WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY DESIGN

In the proposed design of the wastewater treatment facility plan, the limited area
available in the campus was considered. Since the researchers are planning to locate these
facilities on different areas of the campus, the dimensions will be dependent on the area where
these facilities will be placed.
The facility design was divided in four divisions. These are the following:
I.

FIRST DIVISION
This is where the preliminary treatment occurs. The main purpose of this section
is the removal of large solids to prevent damage to the remainder of the unit
operations.

a. SCREENING
The first operation on the incoming wastewater is screening. This process removes coarse
solids and materials that might damage the equipment or hinder further treatment. Coarse
solids consist of sticks, rags, boards, and other large objects that find their way to the
wastewater collection system. Removal of these materials protects pumps and other
mechanical equipment and prevent clogging of valves and other appurtenances in the
wastewater treatment facility.

i.

There are two classifications of screens that may be used independently or

combined for the proposed design :
COARSE SCREENS
This screen usually consists of vertical bars spaced 1 or more centimeters
apart and inclined away from the incoming flow. Solids retained by the
bars are usually removed by manual raking or mechanical cleaner units.

ii.

FINE SCREENS
This screen consists of woven- wire or cloth or perforated plates.

i.

CLEANING METHODS-note clean bars and screens result in a head loss of less
than 0.1 m
MECHANICALLY-CLEANED BAR SCREENS (Bar screens has to be in
angles)
Bar racks- 3 to 4 inches apart, filter out larger particles.
Bar screens- 0.5 to 1.5 cm apart to filter out smaller particles.

ii.

MANUALLY CLEANED BAR SCREENS

Conventional bar screens: capture rate= 6 ft 3 / million gal. (45ml/ m3)

For the disposal of screenings, they will be coated with organic material of very
objectionable nature and should be promptly disposed to prevent health hazard. Oftentimes,
screenings are stabilized with lime before disposal. They may be disposed by hauling to disposal
areas (Landfilling), by burial on the plant site (for small installation only), incineration alone or
in combination with sludge and grit (for large installation only), disposal on municipal solid
wastes or by grinding and returning to the wastewater flow (for food trimmings and other
organic wastes). The plan was designed to prevent back flow of influent wastewater since this
may result to septic shock loading with H2S being produced.
Before the screening process, a straight channel will be provided a few meters ahead of the
screen to ensure good distribution of flow across the screen and flow velocity should not exceed
1.0 m/s (3.3 ft/s).
b. COMMINUTION
Since screenings are sometimes shredded and returned to the wastewater flow a hammermill
device will be used. The shredder or comminutor will be located across flow path and intercepts
the coarse solids and shreds them to approximate 8 millimeters in size. These solids remain in
water.
c. GRIT REMOVAL
Grits are not biodegradable and occupies valuable space. The most common grit are pebbles,
sand, cinders, silt, glass, metal fragments, bone chips, eggshells, seeds, coffee grounds, large
organic particles such as food wastes and other heavy solid materials that have specific gravities
or settling velocities considerably greater than those organic solids.
The purpose of the grit chamber is to protect moving mechanical equipment from abrasion
and accompanying abnormal wear. It reduces the formation of heavy deposits in pipelines,
channels and conduits. There are three types of grit chambers that can be used for the treatment
facility. These are the Channel-Type, horizontal flow grit chamber which is the oldest type of grit
chamber; Aerated grit chamber and vortex type grit chamber. The one presented in our design is
the aerated grit chamber. Compressed air will be injected on the left part of the chamber to keep
the lighter organic materials in suspension while the heavier grit falls at the bottom. Roll velocity
rather than horizontal velocity serves to separate the non-target organics from the grit.
Adjustment of air quantities provides settling control. Aeration in this type of grit chamber is
usually extended from 15 to 20 minutes when elimination of the noxious gases from the
wastewater is desired.