1.

What are your comments and reactions about the topic, Sewer
Appurtenances?
- Sewer appurtenances are those structures and devices of a sewerage system
which are constructed at suitable intervals along a sewer line to assist in the
efficient operation and maintenance of the system. The reporters clearly
enumerated different types of sewer appurtenances and their use especially in
storm water and for drainage purposes. They also emphasized the importance
of hydraulic gradient as to ensure self-clearing velocity of pipes. This will allow
non-settlement of suspended matter in sewers which also maintains roughly
0.6m/s velocity in sewer pipes.
2. What are the contents of the topic, Sewer Appurtenances?
- Some of the sewer appurtenances discussed by the reporters are: manholes,
catch basin, street inlet, grease and oil traps, flushing tank, inverted siphon,
ventilating shaft, storm regulator and sewer pumps.
Manholes are the openings of either circular or rectangular in shape
constructed of the alignment of the sewer line to enable the person to enter the
sewer for inspection, cleaning and flushing. They serve as ventilators for
sewers, by the provisions of the perforated manhole covers. Also they facilitate
the laying of sewer lines in convenient length.
Lamp Manholes are the openings constructed on the straight sewer line
between two man-holes which are far apart and permit the insertion of a lamp
into the sewer to find out obstructions if any inside the sewers from the next
manhole. Drop Manholes, on the other hand, has a usual depth of 1.5 m. The
section of such manhole is not uniform throughout. The size in upper portion is
reduced by providing an offset. Steps are provided in such manholes for
descending into the manhole. These are provided with heavy cover at its top to
support the traffic load.
Catch basins are one of the other types of the sewer appurtenances. They are
provided to stop the entry of heavy debris present in the storm water into the
sewers. However, their use is discouraged because of the nuisance due to
mosquito breeding apart from posing substantial maintenance problems. At the
bottom of the basin space is provided for the accumulation of impurities.
Perforated cover is provided at the top of the basin to admit rain water into the
basin. A hood is provided to prevent escape of sewer gas.
Street inlets, also known as “gullies”, allows entry of surface run-off into the
sewer line. This are also the openings through which storm water is admitted
and conveyed to the storm sewer or combined sewer. The inlets are located by
the sides of pavement with maximum spacing of 30m. It has three (3) types;
the vertical inlet or the gutter inlet, horizontal inlet or curb inlet and combined
inlet (c & g).
Grease and Oil traps are chambers designed to retain fats, oil, and grease
(FOG) before sewage enters the sewer lines that may cause clogging. It is also
required for all connected establishments with FOG effluents.
Flushing Tanks are chambers designed to retain water or sewage for the
purpose of flushing the line to regularly wash away deposited solids. It is usually
constructed at head of sewers and operated at times when flow is less than
self-cleansing velocity.
Inverted Siphons or depressed sewer is a sewer that runs full under gravity flow
at a pressure above atmosphere in the sewer. Inverted siphons are used to
pass under obstacles such as buried pipes, subways, etc. This terminology
‘siphon’ is misnomer as there is no siphon action in the depressed sewer. As
the inverted siphon requires considerable attention for maintenance, it should
be used only where other means of passing an obstacle in line of the sewer are
impracticable.
Ventilating Shafts do the ventilation to the sewer is necessary to make provision
for the escape of air to take care of the exigencies of full flow and to keep the
sewage as fresh as possible. In case of storm water, this can be done by
providing ventilating manhole covers. In modern sewerage system, provision
of ventilators is not necessary due to elimination of intercepting traps in the
house connections allowing ventilation.
Storm Regulators are used for preventing overloading of sewers, pumping
stations, treatment plants or disposal arrangement, by diverting the excess flow
 to relief sewer. The overflow device may be side flow or leaping weirs according
to the position of the weir, siphon spillways or float actuated gates and valves.
Sewer Pumps is a type of pumping of sewage that is required when it is not
possible to have a gravitational flow for the entire sewerage project. Sufficient
pumping capacity has to be provided to meet the peak flow, at least 50% as
stand by.
3. What are your conclusions and recommendations for the topic, Sewer
Appurtenances?
- As mentioned earlier, different sewer appurtenance are provided to ensure that
the sewerage design will be efficient in the operation of the system. Like for
manhole, it will be essential if it consists of: working chamber; an access shaft;
and a strong cover on the top flush with the road level. The working chamber
has such a size, so that necessary examination and cleaning can be done
easily. The access shaft provides an access to the working chamber.
Generally, sewer appurtenances are very important in the sewerage system
because as time goes by, the population will gradually increase leading to
increases of the discharge rate of every households and rainfall runoff
respectively. Therefore, sewer sizes will be upgraded, detailed design of
construction of manholes, catch basins and sewer pumps as well as street
inlets will also be greatly considered.