What is

WASTEWATE
R?
REPORTER: Grace T. Superales

Sewage
Originates from household
wastes, human and animal
wastes, industrial wastewaters,
storm runoff, and groundwater
infiltration.

Characteristic
s of
Wastewater

PHYSICAL
CHEMICAL
BIOLOGICAL

Physical
Propertie
s of
Wastewa
ter

FACTORS:
Temperature
affects chemical reaction and
biological activities

Solids Concentration
comprise matter suspended or
dissolved in water and wastewater.
affects the operation and sizing of
treatment units

TOTAL
SOLIDS
(TS)

The sum of total suspended solids

(TSS) and total dissolved solids (TDS)
It is the material left in the
evaporation dish after it has dried for
at least 1h or overnight (preferably) in
an oven at 103 to 105C.

(6.1
)
A = weight of dried residue plus dish,
mg
Where:

B = weight of dish, mg
1000 = conversion of 1000 mL, L

TOTAL
SUSPENDE
D SOLIDS
(TSS)

Nonfilterable Residue
It is a very important quality
parameter for water and wastewater.

It is determined by filtering a wellmixed sample through a 0.2 mm pore

size, 24 mm diameter membrane; the
membrane filter is placed in a Gooch
crucible, and the residue retained on
the filter is dried in an oven for at
least 1h at a constant weight at 103 to
105C.

(6.2
)
C = weight of filter and crucible plus
dried residue, mg
Where:

D = weight of filter and crucible, mg

1000 = conversion of 1000 mL, L

TOTAL
DISSOLVE
D SOLIDS
(TDS)

Filterable Residue
Total dissolved solids in raw
wastewater are in the range of 250 to
850 mg/L.

TDS is determined as follows.

A well-mixed sample is filtered
through a standard glass fiber filter of
2.0 mm normal pore size, and the
filtrate is evaporated for at least 1h in
an oven at 1802C. The increase in
dish weight represents the total
dissolved solids.

(6.3
)
E = weight of dried residue plus dish,
mg
Where:

F = weight of dish, mg
1000 = conversion of 1000 mL, L

FIXED AND
VOLATILE
SOLIDS

The residue from TS, TSS, or TDS

tests is ignited to constant weight at
550C. The weight lost on ignition is
called volatile solids, whereas the
remaining solids represent the fixed

total, suspended, or
dissolved solids.

Where:
G

= weight of residue plus crucible

before ignition, mg

(6.4
)
(6.5
)

H = weight of residue plus crucible or

filter after ignition, mg
I = weight of dish or filter, mg

SETTLEAB
LE
SOLIDS

Is the term applied to material

settling out of suspension within a
defined time.
Settled solids may be expressed on
either a volume (mL/L) or a

weight (mg/L)

basis.

A well-mixed 50 mL of raw wastewater is used for suspended

solids analyses. Weights (wt.) of evaporating dish with and
without the sample either dried, evaporated, or ignited were
determined to constant weight according to Standard Methods
(APHA et al., 1998). The laboratory results are

EXAMP
LE

Wt. of evaporating dish = 42,472.3 mg

Wt. of dish plus residue after evaporation at 105C = 42,498.6 mg
Wt. of dish plus residue after ignition at 550C = 42,486.3 mg
Wt. of filter plus Gooch crucible = 21,530.8 mg
Wt. of residue and filter plus crucible after drying at 105C =
21,544.7 mg
Wt. of residue and filter plus crucible after ignition at 550C =
21,534.9 mg

Compute the concentrations of total solids, volatile solids, fixed

solids, total
suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, and fixed
suspended solids.

Chemical
Constitue
nts of
Wastewat
er

Organic Matter
carbohydrates, fats, oils, grease,
surfactants, proteins, pesticides, and
other agricultural chemicals, volatile
organic compounds, and other toxic
chemicals (household and industrial)
Inorganic Matter
heavy metals, nutrients (nitrogen and
phosphorus), pH, alkalinity, chlorides,
sulfur, and other inorganic pollutants
Gases
carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen,
hydrogen sulfide, and methane

The strength (organic content) of a

wastewater is usually measured as:
5-days biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD5)
chemical oxygen demand
total organic carbon

It measures the amount of oxygen

required to oxidize the organic matter in
the sample during 5 days of biological
stabilization at 20C.

BOD5
Test

The ratio of carbon, nitrogen, and

phosphorus in wastewater is very
important for biological treatment
processes, where there is normally a
surplus of nutrients.
BOD/N/P = 100/5/1
100 mg/L BOD to 5 mg/L nitrogen to 1
mg/L phosphorus

COD Test

It is a measurement of the oxygen

equivalent of the organic matter
content of a sample that is susceptible
to oxidation by a strong chemical
oxidant, such as potassium
dichromate.
The COD test takes 3 to 4 h rather
than 5 days for BOD data.
The normal COD range for raw
wastewater is 200 to 600 mg/L

TOC Test

TOC is a sum measure of the

concentration of all organic carbon
atoms covalently bonded in the
organic molecules of a given sample
of water.
It will detect the presence of all
carbon-bearing molecules, thus
identifying the presence of any
organic contaminants.