ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT
Generally speaking, wastewater treatment plants are constructed to protect
water environment from excessive overloading with different kinds of pollutants.
So they have to fulfill the desired effluent standards. Often in practice, the results
are not in accordance with design parameters expected from the project. Some
common reasons for malfunction will be illustrated by several examples. There
may be problems with the sewage system, design of plants technical equipment,
hydraulics and of course with the maintenance connected with undertraining of
personnel. Frequently, simple improvements in sewage and plant system
technology and adequate personal training can be answer to wastewater
treatment problems, instead of costly reconstruction

INTRODUCTION
Water is an essential commodity that sustains human life. Nature is so nice that it
provides us actually with clean water for human activities, but for the
contamination activities of man himself, water is made unsuitable. Man is now
left with the sole responsibility of preserving such sustainer of life, for himself and
even his generations to come. This precious treasure has to be preserved for the
future, hence, water treatment. The main objective of the treatment process is to
guarantee the requirements on the quality of drinking water .The water
treatment processes are discussed briefly below. For these processes to be
accomplished there is need for a water treatment plant to be established. For this
establishment to take place there is need for detailed design of the plant,
construction of its facilities and more so, its successful operation. In this context,
we shall be discussing the issues, problems related with the design and operation
of these facilities such as screens, flocculators, filters, sedimentation and
coagulation tanks and how these problems can be remedied.

WATER TREATMENT PROCESS

Primary Treatment
In primary treatment, floating and suspended solids are settled and removed
from sewage. Flow from the sewers enters a screen rack to remove large, floating
material such as rags and sticks. It then flows through a grit chamber where
heavier inorganics such as sand and small stones are removed. Grit removal is
usually followed by a sedimentation tank where inorganic and organic suspended
solids are settled out.
To kill pathogenic bacteria, the final effluent from the treatment process is
disinfected prior to discharge to receiving water. Chlorine, in the form of a sodium
hypochlorite solution, is normally used for disinfection. Since more chlorine is
needed to provide an adequate bacterium kills than would be safe for aquatic life
in the stream, excess chlorine is removed by DE chlorination. Alternate
disinfection methods, such as ozone or ultraviolet light, are utilized by some
treatment plants.
Sludge that settles to the bottom of the clarifier is pumped out and dewatered for
use as fertilizer, disposed of in a landfill, or incinerated. Sludge that is free of
heavy metals and other toxic contaminants is called Bio solids and can be safely
and beneficially recycled as fertilizer.

Secondary Treatment
Primary treatment provided a good start, but, with the exception of some ocean
outfalls, it is inadequate to protect water quality as required by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With secondary treatment, the bacteria
in sewage are used to further purify the sewage. Secondary treatment, a
biological process, removes 85 percent or more of the organic matter in sewage
compared with primary treatment, which removes about 50 percent.

The basic processes are variations of what is called the "activated sludge" process
or "trickling filters," which provide a mechanism for bacteria, with air added for
oxygen, to come in contact with the wastewater to purify it.
In the activated sludge process, flow from the sewer or primary clarifiers goes
into an aeration tank, where compressed air is mixed with sludge that is recycled
from secondary clarifiers which follow the aeration tanks. The recycled, or
activated, sludge provides bacteria to consume the "food" provided by the new
wastewater in the aeration tank, thus purifying it.
In a trickling filter the flow trickles over a bed of stones or synthetic media on
which the purifying organisms grow and contact the wastewater, removing
contaminants in the process. The flow, along with excess organisms that build up
on the stones or media during the purification, then goes to a secondary clarifier.
Air flows up through the media in the filters, to provide necessary oxygen for the
bacteria organisms. Clarified effluent flows to the receiving water, typically a river
or bog, after disinfection. Excess sludge is produced by the process and after
collection from the bottom of the secondary clarifiers it is dewatered, sometimes
after mixing with primary sludge, for use as fertilizer, disposed of in a landfill, or
incinerated.

Advanced or Tertiary Treatment

As science advanced the knowledge of aquatic life mechanisms and human
health effects, and the need for purer water was identified, technology developed
to provide better treatment. Heavy metals, toxic chemicals and other pollutants
can be removed from domestic and industrial wastewater to an increasing
degree. Methods of advanced treatment include microfiltration, carbon
adsorption, evaporation /distillation, and chemical precipitation.

DESIGN OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT

A major issue is that design has been based on concepts developed in the 1900s
when many aspects of the water treatment processes were not known
The Design of Water supply systems has to follow the rules of engineering
sciences. Design and construction needs a lot of technical knowledge and
practical experience.
Some of the issues related to design of water treatment facilities include
construction costs
topographic conditions
(sub-) soil conditions
other public services (e.g. railway, highways, rivers, electricity etc.)
other public requirements
(e.g. future development, master planning, traffic, environment protection,
proprietary rights)
In designing water treatment facilities, there are many factors to be considered. If
a good water source is available, the process of water treatment can be very
simple. Conversely, if the raw water is organically or inorganically polluted to a
considerable extent, the water treatment facility must have a complex process
train. Sophistication of water treatment processes requires skilled operators.
Unless skilled labor is available, excessively sophisticated treatment processes
should be avoided. Major factors to be considered are:
(1) type of the water source,
(2) desired finished water quality,
(3) skill of facility operators, and
(4) the relative size of available funds

TREATMENT FACILITIES-ISSUES
SCREENS
Screens are used to remove large particles from the raw water stream.
ISSUES
Manually cleaned screens require frequent raking to avoid clogging and high
backwater levels that cause buildup of a solids mat on the screen. The increased
raking frequency increases labour costs.
Removal of this mat during cleaning may also cause flow surges that can reduce
the solids-capture efficiency of downstream units.
Mechanically cleaned screens are not subject to this problem, but they have high
equipment maintenance costs.
THE COAGULATION TANK
Here, the coagulation process takes place.
COAGULATION
Coagulation is a physical and chemical reaction occurring between the alkalinity
of the water and the coagulant added to the water, which results in the formation
of insoluble flocs
ISSUES
Raw water or waste water has been found to have high pollution due to
organic matter, bacteria and algae, when this water passes through
coagulation tanks, scum is accumulated at the bottom and top of these
tanks. This is as a result of design error; detention time exceeds required
standard due to large volume of water.
The method of handling the coagulants could also be an issue. The most
widely encountered deficiency in coagulation tank operation is in the
manner of application of the coagulant to the raw water. Dilution of the

coagulant down to a low concentration is very seldom done in any water

treatment plant, simply because operators and plant engineers do not
appreciate its importance and value. It is important that a correct dose be
applied to water as effectively as possible. Uneven dosing causes small
amount of water to receive far too much coagulant while most of the water
receives too little.
FLOCCULATOR and FLOCCULATION BASIN
The flocculation basin allows for the flocculation process to occur. Flocculators
FLOCCULATION
Flocculation is the slow stirring process that causes the gathering together of
small, coagulated particles into larger, settleable particles. The collision between
particles, or the gathering of particles, occurs because of gentle stirring by a
mechanical or hydraulic means of mixing.

ISSUES
The fundamental defect in most flocculation systems is that they have been
designed without good information on optimum velocity gradients,
flocculation time, optimum energy input or taper of energy input during
flocculation
The speed of stirrers of flocculators could sometimes be an issue in its
effective operation. Operation at high stirring speed breaks apart the large
floc particles that have already been formed. Breaking up the floc will not
accomplish anything, reduces the efficiency of the settling, and will
overload the filters because not as many flocs will be settled out in
sedimentation.
SEDIMENTATION TANK
Sedimentation tank, also called settling tank or clarifier, is a component of a
modern system of water supply or wastewater treatment. A sedimentation tank

allows suspended particles to settle out of water or wastewater as it flows slowly

through the tank, thereby providing some degree of purification. A layer of
accumulated solids, called sludge, forms at the bottom of the tank and is
periodically removed
ISSUES
Floc Characteristics: To a large extent, a sedimentation basin's efficiency
will depend on the efficiency of the preceding coagulation/flocculation
process. The size, shape, and density of the floc entering the sedimentation
basin will all influence how well the floc settles out of the water. Floc
which is too small or too large, is irregularly shaped, or has a low density
will not tend to settle out in the sedimentation basin. Even if the
coagulation/flocculation process is very efficient, floc can disintegrate on its
way to or in the sedimentation basin.
Short-circuiting: Another major cause of inefficiency in the sedimentation
basin is short-circuiting, which occurs when water bypasses the normal flow
path through the basin and reaches the outlet in less than the normal
detention time. An efficient sedimentation basin would have water flowing
through the entire basin, rather than through just one area. When water in
the sedimentation basin short-circuits, floc does not have enough time to
settle out of the water, influencing the economy of the plant and the
quality of the treated water. Short-circuiting in a sedimentation basin can
be detected in a variety of ways. If areas of water in the basin do not
appear to be circulating, or if sludge buildup on the bottom of the basin is
uneven, then tests may be called for. Floats or dyes can be released at the
inlet of the basin to determine currents. A variety of factors can cause
short-circuiting in a sedimentation basin. Basin shape and design, along
with design of the inlet and outlet, can cause short-circuiting. Uneven
distribution of flow either at the inlet or outlet can also cause shortcircuiting. If the weir at the outlet is not level or if some of the notches
clog, flow will be uneven and will cause short-circuiting.
Floating Scum: Gases in the water may cause floating scum, which can carry
over into the filters. Sprinkling water on the on the scum may cause the

scum to settle, but it is usually a better practice to find and fix the source of
the problem. Gases in the sedimentation basin are usually caused by water
being introduced in the pump or by a leak in the raw water line.
Algal Growth: Another sedimentation basin problem is algal growth. If
sedimentation basins have sufficient sunlight, algae will grow on the walls
of the basin. These algae can break loose and clog the filter. Algae are best
treated with shock chlorination, a method of feeding 5-10 ppm of chlorine
into the raw water or of sprinkling HTH around the basin walls just before
the plant is shut down for a few hours. The chlorine will kill the algae while
the chlorinated water sits in the tank.

FILTERS
A filter is an apparatus of facility used in carrying out the filtration process
in water treatment
FILTRATION
Filtration is the process of removing turbidity (suspended particulate
matter) from water by passing it through some porous filter media such as
sand, anthracite or a combination of both.
ISSUES
The sand in the filter is most commonly supported by a gravel bed, below
which an underdrain system removes filtered water. The same system is
used for the backwash, and this underlies many filter problems - especially
upset beds, breakthroughs in the beds, and poor distribution of backwash
water resulting in uneven filterwash. Unsatisfactory distribution of
backwash water over the filter is found in most older plants and many new
ones. That part of the bed that is underwashed eventually becomes clogged
and that part which is overwashed may receive backwash water at very
high velocities causing an upset of the bed. Sometimes uneven
backwashing occurs because of elevation differences between washwater
drain troughs
Many water treatment plants (especially the older ones) were designed
with an insufficient backwash rate. The bed is not expanded enough to

allow a good shearing, high-velocity wash which will remove the embedded
floc particles. Many systems do not provide sufficient water to give a full
wash for more than 5-6 minutes, although a longer wash is sometimes
necessary
Plants may have been designed with only shallow filter boxes, saving a
small amount of concrete. This produces low water depth over the filter
bed and subjects the filter to negative pressures early in the filter cycle,
with a small head loss. Gullets and troughs are often flooded during
backwash, because they were not designed with enough capacity or grade
to carry away washwater. The upper end of the drainage system floods and
poor cleaning is obtained. This also occurs if part of the filter receives
excessive amounts of water in uneven washing.
Air entrainment in the backwash water disrupts filter bottoms and media. If
the level of the backwash header is above the level of the washwater
troughs, air may collect in the header between backwash cycles. This
condition occurs most often when backwash is provided by direct pumping.
Air entrainment may also occur if vortices form in the elevated washwater
tank as water is drained down. This problem is most pronounced in shallow
tanks.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion that can be drawn from the text above is that, water
treatment plants and its facilities most times dont work efficiently due to
most of the operational and design issues listed above. These issues could
be remedied and the major solution is that the designers have experience
of water treatment plant operation and the operators have input into the
conceptual or final design of the plant for which they will eventually be
responsible.
Proper maintenance is also needed to put the facilities in best working
position
Availability of technical know-how as operators will go a long way in
correcting some of the operational issues as a well-informed operator must
be able to

 Control the level of the intake structure from which raw water is
drawn
Measure raw water flow into the plant
Control of the concentration of the coagulant solution in the solution
tanks
Control the coagulant dilution and dosage
Remove, clean and replace filter sand and support gravel
Repair the filter bottom where it may be damaged
Improve the shape and location of baffles in a hydraulic flocculation
basin
Improve the energy input of mechanical flocculation basins
Verify filter and backwash rates, etc.