2

Characteristic of Wastewater

Chapter Overview

WASTEWATER CONSTITUENTS

1 Introduction

Physical characteristics

Chemical characteristics

Biological characteristics

Wastewater flow
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Classify the basic characteristic of wastewater ( physical, chemical
& biological)
• Interpret the wastewater characteristics and its importance.
• Calculate and interpreted mass loading within the wastewater for
BOD and SS

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The effective management of any wastewater flow requires a reasonably accurate

knowledge of its characteristics. This is particularly true for wastewater flows from rural
residential dwellings, commercial establishments and other facilities where individual water-using
activities create an intermittent flow of wastewater that can vary widely in volume and degree of
pollution.

Detailed characterization data regarding these flows are necessary to:- facilitate
the effective design of wastewater treatment and disposal systems and enable the
development and application of water conservation and waste load reduction strategies.

Wastewater is characterized in term of its physical, chemical and biological composition.

It should be noted that many of the physical properties and chemical and biological characteristic
listed at the same table are interrelated. For example temperature, a physical property affect both
the amount of gases dissolved in the wastewater and the biological activity in wastewater.

2.2 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

 The most important physical characteristic of wastewater is total solids : which is
composed of floating matter, settleable matter, colloidal matter, and matter in solution, odor,
temperature, color, and turbidity.

Non- Volatile

Total Settleable Fixed

Suspended
Volatile
Settleable
Total Fixed

Solids
Total Volatile
Dissolved
Solids
Fixed

Figure 1: Classification of Total Solid

i) Total Solids
Analytically the total solids content of a wastewater is defined as all the matter that
remains as residue upon evaporation at 103 to 105 °C. Matter that has a significant vapor
pressure at this temperature is lost during evaporation & is not defined as a solid. Settable
solids are those solids that will settle to the bottom of a cone-shaped container (called an
Imhoff cone) in a 60-minute period. Total solids is the material left in the evaporation dish
after it has dried for at least one hour (h) or overnight in an oven at 103-105⁰C and is
calculated according to Standard method (APHA et al. 1995)

mg TS /L = ( A - B) x 1000
sample volume , Ml

Where A = weight of dried residue plus dish, mg

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

Total suspended solids (TSS) are reffered to as nonfilterable residue. The TSS is a very
important quality parameter for water and wastewater. The TSS standards for primary and
secondary effluent effluent are usually set at 30 and 12 mg/L, respectively.TSS is
determined by filtering a well mixed sample through a 0.2 µm 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 one hour at a constant weight at 103 – 103 - 105⁰C.
It is calculated as:

mg TSS /L = ( C - D) x 1000
sample volume , mL

Where C = weight of filter and crucible plus dried residue,mg

D = weight of filter and crucible, mg
1000 = conversion of 1000 mL/L

The filterable-solids fraction consists of colloidal and dissolved solids. The colloidal fraction
consists of the particulate matter with an approximate size range of from 0.001 to 1 µm.
The dissolved solids consist of both organic & inorganic molecules and ions that are
present in true solution in water. Dissolved solids are also called filterable residues. Total
dissolved solids in raw wastewater are in the range of 250-850 mg/L. TDS is determined
as follows: A well mixed sample is filtered through a standard glass fiber filter of 2.0µm
normal pore size and the filtrate is evaporated for at least 1 hour in an oven at 180 ± 2⁰C.
The increase the dish weight represent the total dissolved solid which is calculated as:

mg TDS /L = ( E - F) x 1000
sample volume , mL

Where E = weight of dry residue plus dish,mg

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

The organic fraction will oxidize and will be driven off as gas at this temperature, and the
inorganic fraction remains behind as ash. Thus the terms "Volatile suspended solids" and
"Fixed suspended solids" refer, respectively, to the organic and inorganic (or mineral)
content of the suspended solids. Each of the categories of solids may be further classified
on the basis of their volatility at 550 + 50 oC. The volatile-solids analysis is applied most
commonly to wastewater sludge to measure their biological stability.The residue from TS,
TSS or TDS tests is ignited to constant weight at 550⁰C. The weight lost on ignition is
called volatile solids, whereas the remaining solids represent the fixed total, suspended
or dissolved solids. The portion of volatile and fixed solids are computed by:

mg volatile solid/L = ( G - H) x 1000

sample volume , mL

mg fixed solid/L = ( H - I) x 1000

sample volume , Ml

Where G = weight of residue plus crucible before ignition,mg

H = weight of residue plus crucible or filter after ignition, mg
I = weight of dish or filter, mg
1000 = conversion of 1000 mL/L

The determination of the volatile portion of solids is useful in controlling wastewater

treatment plant operations because it gives a rough estimation of the amount of organic
matter present in the solid fraction of wastewater, activated sludge and in industrial waste.
Determination of volatile and fixed solid does not distinguish precisely between organic
and inorganic matter. Because the loss on ignition is not confined only to organic matter,
it includes losses due to decomposition or volatilization of some mineral salts. The
determination of organic matter can be made by tests for BOD, COD and TOC.

Settleable solids is the term applied to material settling out of suspension within a defined
time. It may include floating material depending on the technique. Settled solid may be
expressed on either a volume (mL/L) or a weigth (mg/L) basis.The volumetric method for
determining settleable solids is as follow:Fill an Imhoff cone to the one liter mark with a
well mixed sample. Settle for 45 minutes, gently agitate the sample near the sides of the
Imhoff cone with a rod or by spinning, then continue to settle for an additional 15 minutes
and record the volume of settleable solids in the cones as mL/L. Another test to determine
settleable solids is the gravimetric method.First determine total suspended solid as stated
above. Second determine nonsettleable suspended solid fron the supernantant of the
sample which has settled for 1 hour. The detemined TSS (mg/L) of this supernantant
liqour: this gives the nonsettleable solid. The settleable solid can be calculated as:

mg settleable solids /L = mg TSS /L - mg nonsettleable solid/L

 EXAMPLES

This is an example of questions that you typically find in a questionnaire where

predetermined set of responses is given.

Sample Problem

A well mixed 25 mL of raw wastewater is used for TS analyses. A well mixed 50 mL of raw
wastewater is used for suspended solids analyses. Weight (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:

Tare wt of evaporating dish = 42.2361 g

Wt. of dish plus residue after evaporation at 105⁰C = 42.4986 g

Wt of dish plus residue after ignition at 550⁰C = 42.4863 g

Tare wt of filter plus Gooch crucible = 21.5308 g

Wt of residue and filter plus crucible after drying at 105⁰C = 21.5447 g

Wt of residue and filter plus crucible after ignition at 550⁰C = 21.5349 g

Compute the concentration of total solids, volatile solids, fixed solid, total suspended
solids, volatile suspended solids and fixed suspended solids.

SOLUTION

Step 1. Determine total solid

Sample size = 25 mL
A = 42,498.6 mg
B = 42,472.3 mg

TS = ( A - B )mg x 1000mL
25 mL
= ( 42,498.6 – 42,472.3) x 40 mg/L
 = 1050 mg/L

Step 2 Determine total volatile solids

G = 42,498.6 mg
H = 42,486.3 mg
VS = (42,498.6 - 42,486.3) x 1000/25
= 492 mg/L

Step 3 Determine total fixed solids

FS = (TS - VS) = ( 1050 - 492 )mg/L
= 558 mg/L

Step 4 Determine total suspended solid

C = 21,544.7 mg
D = 21,530.8 mg
Sample size = 50 mL
TSS = (C – D) x 1000/50
= (21,544.7 - 21,530.8) x 20
= 278 mg/L

Step 5 Determine volatile suspended solid

G = 21,544.7 mg
H = 21,534.9 m
VSS = (G – H) x 1000 / 50
= (21,544.7 - 21,534.9 ) x 20
= 196 mg/L

Step 6 Determine fixed suspended solid

H = 21,534.9 mg
I = 21,530.8 mg
FSS = (H - I) x 1000/50
 = (21,534.9 - 21,530.8) x 20
= 82 mg/L
Or
FSS = TSS - VSS = (278 - 196) mg/L
= 82 mg/L

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