windstorm dusts, meteoric about 16,000 particles per milliliter restricting visi-
dusts, surface detritus, and pollen from weeds. bility by scattering light.
Industrial sources include process waste dis- Coal is only one source of nucleating particles
charges, ventilation products from local exhaust that are responsible for smog. Chemical conversion
systems, and heat, power, and waste disposal by of reaction products in the air also produces nucle-
combustion processes. ating substances that grow large enough to cause
Transportation sources include discharges from light scattering. Converted sulfur dioxide too
motor vehicles, rail-mounted vehicles, airplanes, becomes a nucleating substance as it oxidizes and
and vessels. hydrolizes to form sulfuric acid mist.
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Environmental Engineering n 22.65
The most desirable means of controlling air pol- Evaporative emissions from metal cleaning and
lution is to prevent contaminants from getting into degreasing operations
the atmosphere. Complete elimination of air pollu- Particulate emissions from numerous processes,
tion, however, is not always practicable. But there including battery manufacturing, processing of
are many means for reducing it. Sulfur dioxide minerals prior to metal reduction, phosphate rock
release, for example, can be decreased by use of a processing, coke ovens, manufacture of asphalt
fuel with low sulfur content. An industrial process roofing and gypsum, and combustion of wood,
with a gaseous effluent can be changed to elimi- municipal solid wastes, refuse-derived fuels, and
nate the gaseous waste. Aerosols and particles can bagasse—alone or combined with fossil fuels
be removed from a gas stream by air-cleaning
equipment.
Air-Cleaning Devices n Sizes of substances
to be eliminated (Table 22.12) are a major factor in
Air-Quality Standards n In accordance selection of air-cleaning devices. Coarse solids can
with the Clean Air Act (Art. 22.1), the Environ- be removed by screens. Particles down to 10 µm in
mental Protection Agency (EPA) develops Nation- diameter can be settled out in settling chambers
al Ambient Air Quality Standards. These list the with expanding cross section for velocity reduction
maximum amount of an air pollutant that can be to under 10 ft/s. Particles between 10 and 200 µm
present with an adequate margin of safety in pro- can be removed in cyclone separators, with an effi-
tection of public health and welfare and that will
not cause significant deterioration of air quality in
areas where ambient standards have been
attained. Check with EPA for the latest criteria Table 22.12 Approximate Sizes of Particles in
because they are subject to change when appro- Aerosols, Dusts, and Fumes
priate for public protection. Type of Particle Size Range, Microns
EPA also develops National Emission Standards
for Hazardous Air Pollutants to limit emissions that Tobacco smoke 0.01 – 0.2
cause or contribute to air pollution. The standards Rosin smoke 0.01 – 1.1
apply to both new and existing sources. For exam- Carbon black 0.01 – 0.3
ple, for restricting emissions of inorganic arsenic Zinc oxide fumes 0.01 – 0.4
from smelters, EPA requires high-efficiency partic- Magnesium oxide smoke 0.01 – 0.5
ulate controls operated at optimum temperature Metallurgical fumes 0.01 – 1.3
for arsenic condensation for process gas streams, Viruses 0.01 – 0.05
effective capture systems, and high-efficiency par- Oil smoke 0.03 – 1.0
ticulate controls for several sources of fugitive Pigments 0.09 – 8
emissions. Ammonium chloride fumes 0.1 – 1.4
In addition, EPA develops New Source Perfor- Alkali fumes 0.1 – 1.6
mance Standards based on the best systems that Metallurgical dust 0.5 – 200
have been demonstrated to reduce emissions con- Sulfate mist 0.5 – 3
tinually, taking into account costs and energy Spray-dried milk 1 – 10
requirements. The standards apply to new sources Bacteria 1 – 12
and existing sources that have been modified after Pulverized-coal fly ash 1 – 60
establishment of EPA criteria. For example, EPA Fog 1 – 50
has issued limitations for the following: Sulfuric acid concentrator 1.1 – 11
Cement dust 5 – 200
SO2 and NO2 emissions from industrial boilers
Sulfide ore for flotation 8 – 300
NO2 emissions from diesel engines Foundry dusts 8 – 1000+
Hydrocarbon emissions from dry cleaning equip- Stoker fly ash 10 – 900
ment Pulverized coal 10 – 500
Ground limestone 30 – 900
Emission of volatile organics from numerous
Mist 50 – 600
processes and storage units
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22.66 n Section Twenty-Two
ciency of 50 to 90%. In this equipment, the gas to es quick impact with dust in the air, and removes
be cleaned is injected tangentially into a cylindrical the particles. In packed towers, dust particles are
chamber. The gas spirals downward, then upward removed when air flows upward through the
through the vortex at high velocity, and exits at the packing, which usually is in the form of ceramic
top. Before the gas leaves, however, particles are saddles, while water flows downward.
centrifuged out, hit the side walls, and drop to the Ionizable aerosols and particles down to 0.1 µm
conical bottom of the chamber. in size can be removed by electrostatic precipitators
Particles 10 µm in diameter or smaller may be with an efficiency of 80 to 99%. These devices ionize
removed with filters made of cloth, metal, or glass particles in a gas passing by high-voltage electrodes.
fiber. But air or gas velocities leaving such filters Oppositely charged plates trap the particles. To rid
are low. For dry fiber filters, efficiency may be only the plates of the particles, the current to the plates is
about 50%. The efficiency of such filters, however, interrupted or the plates are rapped.
may be increased by application of a viscous coat-
ing, such as an oil with low volatility. Filters made Dispersal of Pollutants n When pollutants
of cloth usually are tubular bags, which trap parti- cannot be completely eliminated at the source, air
cles as air or gas passes through. Many bags may pollution may be reduced by keeping the concen-
be enclosed in a large chamber. When loaded with tration of the pollutants low by dispersing them.
dust, they are shaken, and the dust falls into a hop- Whether atmospheric dilution is a suitable solution
per. Bag filters remove 99% of particles larger than depends on the meteorology of a region, local
10 µm. Filters packed with activated charcoal are topography, and building configurations. Basic
used to absorb gases. meteorological conditions of the atmosphere that
Wet collectors or scrubbers remove particles 1 must be considered include wind speed, direction,
to 5 µm in size. These devices also may remove and gustiness, and vertical temperature distribu-
water-soluble gases. In a scrubber, the gas to be tion. Under some conditions, humidity also is
cleaned may pass through a countercurrent water important. In general, diffusion theories predict
flow. The water may be sprayed or atomized. The that ground concentration of a gas or fine-particle
scrubber may have deflectors to improve mixing of effluent with very low subsidence velocity is
the gas and water. Chemicals may be added to the inversely proportional to the mean wind speed.
liquid to improve absorption. Vertical temperature distribution determines the
Wet collectors often are used to clean air from distance from a stack of given height at which
kilns, roasters, and driers. They also are used for maximum ground concentration occurs. Raising
processes producing fine dust, films, vapors, and the temperature of gas leaving a stack is equivalent
mists in food, chemical, foundry, metalworking, to increasing stack height.
and ceramic industries. Scrubbers may be classified Gas does not normally come to the ground
as dynamic precipitators, centrifugal collectors, ori- under inversion conditions. It may accumulate
fice collectors, collectors with high-pressure noz- aloft when the atmosphere is calm or nearly so and
zles, and packed towers. be brought down to the surface as the sun heats
In dynamic precipitators, dynamic or centrifu- the ground in early morning.
gal forces, aided by water, clean the air. In centrifu- Turbulence caused by buildings and topogra-
gal collectors, centrifugal forces throw particles in phy usually is so complex that theoretical compu-
the air against wetted collector surfaces. After strik- tation of the effect is impractical. In some cases,
ing the surfaces, the particles fall to the bottom of however, model studies in wind tunnels have been
the device and are removed. Orifice collectors used successfully to make predictions based on
deliver large quantities of water to a collecting measurements of gas concentration and visible
zone where dust is removed from the air by cen- patterns of smoke.
trifugal force, impingement, or collision. In collec-
tors with high-pressure nozzles, air at 20,000 ft/min Air Sampling and Monitoring n The
or more and water under 250 psi or more jet degree of air pollution at any time and place is
through venturi tubes. The water breaks into a fine determined by taking air samples and analyzing
mist, increasing the probability of contact with tiny them. Air-sampling methods may be classified as
particles. The turbulence disperses the water, caus- those sampling particles, inorganic metals and
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Environmental Engineering n 22.67
salts, inorganic gases, organic substances, and sis of Air Pollutants,” and W. L. Faith and A. A.
mixed miscellaneous substances. Atkinson, “Air Pollution,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Many automatic, recording, air-monitoring New York; R. O. Gilbert, “Statistical Methods for
instruments are available. They can be operated Environmental Pollution Monitoring,” Van Nos-
with few attendants and little manipulation. It is trand Reinhold, New York.)
generally necessary to calibrate automatic instru-
ments against a standard wet chemical or physical
22.35 Environmental Impact
measurement method. Subsequent field calibra-
tion before, during, and after use may also be Statements
essential to maintain reliable test results. Although In accordance with the National Environmental
there are many variations, particle-sampling Policy Act (Art. 22.1), Federal agencies, depart-
devices generally use gravity or suction-type col- ments, and establishments are required to prepare
lection and pass the sample through thermal or environmental impact statements in connection
electrostatic precipitators, impingers and with proposals for legislative and other major Fed-
impactors, cyclones, absorption and adsorption eral activities significantly affecting the quality of
media, scrubbing apparatus, or filters of various human environment.
materials, such as paper, glass, plastic, or cloth. It is essential that a draft statement be pre-
Several types of units with air pumps drawing pared, as early as possible, by the project engineer
air through paper tapes mounted on a spool are or other appropriate authorized person for review
available. The tape is moved automatically so that and comment. The actions may include all or any
successive samples are taken for timed intervals on of the following:
fresh paper.
In addition to standard wet chemical methods of 1. Agency recommendations on their own pro-
measuring gases, there are many automatic or semi- posals for legislation
automatic instruments designed to measure a spec-
2. Agency reports on legislation initiated else-
trum (mass spectrometer) of one or more specific
where but concerning subject matter for which
gases. These employ many different analytical prin-
the agency has primary responsibility
ciples, such as electrical conductivity; potentiometry;
coulometry; flame ionization, thermal conductivity; 3. Projects and continuing activities that may be
heat of combustion; colorimetry; infrared, ultravio- a. Undertaken directly by an agency
let, and visible light photometry; gas chromatogra-
b. Supported in whole or in part through Fed-
phy; atomic absorption and electron capture.
eral contracts, grants, subsidies, loans, or
Stack sampling requires special techniques and
other forms of funding assistance
usually a train of sampling devices to measure par-
ticles and gases. c. Part of a Federal lease, permit, license, cer-
High-volume samplers are used at many sam- tificate, or other entitlement for use
pling network stations in the United States. Elec- 4. Decisions of policy, regulation, and procedure
tron microscopes may be used to examine aerosols making
and submicron particles. Photoelectric meters are
used to control alarm systems connected to stacks. Although it is possible that there can be excep-
Combination instruments may be used for general tions, the following actions are generally consid-
sampling and location of emission sources. Such ered major or environmentally significant:
devices measure wind direction and velocity and
direct air samples into multiple sample units, each 1. Actions whose impact is significant and highly
representing a wind-direction sector. controversial on environmental grounds
(R. A. Corbitt, “Standard Handbook of Environ-
mental Engineering,” M. L. Davis and D. A. Corn- 2. Actions that are precedents for much larger
well, “Introduction to Environmental Engineering actions that may have considerable environ-
and Technology,” and H. S. Peavey and D. R. Rowe, mental impact
“Environmental Engineering,” McGraw-Hill Pub- 3. Actions that are decisions in principle about
lishing Company, New York; P. O. Warner, “Analy- major future courses of action
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22.68 n Section Twenty-Two
4. Actions that are major because of the involve- Impact Statement Review n In general,
ment of several Federal agencies, even though a any Federal, state, or local agency that has jurisdic-
particular agency’s individual action is not tion by law or specific expertise with respect to any
major environmental impact involved must be consulted
5. Actions whose impact includes environmental- for comments. Agencies to be consulted include
ly beneficial as well as environmentally detri- those having responsibilities for the following
mental effects (state or local agencies may have additional agency
review requirements):
Contents of Environmental Impact
Statements n Environmental impact statements Water quality and water pollution control
must assess in detail the potential environmental Air quality and air-pollution control
impact of a proposed action. The purpose of the
statement is to disclose the environmental conse- Weather modification
quences of a proposed action. That disclosure is Environmental aspects of electric energy genera-
designed to alert the agency decision maker (local, tion and transmission
state, or Federal, or any combination of these), the Toxic materials, pesticides, and herbicides
public, and, perhaps on major works, Congress
and the President to environmental risks involved. Transportation and handling of hazardous materials
Environmental impact statements should pre- Wetlands, estuaries, waterfowl refuges, beaches,
sent: marine-pollution control
Historic and archeological sites
1. A detailed description of the proposed action,
including information and technical data ade- Flood plains and watersheds
quate to permit a careful assessment of envi- Mineral land reclamation
ronmental impact
Parks, forests, outdoor recreational areas and
2. Discussion of the probable impact on the envi- wildlife
ronment, including any impact on ecological
Soil and plant life, sedimentation, erosion, and
systems and any direct or indirect conse-
hydrologic conditions
quences that may result from the action
Noise control and abatement
3. Any adverse environmental effects that cannot
be avoided Food additives, food sanitation, and chemical con-
tamination of food products
4. Alternatives to the proposed action that might
avoid some or all of the adverse environmental Microbiological contamination
effects, including analysis of costs and environ- Radiation and radiological health
mental impacts of these alternatives
Sanitation and waste systems
5. An assessment of the cumulative, long-term
effects of the proposed action, including its rela- Transportation and air and water quality
tionship to short-term use of the environment Environmental effects with special impact on low-
versus the environment’s long-term productivity income neighborhoods
6. Any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of Rodent control
resources that might result from the action or that Urban planning, congestion in urban areas, hous-
would curtail beneficial use of the environment ing and building displacement
When the final statement is prepared, it must River and canal regulation and stream channeliza-
also include any discussions, objections, or com- tion
ments presented by Federal, state, and local agen-
cies, private organizations, and individuals that In environmental engineering areas of activity,
addressed the subject during review of the draft the principal government agency having responsi-
statement. bilities for reviewing impact statements is the Envi-
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Environmental Engineering n 22.69
ronmental Protection Agency. As a matter of fact, No. 645. The basis for the preparation of this matrix
any Federal agency having a jurisdiction that cen- is indicated in Table 22.13.
ters around air and water pollution, drinking In dealing with any particular project, the engi-
water supplies, solid waste, pesticides, radiation, neer can select from the matrix in Table 22.13 on
and noise may be involved. Hence, engineers either margin those conditions and actions applica-
should ascertain specifically any agencies in addi- ble to the project. It is then possible for the engineer
tion to EPA that may have review responsibilities. to prepare an environmental impact statement so
Engineers should also determine to what extent that reviewing agencies can provide comments in an
the state agencies dealing with the above areas orderly fashion. Within the format, it is important to
have jurisdiction. In addition, engineers should present both present conditions and current trends,
check with the appropriate regional and municipal the alternate action proposed, and the impact either
planning agencies. (See also Sec. 14.) favorable or unfavorable that will result with and
without the proposed action. If unavoidable harm
How to Prepare an Impact Report n There may result from the proposed action, the procedures
are several alternate formats of report that would for reducing the harmful effect, together with the
contain all the pertinent information required under ultimate benefits resulting even though some harm
the Federal guidelines. One method that has had may be done, should be presented in full detail with
technical acceptance is the base matrix, in which a objective substantiation of all statements.
series of actions that are part of a proposed project It is very important that engineers present the
are related to the characteristics and conditions of multiphasic effects of the proposed project on air,
the environment that are affected. Under each of the water, and land characteristics, the biota, and on
actions proposed, a ranking from 1 to 10 is placed to constructed structures, if any. It is also important to
indicate impact magnitude, 10 being the highest relate, in the discussion of impact, environmental
order. Correspondingly, under a diagonal in the box, interests related to recreation, education, science,
a ranking from 1 to 10 can be inserted concerning the history, and culture as well as to overall communi-
importance of a specific impact as related to an envi- ty well-being. Health and safety considerations,
ronmental condition. Any suitable form of text that both within the project and in any exterior com-
will discuss the significance of these two interrelated munity relationship, must be discussed.
indices should be acceptable. A sample matrix illus- As required by the Environmental Protection
trating these points is shown in Fig. 22.32. Agency, the report must assess:
One of the more complete diagrams for an
information matrix was prepared by the United 1. The probable impact of the action
States Geological Survey in 1971. It appears as a 2. The adverse environmental effect should the
separate attachment in Geological Survey Circular project be implemented
Fig. 22.32 Matrix used to demonstrate the environmental impact of proposed actions.
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22.70 n Section Twenty-Two
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Environmental Engineering n 22.71
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22.72 n Section Twenty-Two
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