Dr.

Ramakrishna Bag
Dept of Civil Engineering
NIT Rourkela
Sewage/ Wastewater treatment
 Quality and Characteristic of sewage
If untreated sewage is discharged into river stream,
floating solids present may be washed up to shore.
Floating solid will decompose and create foul smell.
Large amount of organic matter consume dissolve
oxygen in water may seriously decrease dissolve oxygen
in river stream.
As a result, fish and other living organisms will die in the
river stream.
Sewage discharge also contaminate the river water with
pathogenic bacteria.
Therefore, municipal sewage require treatment to avoid
contamination.
 The type of treatment required depends on
the quality of sewage and its source of
disposal.
The urbanisation, industrial growth,
improved living standard have increased the
contamination and quantity of municipal
sewage.
In order to prevent undue pollution,
advanced treatment of wastewater
(particularly having industrial waste) is
essential.
 Decomposition of sewage
Most of the organic matter present in sewage is unstable
and decomposes through chemical as well as biological
actions/ decomposition

i. Aerobic decomposition: Biodegradation takes place in

presence of free oxygen, caused by aerobic and
facultative bacteria.
ii. Anaerobic decomposition: Biodegradation takes place
in absence of free oxygen, caused by anaerobic and
facultative bacteria.

After decomposition most of the organic matters formed

nitrogenous, carbonaceous and sulphurours matter.
 Aerobic
Nitrogenous organic matter decomposition NO3- + NH3 + Energy

Nitrogen cycle in aerobic decomposition

Carbonaceous organic matter Aerobic CO2 + H2O + Energy
decomposition

Carbon cycle in aerobic decomposition

Sulphurous organic matter Aerobic SO4 + Energy
decomposition

Sulphur cycle in aerobic decomposition

 Anaerobic decomposition

Nitrogenous organic matter Anaerobic N2 + NH3 + Energy +

decomposition
Organic acid

Carbonaceous organic matter Anaerobic CO2 + Energy

decomposition

Sulphurous organic matter Anaerobic H2S + Energy

decomposition

Methane forming
Organic acid anaerobic bacteria CO2 + CH4 + Energy
 Anaerobic decomposition
Nitrogen, carbon and sulphur cycle
 Characteristics of sewage
Physical characteristics
Turbidity: Sewage is normally turbid, resembling dirty dish
wash water, waste water from basin, washrooms, vegetable
and food waste etc. Turbidity is measured using turbidity
meter.
Colour: Fresh sewage is yellowish, grey or light brown. If
the colour of the sewage is dark it indicates septic
(dissolved oxygen present has been consumed) sewage.
Odour: Fresh sewage is usually odourless. However, after
3-4 hours when all oxygen is consumed, it omit foul smell.
Temperature: Temperature influence biological activity of
bacteria. Increase in temperature reduces the dissolve
oxygen content.
 Chemical characteristics
Total solid, suspended solids and settleable solids
pH
Cl-, N2+ content
Presence of fats, gases and oils
Sulphides, sulphates and H2S gas
Dissolved oxygen
Chemical oxygen demand (C.O.D)
Bio-chemical oxygen demand (B.O.D)
 Total solids, suspended solids and settleable
solids:

Out of total sewage only 0.05 to 0.1% is solid.

Total solid can be determines by evaporating the
sewage (S1).
Suspended solid can be determined by filtering (S2)
Dissolved solid, S3 = S1- S2
Suspended solid may be volatile or fixed. Keeping
suspended solid inside an oven for 15 to 20 mins at 550
C, volatile solids (S4) can be found out.
Fixed solid, S5 = S2-S4
 Settleable solid (S6) is determined using Imhoff cone.
Capacity of Imhoff cone is 1 ltr and graduated to 50 ml.
Sewage is allowed to stand for 2 hours and total amount
of solids settle at the bottom is found out.
 pH: Determination of pH is important because
efficiency of some treatment method depends on pH
of sewage.
Chloride Content: Chlorides are generally present in
municipal sewage, derived from kitchen wastes,
human feces etc.
Industrial waste contain high amount of chloride.
Nitrogen Content: Presence of nitrogen indicates
presence of organic matter. Nitrogen may present as
free ammonia, organic nitrogen, nitrites or nitrates.
 Presence of fats, oils and greases: These are derived from
discharges of animals and vegetable matter.
Derived from kitchens, restaurants, garages etc.
These matters form scum on top of the sedimentation tank
and clog the voids of filtering media, thereby interfering
normal treatment process.
The quantity of fats and grease present in sewage is
determined using Ether. Fats and grease are soluble in ether.
Sulphides, Sulphates and H2S gas: Presence of these
matters indicate the decomposition of sewage. In aerobic
decomposition SO4 is formed, whereas H2S is formed
during anaerobic decomposition.
 Dissolved oxygen (D.O.): Determination of D.O. is important
because when sewage is discharged to river stream at least 4
ppm of D.O must be present in it.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (C.O.D): The organic matter
present in sewage is oxidised to CO2 and H2O.
Total amount of oxygen required for oxidising the organic
matter is known as C.O.D.
A known quantity of sewage is mixed with a known quantity of
potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) and heated. The organic
matter present is oxidised by K2Cr2O7 in presence of H2SO4.
The resulting K2Cr2O7 solution is titrated to determine the
amount of oxygen consumed. The amount of oxygen
consumed is called Chemical Oxygen Demand (C.O.D)
 Total organic carbon: carbon is the primary constituent
of organic matter and hence total carbon content of
sewage indicates the presence of organic matter.

Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (B.O.D): Organic matter

can be of two types
1) Biologically active/degradable
2) Biologically inactive/non-degradable
C.O.D gives both biologically active and inactive organic
matter present.

B.O.D gives the quantity of biologically active/degradable

organic matter present. Determination of B.O.D is similar to
that was discussed previously.