Physical Characteristic

(1) COLOUR
• Fresh sewages is grey in colour:- like soap solution.
• As time passes it begins to get black.
• The colour of industrial waste water depends upon the chemical processes
used in the industries.
(2) ODOUR
• Normally fresh sewage is not offensive.
• It starts to gets stale it begins to give offensive odour.
• Elimination of odour has become major consideration in the design and
operation of waste water collection, treatment and disposal facilities.
(3) TEMPERATURE:
• Generally higher than water supply.
• As the temperature increases the viscosity and bacterial activity increases.
• Solubility of gases in waste water decreases as increases in temperature.
• D.O. content decreases which affects the aquatic life.
• High temperature results the growth of the undesirable water plants in the
receiving water.
 Physical Characteristic
(4) TURBIDITY
• It is a measure of light emitting property of waste water.
• The stronger or more concentrated sewage, the higher is its turbidity.
• Turbidity can be determine either by turbidity rod or by jackson’s turbidity
meter.
• It is measured by units of Nephlometric Turbidity Unit (NTU).

(5) TOTAL SOLIDS

• Sewage contains 99.9% of water and 0.1% of solids.
• The total solid contains of waste water is define as all the matter that remains
as a residue upon evaporation to 103 to 105 degree centigrade.
• Total solids are of three types (i) Suspended solids (ii) Colloidal solids and (iii)
Dissolved solids.
• S.S. are those which can be filtered out on a filter paper. i.e. Non-filterable
solids.
• S.S. can be divided as settleable solid and Non-settleable solids.
• The T.S. can be classified as fixed solids and volatile solids.
States of solution impurities: from an environmental engineering point
of view, substances can exist in water in one of three classifications

Dissolved substances: the substance is homogenously dispersed in the

liquid (size as small as 0.2 µm). Removed by distillation, precipitation,
adsorption (phase change should be accomplished).

Suspended solids: large enough to settle out of solution. In

Environmental Engineering, suspended solids are solids that can be
filtered by a glass fiber filter disc. Can be removed from the liquid by
sedimentation, filtration and centrifugation.

Colloidal solids: are in the size range between dissolved substances

and suspended solids. They are in a solid state and can be removed by
physical means such as very high-force centrifugation or filtration
through membrane with very small pore spaces.