Site visit report

Introduction Site visit is the important aspect of an educational system. It is a method which enhances the understanding of students on particular subject or topic. It shows the differences between theoretical and practical knowledge. It brings the practical side of the industry in front of students which contributes to their greatest understanding. It helps to gain knowledge in greater depth and get familiar with industry. On 11/12/2011 the level 4 BNE-ECE students of Caledonian college of engineering were taken to the sewage treatment plant in Sumail for a site visit. Somali is a Wilayah located in the Ad Dakhiliyah region of the Sultanate of Oman. It was a scarcely populated area with mountains all over. When students reached the STP we were greeted by Mr. Faisal Al Jabri who was the manager of the station. He later took us to every station and gave us the tour. Wastewater Collection Waste water collection in Sumail STP is still carried out manually. That is the waster is bought with the help of sewage tankers from each house. Some houses have been connected to the STP with pipe but majority of the waste water is collected by yellow sewage tankers. The total treatment capacity of the whole plant was 2900m3 but currently only 1200m3 water is treated. Daily operations The treatment takes place in three stages. Primary stage, secondary stage, and tertiary stage. Initially screening is carried out which has an opening of 1- 4cm. screening is carried out to remove the material which can damage the machineries. Then the water goes to grit removal. The flow of water in the grit removal tubes shouldn't be more than 30 35 cm/s. after this the secondary treatment starts. It starts with oxidation of water. The tank is semi eclipse shape and has a length around 30-40 m, and depth is around 4.5 to 5 m. There were two such tanks everywhere. The concept behind this was that operation keeps continuing even if one tank was under maintenance. In the tank the oxygen helps to oxidize the organic matter. For aerobic and anaerobic process bacteria should be introduced. Theses bacteria are brought from other STP and allowed to grow

here. The bacteria feed on the waste and produce co2 and water. The waste is then passed to sedimentation tank. There were two sedimentation tanks. A and B. They had V shaped clarifiers. There were metal arms which rotate around to remove dead bacteria and collect sludge. The sludge is disposed of and the water is moved for the process of disinfection. Before disinfection the water is moved through 5 huge tanks. These tanks had four layers (1 carbon layer and 3 layers of sand with different sizes particles) of filter that retains the suspended solid. The carbon layer is kept to prevent from corrosion. The exact volume of these tanks was unknown. The size of soil particles is varies from 0.7 to 1.25 mm. The flow of water is maintained from 130 to 160 m3/ hour. The suspended solid can cause fouling to the pores of sand filters. So to clean the pores reverse flow is carries out for 30 minute. Reverse process is applied for 5 minutes with air and 25 minutes with water. The water then goes for disinfection. Chlorination is used for disinfection process. The chlorine is added through compressed gas tank. There are several monitoring systems which monitors the level of chlorine in water. These systems trigger an alarm if the chlorine levels reach above certain level. This procedure is dangerous as chlorine is a poisonous gas. To prevent this proper ventilation is maintained. 90% of work in the treatment facility is computer controlled. Pumps, discharge, flow is controlled with the click of a button. The whole operation can be controlled with a single computer.

Disposal The treated water is sent to Sumail municipality via pipes which is 4km away from sumail STP. The water is used by municipality for irrigation purposes.

Flow chart

Conclusion Over all it was a very unique experience. It also changed some of our negative mentality towards STP. Prior to visit we imagined STP as a filthy place. But it turned out to be some of the cleanest places we have seen. Everything was well maintained. There were flowers, plants as well. We got chance to see the machineries at work which we saw only in textbooks. STPs help to keep our city clean, protect our environment and save the citizens from deadly diseases. The Sumail STP is doing very good job and should continue doing it.

Appendix

Recycle activated sludge pumps

sludge

clarifier

oxidation ditches

Treated effluent Tank

pipes to mix the water with chlorine Gas

chlorine gas

sand filter