Wastewater Characteristics

High strength

Domestic strength

Industrial

What is in wastewater

Other Important Wastewater Characteristics

pH

Flow

Temperature

  1. Single family home wastewater
  2. Offices
  3. Retail stores (RTW, bags, shoes)
  4. Banks
  5. Churches
  1. Restaurants
  2. Schools
  3. Grocery stores
  4. Food stands
  5. Meat markets

However, if the product manufactured is a hobby (such as pottery), not classified as industrial

  1. X-ray wastewater
  2. Funeral homes (the embalming rooms)
  3. Slaughterhouses
  4. Car washes
  5. Chicken hatcheries
  6. Laboratories

Any wastewater generated from any process of industry, manufacture, trade, or business

Rules for Industry:

  1. Must be submitted to the “On-Site Water Protection Section” for review and approval
  2. System must be designed by a professional engineers
  3. Each project evaluated on a case-by-case basis
  4. Wastewater characteristics can vary from project to project

-Organisms
-Pathogens
-Organic Matter
-Oil and Grease
-Inorganics
-Nutrients
-Solids
-Gases

-biological treatment activity accelerates in warm condition, & slows in cool temperatures, but extreme hot or cold can stop treatment processes altogether.
-some systems are less effective during cold weather
-some may not be appropriate for very cold climates

eg: Hot water, as byproduct of many manufacturing processes, can be a pollutant. When discharged in large quantities, it can raise the temperature of receiving streams locally and disrupt the natural balance of aquatic life.

  1. Determine types of organisms that can live in water
  2. Affects how much oxygen water can hold
    • Warm water holds less oxygen
  3. Thermal Pollution (increased water temperature)
    • decreasing oxygen supply
    • killing fish juveniles which are vulnerable to small increases in temperature
    • affecting ecosystem composition.

The acidity or alkalinity of wastewater
affects both treatment & the environment.

The pH of wastewater needs to remain between 6 & 9 to protect organisms

Acids & other substances that alter pH can inactivate treatment processes when they enter wastewater from industrial or commercial sources.

  1. Potential of Hydrogen
    – measures hydrogen concentration in water
  2. 7.0 is neutral on scale of 0 – 14
  3. Can affect how chemicals dissolve in water

Whether a system serves a single home or an entire community, it must be able to handle fluctuations in the quantity and of wastewater it receives to ensure proper treatment is provided at all times

Extreme fluctuations in flow can
occur during different times of the day and on different days of the week.

Normally, estimates of flow are based on observations of the minimum & maximum amounts of water used on an hourly, daily, weekly, & seasonal basis

Therefore, estimating flow volumes for centralized treatment systems is a complicated task, especially when designing a new treatment plant in a community where one has never existed previously.