De La Salle University Dasmarias

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

3.1 Physical, chemical& biological treatment of raw water

Raw water is natural water found in the environment and has not been treated, nor have any minerals, ions, particles or living organisms removed.
Raw water includes rainwater, ground water, water from infiltration wells, and water from bodies like lakes and rivers.
Raw Water treatment is any process that makes water more acceptable for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water
supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses including being safely returned to the environment. Water treatment
removes contaminants or reduces their concentration so that the water becomes fit for its desired end-use.
Treatment For Drinking Water Production
Water purification, Treatment for drinking water production involves the removal of contaminants from raw water to produce water that is pure
enough for human consumption without any short term or long term risk of any adverse health effect. Substances that are removed during the
process of drinking water treatment include suspended solids, bacteria, algae, viruses, fungi, and minerals such as iron and manganese. The
processes involved in removing the contaminants include physical processes such as settling and filtration, chemical processes such as disinfection
and coagulation and biological processes such as slow sand filtration. Measures taken to ensure water quality not only relate to the treatment of the
water, but to its conveyance and distribution after treatment. It is therefore common practice to keep residual disinfectants in the treated water to kill
bacteriological contamination during distribution.
Processes For Treatment For Drinking Water
Pre-chlorination for algae control and arresting biological growth. Aeration along with pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron and manganese.
Coagulation for flocculation or slow-sand filtration. Coagulant aids, also known as polyelectrolytes to improve coagulation and for thicker floc
formation. Sedimentation for solids separation that is removal of suspended solids trapped in the floc. Filtration to remove particles from water
And Disinfection for killing bacteria viruses and other pathogens.
Domestic Water Treatment
Water supplied to domestic properties may be further treated before use, often using an in-line treatment process. Such treatments can include
water softening or ion exchange. Many propriety systems also claim to remove residual disinfectants and heavy metal ions.
Desalination, Saline water can be treated to yield fresh water. Two main processes are used, reverse osmosis or distillation. Both methods require
high energy inputs and are usually only used where fresh water is difficult to source.
Field processes or Portable water purification, Living away from drinking water supplies often requires some form of portable water treatment
process. These can vary in complexity from the simple addition of a disinfectant tablet in a hiker's water bottle through to complex multi-stage
processes carried by boat or plane to disaster areas.
Ultra pure water production, Some industries such as the production of silicon wafers, space technology and many high quality metallurgical
process require ultrapure water. The production of such water typically involves many stages, and can include reverse osmosis, ion exchange and
several distillation stages using solid tin apparatus.
History
Early water treatment methods still used included sand filtration and chlorination. The first documented use of sand filters to purify the water supply
dates to 1804. This method was refined in the following two decades, and it culminated in the first treated public water supply in the world, installed
by the Chelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829.
Water Treatment In Developing Countries
As of 2006, waterborne diseases are estimated to have caused 1.8 million deaths each year. These deaths are attributable to inadequate public
sanitation systems and in these cases, proper sewerage (or other options such as small-scale wastewater treatment) that must be installed. For
waterborne disease reduction to last, water treatment programs that research and development groups start in developing countries must be
sustainable by the citizens of those countries. This can ensure the efficiency of such programs after the departure of the research team, as
monitoring is difficult because of the remoteness of many locations.
For more information, contact Engr. Bryan Fabon thru mrfabon@dlsud.edu.ph or visit Candito Tirona Hall Room CTH214 during consultation hours or by appointment.
Version 1.0.2016.08.30

De La Salle University Dasmarias

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

3.2 Wastewater Treatment Technologies

Municipal wastewater which also called sewage is usually conveyed in a combined sewer or sanitary sewer, and treated at a wastewater treatment
plant. Treated wastewater is discharged into receiving water via an effluent pipe. The treatment of wastewater belongs to the overarching field of
Public Works - Environmental, with the management of human waste, solid waste, sewage treatment, storm water (drainage) management, and
water treatment. By-products from wastewater treatment plants, such as screenings, grit and sewage sludge may also be treated in a wastewater
treatment plant. If the wastewater is predominantly from municipal sources (households and small industries) it is called sewage and its treatment is
called sewage treatment. Although disposal or reuse occurs after treatment, it must be considered first. Since disposal or reuse are the objectives
of wastewater treatment, disposal or reuse options are the basis for treatment decisions. Acceptable impurity concentrations may vary with the type
of use or location of disposal.
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is the facility mostly used in treating purely industrial wastewater. While the Sewage Treatment plant (STP)
is for mostly municipal and commercial wastewater. Sewage is s water-carried wastes, in either solution or suspension, that is intended to flow away
from a community. Also known as wastewater flows, sewage is the used water supply of the community. Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that
conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer.
Piped sewer system is a system of sewer pipes, also called sewerage, that is designed to collect human excreta (faeces and urine) and wastewater
and remove them from the household environment. Sewer is an artificial subterranean conduit to carry off sewage and sometimes surface water (as
from rainfall).
3.3 Physical, chemical& biological treatment of Wastewater
General Wastewater Treatment
1. Wastewater Collection
This is the first step in waste water treatment process. Collection systems are put in place by municipal administration, home owners as well as
business owners to ensure that all the wastewater is collected and directed to a central point.
2. Odor Control
At the treatment plant, odor control is very important. Wastewater contains a lot of dirty substances that cause a foul smell over time. To ensure that
the surrounding areas are free of the foul smell, odor treatment processes are initiated at the treatment plant.
3. Screening
This is the next step in wastewater treatment process. Screening involves the removal of large objects for example nappies, cotton buds, plastics,
diapers, rags, sanitary items, nappies, face wipes, broken bottles or bottle tops that in one way or another may damage the equipment.
4. Primary Treatment
This process involves the separation of macrobiotic solid matter from the wastewater. Primary treatment is done by pouring the wastewater into big
tanks for the solid matter to settle at the surface of the tanks. The sludge, the solid waste that settles at the surface of the tanks, is removed by large
scrappers and is pushed to the center of the cylindrical tanks and later pumped out of the tanks for further treatment. The remaining water is then
pumped for secondary treatment.
5. Secondary Treatment
Also known as the activated sludge process, the secondary treatment stage involves adding seed sludge to the wastewater to ensure that is broken
down further. Air is first pumped into huge aeration tanks which mix the wastewater with the seed sludge which is basically small amount of sludge,
which fuels the growth of bacteria that uses oxygen and the growth of other small microorganisms that consume the remaining organic matter.
6. Bio-solids handling
The solid matter that settle out after the primary and secondary treatment stages are directed to digesters. The digesters are heated at room
temperature. The solid wastes are then treated for a month where they undergo anaerobic digestion.
7. Tertiary treatment
This stage is similar to the one used by drinking water treatment plants which clean raw water for drinking purposes. The tertiary treatment stage has
the ability to remove up to 99 percent of the impurities from the wastewater. This produces effluent water that is close to drinking water quality.
8. Disinfection
After the primary treatment stage and the secondary treatment process, there are still some diseases causing organisms in the remaining treated
wastewater. To eliminate them, the wastewater must be disinfected for at least 20-25 minutes in tanks that contain a mixture of chlorine and sodium
hypochlorite.
For more information, contact Engr. Bryan Fabon thru mrfabon@dlsud.edu.ph or visit Candito Tirona Hall Room CTH214 during consultation hours or by appointment.
Version 1.0.2016.08.30

De La Salle University Dasmarias

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

9. Sludge Treatment
The sludge that is produced and collected during the primary and secondary treatment processes requires concentration and thickening to enable
further processing. It is put into thickening tanks that allow it to settle down and later separates from the water. This process can take up to 24 hours.
Wastewater treatment has a number of benefits. For example, wastewater treatment ensures that the environment is kept clean, there is no water
pollution, makes use of the most important natural resource water, the treated water can be used for cooling machines in factories and industries,
prevents the outbreak of waterborne diseases and most importantly, it ensures that there is adequate water for other purposes like irrigation.
Sewage Treatment Plant Process
STEP 1. Pre-treatment
Pre-treatment removes all materials that can be easily collected from the raw sewage before they damage or clog the pumps and sewage lines of
primary treatment clarifiers. Objects commonly removed during pre-treatment include trash, tree limbs, leaves, branches, and other large objects.
Grit removal. Pre-treatment may include a sand or grit channel or chamber, where the velocity of the incoming sewage is adjusted to allow the
settlement of sand, grit, stones, and broken glass. Flow equalization. Clarifiers and mechanized secondary treatment are more efficient under
uniform flow conditions. Equalization basins may be used for temporary storage of diurnal or wet-weather flow peaks. Oil, Fat and grease removal.
In some larger plants, fat and grease are removed by passing the sewage through a small tank where skimmers collect the fat floating on the
surface.
STEP 2. Secondary treatment
This is designed to substantially degrade the biological content of the sewage which are derived from human waste, food waste, soaps and
detergent. The majority of municipal plants treat the settled sewage liquor using aerobic biological processes. To be effective, the biota require both
oxygen and food to live. The bacteria and protozoa consume biodegradable soluble organic contaminants (e.g. sugars, fats, organic short-chain
carbon molecules, etc.) and bind much of the less soluble fractions into floc. Secondary treatment systems are classified as fixed-film or suspendedgrowth systems. Fixed-film or attached growth systems include trickling filters, bio-towers, and rotating biological contactors, where the biomass
grows on media and the sewage passes over its surface. Suspended-growth systems include activated sludge, where the biomass is mixed with
the sewage and can be operated in a smaller space than trickling filters that treat the same amount of water.
STEP 3. Secondary sedimentation
Secondary clarifier at a rural treatment plant. Some secondary treatment methods include a secondary clarifier to settle out and separate biological
floc or filter material grown in the secondary treatment bioreactor.
List of process types of Secondary Treatment
Activated sludge, Aerated lagoon, Aerobic granulation, Constructed wetland, Membrane bioreactor, Rotating biological contactor, Sequencing batch
reactor, and Trickling filter
STEP 4. Tertiary treatment
The purpose of tertiary treatment is to provide a final treatment stage to further improve the effluent quality before it is discharged to the receiving
environment (sea, river, lake, wet lands, ground, etc.). More than one tertiary treatment process may be used at any treatment plant. If disinfection is
practised, it is always the final process. It is also called "effluent polishing."
Filtration, Sand filtration removes much of the residual suspended matter. Biological nutrient removal, Biological nutrient removal (BNR) is
regarded by some as a type of secondary treatment process, and by others as a tertiary (or "advanced") treatment process. Nitrogen removal,
Nitrogen is removed through the biological oxidation of nitrogen from ammonia to nitrate (nitrification), followed by denitrification, the reduction of
nitrate to nitrogen gas. Nitrogen gas is released to the atmosphere and thus removed from the water. Phosphorus removal, Phosphorus can be
removed biologically in a process called enhanced biological phosphorus removal. In this process, specific bacteria, called polyphosphateaccumulating organisms (PAOs), are selectively enriched and accumulate large quantities of phosphorus within their cells (up to 20 percent of their
mass). When the biomass enriched in these bacteria is separated from the treated water, these bio-solids have a high fertilizer value.
Disinfection, The purpose of disinfection in the treatment of waste water is to substantially reduce the number of microorganisms in the water to be
discharged back into the environment for the later use of drinking, bathing, irrigation, etc.
Energy requirements
For conventional sewage treatment plants, around 30 percent of the annual operating costs is usually required for energy. The energy requirements
vary with type of treatment process as well as wastewater load.

For more information, contact Engr. Bryan Fabon thru mrfabon@dlsud.edu.ph or visit Candito Tirona Hall Room CTH214 during consultation hours or by appointment.
Version 1.0.2016.08.30

De La Salle University Dasmarias

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

School Year 2016-2017, First Semester

Sludge treatment and disposal

The sludges accumulated in a wastewater treatment process must be treated and disposed of in a safe and effective manner. The purpose of
digestion is to reduce the amount of organic matter and the number of disease-causing microorganisms present in the solids. The most common
treatment options include anaerobic digestion, aerobic digestion, and composting. Incineration is also used, albeit to a much lesser degree.
Treated sewage reuse
With suitable technology, it is possible to reuse sewage effluent for drinking water, although this is usually only done in places with limited water
supplies, such as Windhoek and Singapore.

For more information, contact Engr. Bryan Fabon thru mrfabon@dlsud.edu.ph or visit Candito Tirona Hall Room CTH214 during consultation hours or by appointment.
Version 1.0.2016.08.30